The world premiere of the brand new play ‘57 Chevy showed on May 21 at LBCC, marking the first performance of the ensemble variant of the show with seventeen LBCC student actors originating the roles for the very first time.
The playwrights of ‘57 Chevy, Cristobal Franco and Valerie Dunlap, have been eagerly awaiting the premiere of the show ever since they started their work on creating the ensemble variant of the show in 2019.
Originally the play was scripted as a one-man show, and it remained that way for almost a decade.
Franco wrote the show initially as an auto-biographical account of his life and experiences of his childhood alongside also being a eulogy for his father. The show is based upon Franco’s relationship with his father throughout the highs and lows.
The show started out as a simple one-man show monologue that premiered in 2016 with actor Ric Salinas playing the main role of “Junior”, who Franco based upon himself.
The role narrates his life experiences as a Mexican immigrant in the 60s through 80s living in the U.S..
The show was a hit and played across the Southwestern United States such as in cities like San Diego, San Jose, and San Antonio, according to Franco.
The show was so popular that Franco soon licensed it to San Diego REP, a theater company in San Diego, in early 2020 but then the pandemic hit.
‘57 Chevy was chosen as one of the two licensed shows to be filmed and put on streaming for the company so attendees could enjoy theater during the quarantine. After the success of this, Franco’s co-writer, Valerie Dunlap, convinced him to expand the script to be an ensemble show.
“Val told me her suggestion that colleges and universities want big casts and to expand this into a full ensemble version broken up into a real play. Val really loves puzzles and putting things together. She could take small shows and expand them, and that’s what she did here, it was seamless,” Franco said.
The ensemble cast of ’57 Chevy dances to the theme song of “Gilligan’s Island ” during a musical sequence where they danced to various 60s TV show theme songs during a dress rehearsal on May 20. (Dom Maddan)
Expanding the show to have a full ensemble cast opened up new opportunities to create scenes that Franco and Dunlap were unable to envision before.
For example Franco’s three sisters were expanded upon in the new updated script. Now that there were actresses portraying the characters and not just being mentioned by Junior, they now had the opportunity to have an introductory scene to themselves.
“Val came up with this, it’s called picture day and it’s a scene in which we introduce the family on picture day, my mom deals with all of us speaking completely in Spanish. Some time passes and we redo the scene but completely in English, I thought it was beautiful,” Franco said.
In terms of representing a character based off of a real person with a lived experience, lead of the show Abraham Figueroa, who plays the role of “Junior” based off of Franco himself, noted how different the role was compared to his previous acting experiences.
“It’s a challenge because in my first play of “Zoot Suit”, I played a historical figure but it was also satirical in nature. It’s a different approach to satire than it is to play somebody you’d meet off the street. So the key is to remain truthful to yourself but also how this guy would react in certain situations,” Figueroa said.
Junior, a creative with a colorful imagination, resonates a lot with Figueroa with him noting that he and his character have a lot more in common than he initially thought.
“We were both heavily reliant on our use of imagination as kids, in his case because he was the only boy and my case being I had no siblings so I used my imagination a lot. With those things I tried to find something in common with Junior, that and the strong relationship he has with his family,” Figueroa said.
Junior’s imagined spots are a major component of the show that break up the various vignette scenes in the show, showcasing his active mind and love for art and creativity.
“My character is addicted to television and has a very hyper imagination and always imagines stuff, mostly things that my father who was born very poor did not get to have. I was nine and imagining things while my father kept telling me he had a job at my age,” Franco said.
Alongside Junior’s colorful imagination, a large part and namesake of the show is the constant motif of Junior’s father’s ‘57 Chevy model car which represents the unchanging values that the family has as they assimilate to be American.
Franco recalled that the show became to be known by its title due to the 57 Chevy car being mentioned and referenced constantly throughout the script, his co-writer Dunlap helped settle on this name and what the show would actually be about.
“Val said to me, ‘Cris you need to find a unifying factor that ties everything together’ and I thought ‘what is it, what is it’ and I remembered the Chevy, the Chevy was there through all of it,” Franco said.
He continued, “When we moved from Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. we were in that Chevy, when we moved to the valley, to L.A., we were in that Chevy. When the kids made fun of me, I was in that Chevy. As I grew older, I appreciated it because it became such a classic.”
The prevalence of the car is seen throughout the show, especially in the last sequence where Junior and his father look back upon memories and regrets regarding both the car and their lives.
“I didn’t understand the value of the car until I grew up. The last line of the show, ‘I had a classic all my life’, was what helped me get there,’ said Franco regarding the significance of the car to the plot.
The show not only marks the world premiere of the show, it also marks director Jessica Beron’s first ever major play directed at LBCC, however this isn’t her first time working with an original composition that is being performed for the first time.
“This isn’t my first time working with original works, it’s something that interests me as an artist regardless if I’m directing, acting or choreographing. I’ve done quite a bit in independent theater so bringing it to the institutional (college) level has been so much fun. It requires a specific skill set to work with a new work and piece,” Beron said.
Beron resonates with the storyline of the show being about immigration and familial relationships.
“My family originated here from Argentina, my family left their professional careers behind and moved here. I am where I am today because of them. I also resonate quite a bit with the story of a father and his son because of the journey of their relationship. I was close to my dad because we were so similar, but we butt heads a lot similar to Junior and his dad,” Beron said.
During the process of creating the show, Beron has been “very excited” especially with the “fun surprises” they have for the audience to watch blindly.
The ensemble cast of ’57 Chevy dances to the theme song of “The Flintstones” during a musical sequence where they danced to various 60s TV show theme songs during a dress rehearsal on May 20. (Dom Maddan)
“I am just so excited for people to get to see what I see every night, I am just seriously excited for people to watch this show finally. It’s like when you’re just hoping and hoping your friend sees a funny TikTok you sent them. It’s gonna make you laugh and it’s gonna make you cry, I can’t wait to hear everyone’s responses”, Beron said.
‘57 Chevy opened on Thursday and its last show is today at 2 p.m. at the little theater inside the LAC’s Jenni Rivera Performing Arts Center.
Tickets can be purchased here or at the in person box office in the J-Building at the LAC.
Tickets for students are either $10 or free if you have the current ASB sticker. Staff, seniors and veterans are also $10 and general admission is $15.
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