I'm proud of what we staged for PALABRA last wk-end

The cast members all worked diligently, consistently, to make this production a strong and dynamic presentation of the written word. Rose Ann Meredith, in her role as stage manager, and Rebecca Redfox, who helped with costuming and some props production, were also very instrumental in our show going as smoothly as it did. Some folks mentioned that some of the literary pieces we interpreted were actually growing on them, becoming "favorite" poems or stuck in their head--in a good way.

Although our audience numbers weren't that great, I was pleased with the prevailing response of the lucky few who did make it on Friday or Saturday. Long-time collaborator (in dance, theater, and literary performance) Natalia Dominguez breathlessly shared that our show was beautiful and was received like "a box of chocolates--no two pieces alike" but each uniquely delicious and tasty in its own way.

Fellow poet and long-time friend of over 20 years, Kendall McCook sent the following words by email after seeing our Saturday performance:

"I had such a wonderful time last night at the show, The music man was perfect. The entire cast was so well-practiced and in spirit with the poems. Your Mexican grandma ironing seemed real, made my own arthritic bones ache. Thanks for all the hard work and for the opportunity to feel the power of art on a Saturday night in North Fort Worth."

The Friday night performance was videotaped, in its entirety, by Logan Gilpin of Under the Tower Productions. Here now is an excerpt from the show, specifically our interpretation of the poem "Help Me Believe We Will Not Be the Last People on Earth" by Nicaraguan poet Gioconda Belli.

Untitled from Logan Gilpin on Vimeo.

In the near future, I hope to upload more segments from PALABRA to YouTube for your watching/listening enjoyment.

All in all, I am quite pleased with the results of our hard labor and, most importantly, feel that my love for and curiosity about the great literature of Latino America has grown immensely. I will savor the poems and prose pieces from PALABRA for the rest of my life.

Thanks to Adam Adolfo and the folks with Artes de la Rosa for seeing fit to produce and otherwise support this unique presentation the written word.