2's Got Your Ticket: After 18-Month COVID Delay, 'American Mariachi' Takes The Stage At Goodman Theatre
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a musical play with a lot of heart and steeped in tradition.
2's Got Your Ticket, and this week entertainment reporter Vince Gerasole has a preview of the Goodman Theatre's American Mariachi.
Every story has a backstory, and so does American Mariachi at the Goodman. This production, which is a joint effort with the Dallas Theater Center, was ready to roll, the sets were painted, the actors buttoned into their costumes, and then along came COVID-19.
They were so close to opening in Dallas that the cast of American Mariachi went ahead and filmed their final dress rehearsal, knowing the curtain would never rise.
"We were ready to go, we had done all of tech, we had nailed our quick changes," actress Lucy Godinez said "A ll of a sudden around us we started seeing all these different theaters shutting down, then Broadway shut down, then this theater closed and that theater closed."
Godinez is one of the young leads.
"It was heartbreaking, it was so heartbreaking," she said.
Eighteen months later, the Goodman has joyously brought them back together.
What was it like when actors could once again step into the rehearsal room and be surrounded by other creatives on a project?
"Oh man, the first day was a whirlwind, just even getting a daily call from a stage manager. When I got that email, it was like, 'Oh my God, it's a daily call.' I never thought I would get one of those again," Lucy said.
A heartwarming comedy with a feminist undertone, the play tells the story of a group of young Texas women in the 70's who decide to form an all-female mariachi band.
"The tradition in Mexican American culture was that mariachi bands were all-male," said director Henry Godinez, who is Lucy's father.
What's it like working together?
"My mom was like, 'What do you call him in the room?' And I just say, 'hey!'" Lucy said
"It's a really beautiful story about tradition, about family," Henry said.
Have they bonded more as father and daughter?
"I really appreciate getting to watch him; getting to watch him do what he does, and I just kind of observe," Lucy said. "I have a newfound appreciation for his skills, and what he can do as an artist. It's really cool."
Lucy's mom and Henry's wife, Nancy Voigts, is an actress at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, learning how to pay the bass for her latest role in As You Like It. So these folks, when it comes to theater arts, clearly keep it all in the family.