Arizona Opera delivers Christmas gift to Tucson with mariachi opera | Arts and Theater

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It’s kind of a prequel to the first mariachi opera, which premiered in 2014, and brings the characters together in a story that anticipates the immigration story we saw in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (Crossing The Face of the Moon).

Laurentino (baritone Octavio Moreno) and Chucho (bass Miguel de Aranda) returned to Michoacán from their work in the USA just in time for Christmas.

The two surprise their wives – Renata (sung by mezzo-soprano Cecelia Duarte) and Lupita (soprano Vanessa Alonzo) – while rehearsing the annual Pastorela. Lupita is happy to see Chucho, who brings her a dress from America. But Renata, feeling guilty, invites Laurentino over and asks if he remembers when her son Rafael (Armand Delgado) took his first steps. No, you don’t, she jokes in the song, because you weren’t here.

With the help of an angel in white (the stunning soprano Zulimar López-Hernandez), Laurentino begins to remember the little moments of his life with Renata. And while it doesn’t change his mind about returning to the States after the vacation, it brings him closer to his family and helps Renata better understand his motives for caring for his family.

Composer Javier Martinez, son of the late “Cruzar” composer Pepe Martinez, combines classic pop with his mariachi, which is particularly evident in the spirited duet with de Aranda and Alonzo “Una Chica Americana” (American girl), “in which he Family proposes to emigrate to America.

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