Divas de España
As I was going back through the posts written so far this year, I briefly touched on this moment at the end of January via my Instagram and Facebook pages. I felt compelled to revisit this night to give a brief escape from the coronavirus that’s put life on pause for the moment.
I’m on the mailing list for the Thalia Spanish Theater, a theater in Long Island City, Queens that’s been putting on theatrical productions from Spain and Latin America since 1974. The production that’s the title of this post was playing at the theater from the end of January and the first two weeks of February. It was perfect timing as I usually do something big to celebrate passing the date of hire and something smaller on or around the date of January 30th. The big event was already booked, a 12 day tour of Italy slated for this September.
It was a busy week that began with a trip around the world without leaving NYC thanks to the NY Times Travel Show at the Javits Center on the Sunday afternoon. I’m in a jovial mood having also unexpectedly met up with a friend and former co worker. But as I was on the bus coming home, I saw the news of Kobe Bryant’s passing on my phone and went numb. Between that and work, I needed something to smile about.
On Friday evening, I returned back to Long Island City, a stop away from where I normally get off the 7 train to walk to work at 40th Street. Through the clouds, the Empire State Building shined in gold on the far horizon. I went to dinner at Sarabella, an Italian restaurant across the street from the theater. I toasted myself with the glass of Pinot Grigio as the restaurant was almost empty, except for the waitress and kitchen staff. I made it to my seat with enough time for a quick taste of wine that the house offered to everyone.
Just after 8 8pm, the lights went down. This production was billed as a one woman show and the actress, Inma Heredia came out on stage, castanets in hand for the title song with all of us joining in for the chorus. She explained, this evening a pageant would take place to crown the Diva de España. The contestants, the actress Sara Montiel, the singer, Rocio Jurado, the flamenco guitarist and actress, Charo and the actress and flamenco dancer, Lola Flores.
With the help of a game stage manager and makeup artist, Imna one by one became each diva in real time. She fully became each woman, capturing the icyness of Sara, Rocio’s melodrama, Charo’s enthusiasm and Lola’s fire. During her transformation into Charo, she roamed the aisles looking for gentlemen to join her on stage and as I was in the front row, I was called up. There I was down to my t-shirt attempting to do the Macarena. As if I hadn’t spent the last 26 years trying to get Los Del Rios’s song out of my head. But I was blushing and smiling instead with my guard down as it was the last time I did this, at my graduation party from elementary school in 1996.
After all the contestants plead their case to the audience, the lights went down. Inma appeared and broke the fourth wall as she told us that the women portrayed on stage are her heroes. She struggled to make inroads in her future ambitions. It was then that the moment of awakening dawned on her and she would enter the pageant as herself. The moment of being herself was enough to win the pageant.
I stuck around after the show and in my best broken Spanish, congratulated Imna on the show’s run. I also apologized for my lack of coordination but even she could see that I was giving it all the enthusiasm. I was given one of the pink roses from her bouquet.
It began to rain on the walk back to the subway. I had my rose in hand and a smile on my face. This was a night spent in the presence of royalty and I enjoyed every minute of it. Here’s hoping that this show comes back for a third run somewhere down the road.
Divas de España…
