A tough act to follow

The workshop showcasing Acts 1 and 2 of the original musical, “Malinalli,” a show about the conquest of the Aztecs, will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre on the Edinburg campus.

As previously reported by The Rider on Dec. 3, Robert Paul Moreira, a creative writing lecturer, wrote the story of Malinalli, a Nahua woman who played a vital role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and was the interpreter and adviser for conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Mandy Carin, who plays the role of Malinalli, appreciates the new historical perspective the musical provides and its strong female protagonist.   

“[Malinalli] is an atypical protagonist,” Karen said. “A strong female character in the Aztec [era]. [During that time,] women were slaves. They were subservient and she, kind of, broke out of that normal way of thinking for that time. Also, the fact that it’s a very relatable story for this particular community [sets it apart.]”

The previous workshop held in December showed Act 2.

“[In] Spring 2018, we did Act 1,” Moreira said. “We focused on that and then, in the Fall 2018, we did Act 2. So, this time around, we’re being ambitious and we’re doing the whole thing. [We’re doing] sort of a full musical with an intermission, so we’re excited.”

Since then, the cast has grown and the presentation will include live music.   

“We have a larger cast, we have an ensemble, we have live music, we’ve re-written the story a bit,” he said. “So, each workshop has helped us refine the work differently and to work with different students, so we’re just excited to be able to see the whole show.”   

The story has also been developed further.

“In terms of narrative and the character, Malinalli, I’ve tried to develop her a little bit more as a narrator, sort of telling us what’s going on,” Moreira said.

Musicwise, they have added different instruments.

Junior music major Josiah Esquivel co-composed the music for the show and completed a score of about 720 pages.

“Josiah has singlehandedly orchestrated and arranged all the music,” Moreira said. “I think he told me last time the entire score for the show is about 720 pages. He’s doing graduate work and he’s an undergraduate student, so that’s amazing and I’m really happy for him and for all of these students, who most of them are not theatre majors.” 

Unlike the previous presentations, this upcoming showing will be held in the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre.                   

“In the spring we were … in the library auditorium and in the fall, we were in the Student Union theater,” Moreira said. “I think because of the trajectory of those two shows, the people in charge of us [saw us] and were like, ‘Oh, cool, let’s give them a shot’ in Jeffers, which is where theater holds other major stage productions, so we’re excited to be in this space and we can’t wait to put on a good show.”       

Also in the production is South Texas College sophomore and drama major Daniela Lozano, who is one of the directors of “Malinalli.”

In addition to being a director, she is also a stage manager and helped design the set.

Lozano recommends the campus community attend the workshop because of the learning opportunities it presents for the audience.

“It’s honestly something everybody needs to watch, I believe,” she said. “It’s part of our history and it’s part of the history that we don’t talk about as people who, you know, came from Mexico. Like, most of us are from Mexico. I myself was born in Monterrey and it’s really cool to dive into more of a history lesson because I had to do my research and go into it more because I had only learned about U.S. history from school.”

Admission to “Malinalli” is free.

–Zugay Treviño and Fernando Ramirez contributed to this report.