SO…I've been sitting on this announcement for months, partly because I fully expected it to fall through, but here we are: next week is the world debut of ¡Ask a Mexican! in play form, in New York.
Rejoice, racialists!
But it's a much-bigger deal than me just doing my usual rant for alt-weekly rags like this one, folks: I'm shooting for the Off-Broadway stars!
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The play will get its first-ever reading next Friday courtesy of the Atlantic Theater Company, the award-winning Off-Broadway outfit co-founded by David Mamet (who long ago sent me a book expressing his admiration of my columna) and William H. Macy. It'll be part of their Latino Mixfest, an annual showcase of Latino-themed plays from across the country that offers public readings and workshops for aspiring playwrights…and me.
How ¡Ask a Mexican! the play came to the Atlantic is pretty funny. I was approached months ago by Jaime Castaneda, who serves as an Artistic Leadership Associate for the company and said he wanted to turn my column into a play. I've actually received many offers like his, along with offers for television shows and movies, over the years but have rejected them all, mostly because…well, how the fuck do you turn a column into a movie or TV show without watering it down to Dora the Explorer pablum? But Castaneda promised we'd stay true to the Know Nothing-bashing fun of my column, and the results definitely are something I'm enjoying (I provided the rants; Castaneda, the actual play part). It's still not finished, and we still have to cast (calling any skinny Mexican nerds out there with a propensity to expose pedophile priests!) the damn show, but let's see what happens…
No more details until next Friday, August 26, at 2 p.m., when the reading occurs at the Atlantic's Stage 2. See you there, and don't forget to chuck a taco at me–I'll be hungry!
