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Que Le Watcha Los Cabrones Marking the 30Th Anniversary of Luis Valdez’S Zoot Suit

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Que Le Watcha Los Cabrones Marking the 30Th Anniversary of Luis Valdez’S Zoot Suit Que le watcha los cabrones Marking the 30th Anniversary of Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit Shakina Nayfack The opening image is iconic, at least here in drum. A white spotlight focuses at the base of Los Angeles. As the audience settles into their the drop as an oversized switchblade rips apart seats, dim lights glow on a gigantic newspaper, the newspaper, slicing through the propaganda. the Los Angeles Herald Express, Monday 7 June Enter El Pachuco: the man, the myth. Black 1943. It’s the front page of the War Extra, patent leather calcos, perfectly pegged and painted on a huge 24-foot canvas. The head- pleated high-waisted trapos with a long gold lines scream war, both worldwide and local. watch chain almost reaching the floor. A bold Beneath the image of a Japanese air raid, several red shirt with an exaggerated collar, thin black bold titles tell tales of glaring yellow journal- suspenders, and a shining, silver cross hanging ism: Web of Zuit Crime Spreads—Entire L.A. beneath an open neckline. A fierce and chiseled Area Becomes Battleground; 200 Zuit Suiters Held jaw, perfectly trimmed facial hair above a tense for “Sleepy Lagoon” Murder; Jury Finds 12 Guilty top lip, black eyes staring intensely from a in Gang Slaying Trial. The house lights drop out brown face crowned with an elegant and im- and the smooth sound of a saxophone creeps in, maculately sculpted pompadour. He turns and, the low, swinging melody of Duke Ellington’s taking his time, slides his slender fingers down “Perdido” climbing slowly over a soft snare the front crease of his pants, pivoting sharply to repeat the gesture on the other leg. Reach- ing into his pocket he pulls out a comb, attending to his hair with utmost care and precision. When the grooming is complete, he reaches back behind the drop to retrieve a broad-shouldered black jacket, his tacuche. Bal- ancing his drapes on two fingers, he slips one arm in suavely, and then the other, popping the red shirt collar out and carefully adjusting the coat lapels. Then comes the tando, the wide- brimmed hat with a curved pheasant feather tucked in the band. He circles the hat in front, Figure 1. “Vamos a dejarnos caer un play, ¿sabe?” Camilo Cuellar as El arm extended, blowing off any Pachcuco. Zoot Suit, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 3 April 2008. (Photo speck of dust that might dare by Jason Foong) have settled on its brim. With Shakina Nayfack is a theatre director, performance artist, and shotgun scholar. He is Artistic Director and Cofounder of Epic Megalopolis Productions (EpicMegaPro), and holds a PhD in Critical Dance Studies from UC Riverside. His writings on performance have been published by The Industry Stan- dard, The Chicago Cultural Center, in their program for “The Body Breaks: Butoh, Breakdancing, and Beyond,” Dance Research Journal, and most recently by the University of Illinois Press in the anthology Dancing Across Borders, edited by Olga Najera-Ramirez, Norma E. Cantu, and Brenda M. Romero (2009). CriticalActs 162 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dram.2009.53.3.162 by guest on 26 September 2021 Figure 2. “¡Ya estuvo! Everybody go home!” Elias Rangel as Henry Reyna, leader of the 38th Street Gang (Mayra Rosales, Christopher Webb, Jason Morales, Rafael Elizalde, Lisette Mendez, Shruti Purkayastha, Eric Trujillo). Zoot Suit, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 3 April 2008. (Photo by Jason Foong) one quick flip of the wrist, the tando rolls up his His will to be was an awesome force arm and lands rakishly atop his brow. El eluding all documentation… Pachuco freezes in his infamous lean, once A mythical, quizzical, frightening being more staring down the audience. “Perdido” Precursor of revolution fades out and El Pachuco makes his way down- Or a piteous, hideous heroic joke deserving stage. With something between a glide and a of absolution? strut, he moves effortlessly, yet full of control, I speak as an actor on the stage. time and space at his command. He is the The Pachuco was existential ultimate rebel, the dashing and daring provoca- for he was an Actor in the streets teur, el carnal de aquellas. After welcoming the both profane and reverential. audience in laid back, cooler-than-cool Spanish It was the secret fantasy of every bato peppered with caló 1—que le watcha mi tacuche in or out of the Chicanada2 ese… (check out my suit man…)—he stands tall To put on a Zoot Suit and play the Myth and speaks in refined, presentational English. más chucote que la chingada3 ¡Pos Orale! (Valdez 1992:26) PACHUCO: Ladies and Gentlemen, The original production of Luis Valdez’s the play you are about to see Zoot Suit opened on 28 July 1978 at the Mark is a construct of fact and fantasy. Taper Forum in Los Angeles, playing to packed The Pachuco style was an act in Life houses and rave reviews that shattered box and his language a new creation. office records. Arguably the most important CriticalActs 1. Caló is Pachuco/Chicano slang, before Spanglish, a hip and resistant mix of Spanish and English. 2. Chicanada is the caló term for the Pachuco lifestyle. 3. Loosely translated: more badass than a motherfucker. 163 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dram.2009.53.3.162 by guest on 26 September 2021 piece of Chicano Theatre, and the jewel in the positioned as the cornerstone of the Claremont crown of Valdez’s El Teatro Campesino, Zoot Colleges’ Cesar Chavez Month celebration, Suit opened the stage door to Latino actors and with auxiliary activities ranging from art brought issues of the Mexican American com- installations, guest lectures, and a Chicano munity into mainstream consciousness. mural tour of Los Angeles. With minimal In a masterful work of historical fiction,Zoot advertising in predominantly Latino publica- Suit follows the stories of the 1942 Sleepy tions, tickets for the two-week run still Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit riots of managed to sell out well before opening night. 1943, redressing a moment of Angelino and Audience members flocked from the local American history when institutionalized racism community and ventured from all across and xenophobia sanctioned judicial discrimina- Southern California—some from as far as San tion and violent attacks against Latino youth in Diego—to wait in the standby line before the East Los Angeles, as well as Latino, African show. Members of the Old Memories car club American, and Jewish youth across the country. of Los Angeles arrived in full Zoot Suit regalia, The story follows Henry Reyna and members parking their souped-up lowriders in front of of the 38th Street Gang, imprisoned for a mur- the theatre night after night. Nearly 1,000 der at an LA reservoir after a corrupt and un- nearby high school students were able to attend lawful mass trial. A peoples lawyer, George special weekday matinees, receiving an impres- Shearer, and a progressive reporter-turned- sive 12-page discovery guide developed by community organizer, Alice Bloomfield, come Martinez and her research assistants Claire to the boys’ defense and work against the Ryan, Lisette Méndez (who also played Della in bigoted press and racist criminal justice system the show), and Gina Alicia Lopéz, the project’s 5 to win their appeal—but not without long-term senior editor. Martinez also arranged a special sacrifice and enough cultural trauma to last staff appreciation performance, with each generations. Set against actual testimony from worker at the college receiving two complimen- the infamous Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and tary tickets, and a gracious welcoming speech headlines from the racist and war-hungry press, delivered by the director in both Spanish and the play weaves together music, poetry, and English. A special alumni event, certainly the heavily stylized text and movement to tell one highlight of the run, featured an open-mic of the most outrageous and overlooked stories reunion of original Zoot Suit cast members from of racial injustice in 20th-century United States the Mark Taper production and the 1981 film, history. Thirty years after the play’s premiere, also written and directed by Valdez. Awards of amidst heightened anti-immigrant hysteria and recognition were presented to Luis Valdez and wartime nationalist fervor, the relevance of the lifelong community activist Alice McGrath production remains just as strong. (Alice Bloomfield in the play), organizer of the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee. Actor and Professor Alma Martinez, original Nearly 30 members of the Leyvas family, cast member of the 1978 Zoot Suit production, real-life relatives of the show’s protagonist chose to honor its 30th anniversary by directing Henry Leyvas (Henry Reyna in the play), a revival of the show at Pomona College in were also present. Claremont, California.4 Working as assistant director and choreographer for the production Synchronistically, opening night of the 30th provided me with a unique critical position and anniversary production of Zoot Suit fell on the solidified my beliefs in the lasting importance same day as the opening of the Los Angeles of the show. It was the first timeZoot Suit had County Museum of Art exhibit Phantom been presented in the LA area since its pre- Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement. The miere over a generation ago. The show was title and content of the exhibit caused much 4. A liberal arts college located about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, Pomona College is the founding institution within the Claremont University Consortium (the Claremont Colleges), which also includes Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University, and the Keck Graduate Institute.
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