By Alex Biese
Music, above all, has the power to transcend language, sickness, grief, pain and time itself. That much is clear from “American Mariachi,” the profoundly heartfelt and relentlessly heartwarming play on stage now through Oct. 20 at the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater of the Two River Theater in Red Bank.
The premise is comfortingly familiar: a motley crew assembles into a chosen family as they work to put on a show the likes of which their local community has never seen before. But “American Mariachi,” with its script by Jose Cruz Gonzalez and staging in Red Bank under the direction of James Vasquez, is rich in vibrant components that bring the material to life and make this story really sing.
Set somewhere in the American Southwest in the 1970s, the play is the story of cousins Lucha and Boli, who set out to create an all-female mariachi band – a concept that is pretty much immediately scoffed at by anyone who learns of the two girls’ plan. But there is a deeply personal motivation behind this unorthodox dream, as Lucha’s mother’s health and memory are failing her, and the two young women hope music can help them reach her.
There are familiar elements throughout the show: The musical endeavor must be kept secret from disapprovingly traditionalist family members; a world-weary mentor is enlisted to coach the aspiring musicians; and a song at the heart of the proceedings has a rich past rife with long-buried family secrets.
The two leads, Addie Morales as the determined Lucha and Heather Velazquez as the scene-stealing firebrand Boli, anchor the proceedings, giving everything a sense of immediacy and urgency that propels the storytelling. Because this band, this music and this mission clearly mean so much to these two young women, the audience is immediately as invested in the dream as they are. We need them to get their act together by the time the house lights go up after a briskly paced hour and 40 minutes or so.
It helps that every second is an utter delight. Under the musical direction of Alvaro Paulino Jr. and the arrangements of music consultant Cynthia Reifler Flores, the play – rich with diegetic music played live on stage by a wonderful quartet of musicians – has a persistent pulse that is captivating and compelling, the music tying the whole story together beautifully.
There is some ambitious staging afoot here. Time will occasionally fold in on itself to allow the players to present crucial flashbacks. And a significant portion of the play is delivered in untranslated Spanish, but the story and characters are rendered with such depth and clarity of vision that everything flows together seamlessly and nothing is lost to a language barrier. This is a show that works very well on a fundamental, crowd-pleasing level, which is an achievement that shouldn’t be underestimated.
As the band’s mentor Mino, wonderfully played in an understated fashion by Bobby Plasenci, advises at one point, “Find your groove… And when you do, it is heaven.” This is a play that, even on its opening night, had already found its groove, and the results were appropriately heavenly.
“American Mariachi” runs through Oct. 20 at the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater of the Two River Theater, 21 Bridge Ave., Red Bank. For tickets, $45 to $80, and information on special events the theater is hosting to commemorate the show, visit tworivertheater.org.
The article originally appeared in the October 10 – 16, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
