Broadway On Tour

Hispanic
January/February 1998
By Nancy Alicia De Los Santos and Valerie Menard

Latino-themed shows may be opening on Broadway, but these shows are not the first to include Latinos. The much-heralded show Rent has been featuring Latinos playing Latinos since it opened. Now, as Rent begins to tour the country, more Latino talent has been included in the production in both Latino and non-Latino roles.

Great reviews are pouring in for Julia Santana's electrifying performance in the national tour of Rent. While Santana kicks up the heels of her knee-high leopard-skin boots and belts out the play's showstopping tunes, her secret desire would surprise you. A deep laugh peals out as the petite actress confesses, "My goal is to be the first Latina guitarist in a rock band."

Rent, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is a modern-day telling of the opera La Boheme. This contemporary version tells the story of a group of struggling artists living, loving, and creating while coping with the reality of AIDS. The cast constitutes a diverse collection of ethnic, political, and sexual orientations. IN the national touring company, Santana plays Mimi Marquez, a teenage drug-addicted exotic dancer who is HIV-positive. She is paired with Christian Mena, who plays non-Latino Roger Davis, also HIV-positive.

Growing up on the mean streets of New York provided Santana with good background information for the role. "I know a lot of girls like Mimi," she admits. "She has a lot of obstacles in her life, like we all do, but she made the decision not to let those obstacles stop her from living."

Like Santana, Mena's first love is music--in his case Latin jazz. A native of Canada, he too was in a band, iMaracujah!, before joining the cast of Rent. "We [iMaracujah!] were very popular in Canada, but we hadn't crossed over to the U.S. Part of my reason for trying out for the cast of Rent was to try to get more visibility for myself and, in that way, the band. We hope to regroup after the tour." Mena first auditioned for the part of Angel, which had been performed by Wilson Cruz. The producers saw Mena as more of a romantic lead, and so they cast him as Roger. Cruz was hired to play Angel on Broadway, replacing Wilson Jermaine Heredia.

When asked if the show has been criticized for promoting stereotypes, Mena admits that it has. "But people who take that angle are not seeing what's happening on stage. My character is white and HIV positive. The character of Tom Collins is a college-educated African-American who is HIV positive. Rent is more about artistry than ethnicity."

It's to Santana's credit that she was selected to play the part. "I had been singing with my rock band, the Cribb, and hadn't performed in drama. I decided I wanted to be back in the theater. I knew it was close to impossible, and it was scary, but I wanted it so badly. I just gave myself a kick in the butt." It worked. A week later Santana was in California opening the hit play in San Diego and then Los Angeles.