For more than 20 years, the Latino Theater Company in downtown Los Angeles has offered a free holiday gift to the community: its annual production of "La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin." The show celebrates the Mexican Roman Catholic story of how the Virgin Mary appeared to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego and called on him to unite the people of Mexico after the Spanish conquest.
"LA Times Today" got a sneak peek of the show during a dress rehearsal at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The cast rehearses the pageant for just two weeks. Evelina Fernandez, who wrote the play, explained the importance of keeping the production open to the public.
"It's personal for me to write this pageant and also to offer it as the holiday gift to all Angelenos, but especially to working people who can't afford to buy $65 tickets to go see "A Christmas Carol" or "The Nutcracker." This is an alternative for those families to be able to experience a holiday tradition and be able to experience it for free," Fernandez said.
The cast includes professional actors mixed in with regular people, including children and seniors, dancers and a choir.
Fernandez explained the story behind the pageant.
"The story is the Virgen de Guadalupe appeared to San Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac. And she says, 'Go tell the archbishop to build a temple for me,'" she said.
Part of the significance of the tale is that the Virgen selected San Juan Diego, who was an Indigenous person.
"She's the indigenous virgin. She's the brown-skinned virgin, and she's the virgin of the people. She's the one that looks like the people. Her images played a very important role in social justice movements, for example, in the fight for independence from Spain. That Virgen de Guadalupe was the banner. Also, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta used the Virgen de Guadalupe as their banner," Fernandez explained.
The pageant attracts thousands of people each year. Sal Lopez, who plays Juan Diego in the show, explained why audiences return to the show every season.
"Some people have seen it every year that we've done it. So they know what the story is. They know what's going to happen. Yet they still come to hear it again, to experience it. You know, it's like Shakespeare. And it's great because it's perfect for these holidays," Lopez said.
Performances are this Friday and Saturday. As always, the pageant is free and open to the public. For more information, visit here.
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