An old-fashioned black-draped dressing mirror is the only prop in the moody, elemental, but by no means elementary “Fuego Flamenco XVI: Intimo,” presented by GALA Hispanic Theatre. The mirror’s undraping and re-draping bracket the hour-long dance-theater piece by two superb dancers and four accomplished, passionate musicians. The overall emotional sense of the work is one […]

February 8, 2020 I sat in GALA’s historic entertainment “palace” to review Nilo Cruz’ Exquisita Agonia. It was the last time (pre-Covid) I enjoyed live theater. Nine months later, Managing Director Rebecca Read Medrano has done what no other theater in Washington has been able to do – mount a season and reopen an indoor […]

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz has come to Washington’s GALA Hispanic Theatre to direct his most recent play, and has unleashed from his prodigiously creative mind something like a master class in imaginative theatricality. Cruz starts his creative process with characters, and Exquisita Agonía (Exquisite Agony) is no exception. It’s as if he’s thrown them […]

Never underestimate the power of a classic to communicate across time, cultures, and language in new and urgent messaging. We have Producing Artistic Director Hugo Medrano, the longest serving Artistic Director of a company in Washington’s now crowded field of professional theatres, to thank for bringing us this work from Spain’s Golden Age. He directs […]

The wait is over – the anticipated U.S. premiere of FAME The Musical en Espanol is finally here and it is outstanding! In the opening scenes, students hold unopened letters in their hands as they anxiously ponder if they’ve been accepted into “P.A” the prestigious N.Y School of the Performing Arts, like their lives depend […]

The magic and artistry of Pablo Picasso shine through in this fun-filled family show at GALA.  Playwright director Cornelia Cody brings his talent to life through stories, music, dance and even circus fun finally bringing the artist’s fixation on harlequin clowns to light. Camilo Linares as Picasso is a whirlwind of energy, bouncing across the […]

Twentieth-century Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno wasn’t afraid to criticize Spain’s government. Though Irma Correa’s El viejo, el joven y el mar is a fictional depiction of Unamuno’s life, it is set against the historical backdrop of Miguel Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship over Spain, a dictatorship that Unamuno openly spoke out against, despite the consequences. Thankfully, […]

Walking into Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) I knew, as you may, that there was a best-selling Spanish language movie of its time, and an equally popular novel/cookbook by Laura Esquivel. I hadn’t read or seen either, and didn’t even know what the title meant. But what I found at GALA Hispanic Theater […]