Final Shows for LTGI's Zoot Suit; Students Admitted Free
Laredo Theater Guild International (LTGI) opens its 16th season with a stage adaptation of Zoot Suit by celebrated Hispanic author, Luis Valdez. The first play of LTGI’s 16th season, Zoot Suit, which debuted in 1979, was the first Chicano play on Broadway.
Zoot Suit runs through October 13 at Laredo College’s Guadalupe and Lilia Martínez Performing Arts Center. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with the Sunday matinee starting at 3 p.m.
Admission is $0-$30 for adults with students admitted free of charge. Student tickets may be reserved online or will be available at the door. Regular tickets are available online at www.laredotheaterguild.org, or at the door.
Luis Valdez’s revolutionary Zoot Suit is rooted in the historical events of the Sleepy Lagoon Murder of 1942 and the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 in Los Angeles, CA. The play tells the gripping story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street Gang, who were unjustly tried and convicted for the alleged murder of José Gallardo Diaz despite a lack of concrete evidence. This miscarriage of justice saw 21 members of the gang become victims of racial profiling and police violence, leading to life sentences.
The sensational coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon trial fueled racial tensions in Los Angeles, culminating in the infamous Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. Over 600 Latino youths were arrested during these riots, sparked by attacks from U.S. servicemen and white Angelenos on individuals wearing zoot suits.
These suits were symbolically associated with anti-Americanism due to the generous amount of fabric used to make them during the wartime rationing period in American history. Discriminated against for their zoot suit-wearing Chicano identity, 22 members of the 38th Street Gang are placed on trial for the murder, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison.
In 1981, Luis Valdez also directed a filmed version of the play, combining stage and film techniques. Edward James Olmos' portrayal of El Pachuco earned him a Tony Award nomination for best featured actor in a play, as well as a Theatre World award.
Director of the LTGI Zoot Suit production, José A. Flores, said, "The social factors that made Zoot Suit so relevant to audiences in 1979 give the play a fresh significance for audiences in 2024. Zoot Suit is a play about possibilities, about individuals from clashing cultures finding common purpose. It's about becoming American, a story perhaps more important today than ever before.”
Zoot Suit is presented in cooperation with Laredo College and has been made possible by the generous support of the D.D. Hachar Charitable Trust and IBC Bank, and Laredo Federal Credit Union.
The production marks the 12th installment in the theatre company’s Class on Stage® productions. Students from Laredo Independent School District, United Independent School District, and other participating schools will watch special morning presentations of the play at Laredo College’s Guadalupe and Lilia Martínez Performing Arts Theater with a Q&A session following performances.
The LTGI’s Class on Stage® productions targets providing students with a live theater production of a book they have been assigned to read in class. The Class on Stage® concept was conceived and developed by LTGI, piloted in 2010, and launched in the 2011 - 2012 school year with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
