Two San Jose companies, City Lights Theater Company and Teatro Visión, are coming together at the Mexican Heritage Plaza this weekend only, Feb. 23-26, for an exciting co-production of Miss You Like Hell.
When Beatriz shows up at her 16-year-old daughter Olivia’s house at 4 a.m. and invites her on an epic road trip, they haven’t seen each other in four years. But Beatriz is an undocumented immigrant facing deportation to Mexico, and time is running out.
From Philadelphia to California, from estranged to reunited, Beatriz and Olivia take a transformative journey, meeting an array of Americans with their own stories to tell. An important, intimate new musical rich with family, humor and heart, the show features book & lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes and music & lyrics by Erin McKeown.
Teatro Visión Artistic Director Rodrigo García is director and choreographer, with music direction by Samuel Cisneros. Tickets are available at cltc.org or by phone at (408)294-6621.
“Miss You Like Hell is a musical with rhythm and rock as a guiding energy in this contrasting narrative of a mother and a daughter who embark on a road trip in search of each other,” García said. “The play sheds light onto the issue of family separation due to our broken immigration system, but despite the adversity, these two women defy the odds to get closer than ever.”
Teatro Visión and City Lights have been partners for decades. Before Teatro Visión found a home at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, the company performed many of its productions in City Lights’ intimate 2nd Street theater, including ¿No se paga? ¡No se paga! by Dario Fo (1988), Rosario’s Barrio by Rodrigo Duarte Clarke (1995), and Santos y Santos by Octavio Solis (1997).
Now, the two companies are reuniting for this co-production, which unites Teatro Visión veterans with City Lights favorites. Ugho Badú, Ricardo Cortés, and Lazarita Sapien, who all performed in Teatro Visión’s 2022 production of Macario, return to the stage in Miss You Like Hell.
Miss You Like Hell began at City Lights’ theater in late January, and transferred to the Mexican Heritage Plaza just this week, for a one-weekend-only run.
“We’re thrilled to put this beautiful, important story on our stage,” CLTC executive artistic director Lisa Mallette added. “Our friends and colleagues at Teatro center the culture of these characters in their work, so we’re grateful for the partnership.”
Teatro Visión is also proud to partner with the DeAnza College HEFAS program for this production. Students from HEFAS, the Higher Education for AB540 Students program, will lead a workshop on the importance of undocumented student storytelling.
As part of Teatro Visión’s College Night, the workshop will take place at 6:30pm on Thursday, Feb. 23 in the theater lobby, before the show. The discussion explores the impact on relationships caused by immigration and borders, as well as how undocumented students control the narrative of their own stories.
Tickets are choose-your-own-price, $10-40, to make sure that anyone who wants to can experience the show. No matter what price you choose to pay, you get the same general admission ticket and you see the same exciting show.
The show runs Feb. 23-26 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Ave. All performances are in English with English and Spanish supertitles. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
ASL interpretation will be provided at the Saturday, Feb. 25 2:00pm performance.
Tickets and more information: www.teatrovision.org, www.cltc.org, by phone at (408) 294-661, and by email at teatro@teatrovision.org.
