"Whittier Boulevard," Los Angeles Theatre Center, Sept. 14 - Oct. 20, 2024
Sept. 27, 2024 | By Bruce R. Feldman
In Brief: A hilarious yet telling journey into the soul, culture, history, and humor of Chicano Los Angeles. It's terrific!
Zilah Mendoza and Evelina Fernandez in the Latino Theater Co.'s "Whittier Boulevard." (Photo: Grettel Cortes Photography)
It’s 2042 and Los Angeles has become a Trumpian hellscape. The police are watching everyone. It’s a crime to live past 75. If you are old and Latino, that’s a double whammy. When the cops find you – and they will – they will march you down Whittier Blvd., the spiritual core of Latino East Los Angeles, to exile, or worse.
This is the dark, authoritarian future envisioned in the Latino Theater Company’s gem of a show, Whittier Boulevard.
Dark, indeed. And very funny, as well, in the hands of the four-person ensemble, two of whom also wrote the piece along with director José Luis Valenzuela. The happy result is a high-spirited burlesque, sharp social satire, and comic fable rolled into one.
The faded movie star Veronica Del Rio (a delightfully histrionic Evelina Fernandez) lives comfortably in her East Los Angeles home with her prickly aide Pilar (Zilah Mendoza). About to turn 75, the aging actress keeps a low profile.
Roger (Geoffrey Rivas) – the one-quarter Chicano copy assigned to her neighborhood – is on to her. He’s a fan of her old films and doesn’t want to report her. But if he doesn’t, then he, too, will end up on Whittier Blvd..
What to do? Enter Pablo (Eduardo Robledo), a sort-of-famous poet who – wouldn’t you know it! – lives next door, has always loved Veronica, and comes up with a clever plan to get everyone off the hook.
Of course, the rickety plot exists only to serve the show’s multiple pointed barbs, insightful social commentaries, pop-culture allusions, Chicano touchstones, and the juicy performances from its wonderful cast.
The action takes place in 2042 presumably because that will be 100th anniversary of the Sleepy Lagoon murder that led to the Zoot Suit Riots, signaling the start of Chicano political unrest in Southern California.
It also should not be lost on the audience that the racially fueled violence began on Broadway – just around the corner from the Los Angeles Theatre Center where the play runs – before spreading throughout the region and ending in the notorious trial and incarceration of nine innocent Chicano teens who were scapegoated by the police and railroaded through the justice system.
With manifold nods to a looming dystopian future, climate change, the movie classic Sunset Boulevard. (and perhaps, too, Wild in the Streets?), Aztec mysticism, and much more, the play is both enjoyably entertaining and socially resonant from start to finish.
Technical credits are outstanding. Yee Eun Nam and Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh’s exotic floral projections wash lushly across the back wall of Francois-Pierre Couture’s unit set. Also memorable are Naila Aladdin Sanders and Maria Catarina Copelli’s terrific costumes – drama queen chic for Veronica and flashy embroidered suits for the men in the second half.
Director José Luis Valenzuela first mounted this finely tuned satire in 2023 and thankfully has brought it back for us to savor anew. If you grew up in Los Angeles, as I did, or just want a purposeful glimpse into the beating heart of the Chicano soul, hurry down now to Whittier Boulevard.
"Whittier Boulevard," Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles CA 90013, (213) 489-0994, latinotheaterco.org
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