On a weekend celebrating the Puerto Rican Pride Parade in New York City, GALA Hispanic Theater hosted a hot Nuyorican dance troupe that put on their stilettos and killed some cockroaches!
The Sassy off-Broadway Puerto Rican musical that blends dance and drama, premiers as the closing show of Gala’s 42nd season and features a DC/NYC co-production of Dancing in My Cockroach Killers.
Cockroach Killers is a high spirited take-off on Puerto Rican stereotypes in Spanish and English with a dynamic mix of BANG BANG music numbers out the box to raw monologues delving deep into spousal abuse and the evolving image of Maria in West Side Story.
Yaremis Felix pouring her heart and tears from abuse into her wash basin.
Celebrating the legacy of such Puerto Rican icons such as Joe Cuba, the bongo player known as the ‘Father of Latin Boogaloo’; Iris Chacon, the voluptuous singer known as “La Bomba” or Bombshell; and Lolita LeBron, the radical nationalist who sprayed bullets in the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in 1954 and spent 25 years in jail until President Jimmy Carter pardoned her.
With a macho on stage keyboard, bass and bongo band directed by Desmar Guevara accompanied by Nicky Laboy on congas; Alverio Benavides on keyboard and David Lowe on bass, the six member dance cast of four fly chicas Carmen De La Luz, Christin Eve Cato, Krystal Pou and Yaremis Felix who strutted their stilettos between the blue suede shoes of Jesus Martinez and Omar Perez who ran circles around the stage to keep up.
Find out “Why I Lost the Popularity Contest” and savor the pathos and aromas of “Madre de Bomba” and “Fuego en la Consina” in this bi-lingual musical by award winning playwright Magdalena Gomez.
Dancing In My Cockroach Killers’ is a co-production of GALA and New York’s Pregones Theater, where traveling artists are led by Rosalba Rolon and bring a little of the Bronx to Columbia Heights.
Cockroach Killers will be exterminating cucarachas in Columbia Heights through July 1st at www.galatheatre.org.
