MACHOS OPENS IN ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!!

Here's us before:


















And here's us after:



Pretty exciting!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it is coming up so soon. I pitched the Machos project TWO years ago... and finally... here it is! This is the first Teatro Luna show I have developed and directed by myself... if "by myself" you mean I have been working with an amazing ensemble of brilliant women who contribute everything from writing to ideas to choreography and on and on and on. Plus, the assistant director on the project, Belinda Cervantes, is wonderful and organized and smart and insightful and she keeps me on my toes! And I love love love our stage manager Ana Espinosa (also de Ecuador! Go Ecuador!!!!!!), who is great about gently reminding me that we can't spend half of rehearsal gossiping about whether or not JLO is pregnant. And of course, we are working with the sound designer and composer Tamara Roberts, who is super opinionated and super talented and always a wonderful collaborator. So... this is about as "by myself" as standing in the middle of IKEA on a Sunday afternoon. All the same... I have never worked so hard on a project in my life. I can't sleep through the night because all I do is think about it. I rewrite almost every day, and keep revisiting the interviews in case we have missed the most beautiful, most hilarious, most extraordinary story of them all.

What is Machos?
Machos is an interview based project where the women of Teatro Luna interviewed 54 men nationwide, from all different ethnic and racial backgrounds. We also did performance workshops with 30 men, and 34 men filled out our online survey. In addition to this kind of official collecting, we also did a lot of eavesdropping. By "we" I pretty much mean "me," who has a talent for listening in on strangers' conversations and discreetly transcribing them verbatim. I wanted to be a spy or a gossip columnist when I was little - it was great practice for this! Anyway - the end result is MACHOS, a performance based on conversations with men all over the country and performed by the all female ensemble of Teatro Luna.

Want to see Machos?
We open November 8th and run through December 16th. Shows are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 6pm. We also have previews on Nov 5, 6, 7 - these are your chance to see the show before it opens, and at a bargain price. For more information - and for advance tickets - visit www.teatroluna.org

I'm bringing it to the masses. Or, at least, the tourists!
Check me out as part of Navy Pier's Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrations. I'll be performing a set at 3pm on Sunday, September 23rd. I'm supposed to do all my most upbeat material... ja ja ja. What shall it be... genocide or civil war? Thank G to the O-D that I have been writing my solo show, full of embarassing stories about being 12 years old and culturally confused. What do Run DMC and Steak-um tamales have in common? ME! But for real... I would love to see people there. I'm performing with the esteemed poet David Hernandez and an exciting surprise guest... meaning, they didn't tell me who the third person is.
I can barely ride a bike. But I support people who do!
I'm performing at the World Bicycle Relief Benefit on October 6th, at 7pm. I am by far the least famous person on the line-up, which includes Carlos Cumpian, Raul Nino and other MARCH/Abrazo poets. Admission is a pay-what-you-can donation. At the Heartland Cafe, 7000 N. Glenwood.
I learned about sex from the Gringos next door.
Yup. Teatro Luna's hit show S-e-x-Oh! is back for Hispanic Heritage Month. I don't like the term "hispanic" but I do like the opportunity to dust off my pink accessories and hit the stage with the girls. We're performing all around "town"... for FREE. Don't miss this hilariously honest show about sexuality, nationality, and Trader Joe's.
October 8th @ Northwestern University
October 12th @ University of Madison
October 22 @ University of Chicago
Machos open November 8th... but you can catch a sneak preview.
On October 17th we're presenting a staged reading of Machos at Columbia College. FREE. As part of their FOCO Festival of Latino/a Arts.

I'm a terrible personal publicist and don't have further info about ANY of these event, but you can e-mail me at coya@coyapaz.com and I promise to find out more!

AND, AS ALWAYS... PROYECTO LATINA is the THIRD MONDAY of EVERY Month!!!!! I'll be there with bells on... trying out new stuff and reading from the chisme box. 7pm @ Tianguis Books, 2003 S. Damen