Today I’ll tell you about one of the most recent groups that have joined our Credit Union family. I’m referring to GALA Hispanic Theatre, whose employees now can be members of the OAS FCU.
In my most recent visit to the Credit Union in DC, where I had the chance to talk to many of the people I know from my days living in the city, I also had the rare pleasure of having a
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| The founders of GALA Hispanic Theatre, Rebecca and Hugo Medrano. Photo: GALA. |
personal tour of the GALA Theatre house at the hands of none other than its co-founder and Director, Rebecca Medrano. During the interview-tour I got to learn much about the history of this noble institution and about Rebecca herself.
GALA as a theatre group dates back to 1976 when Hugo and Rebecca Medrano purchased a house in the heart of Adams Morgan, tore down the inner walls and turned the whole place into a theatre-café. They envisioned the organization and their space, in Rebecca’s own words: “as a creative space, a home for artists, thinkers and writers who escaped their own countries’ dictatorships in Latin America. We offered a space to think and express freely.”
Over the years and for various reasons the theatre changed locales, always staying in the city, until 1999 when they won a bid to renovate, remodel and settle into a historic building that is now today’s GALA Theatre.
The Theatre is located in the heart of Columbia Heights, in a very elegant building that was erected in 1923 as a 4-screen cinema. The cinema name was Tivoli, which is the name you
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| Exterior of the Tivoli building, the home of GALA Hispanic Theatre. Photo: Maxwell MacKenzie. |
can still see on the corner of the building. You’ll find GALA on 14th Street NW, between Monroe and Park. The theatre proper occupies what was in its day the balcony of the main cinema room; they also have workshops, and space for other purposes, both cultural and theatre related, where they work all year-round. If you want to read a little more on the history of this curious building, designed and renovated by notable architects, here’s the full story.
Because of the tight relationship that’s always existed between GALA Theatre and the OAS (the organization provided unconditional support to the promotion of our Latin culture nation-and continent-wide), a considerable amount of the donors that have supported GALA Theatre over the years are departments and/or staff of the OAS itself, as one can clearly see when checking out the donors’ wall, as well as the “thanks” plaques that many of the 260+ seats of the theatre have.
One of the understandable yet unsuspected characteristics of GALA is the unbreakable rule that every single production must be based on a book, play, or script written by a Latin American person.
GALA Theatre presents, bilingually, all sorts of plays and projects: contemporary theatre,
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| Interior of the theatre, as viewed from the balcony. Photo: GALA. |
adaptations of very well-known novels as well as classics of literature in Spanish (both adapted from novels and plays), modern dance recitals and stage presentations of cultural events from Latin America. The soon ending 2017-2018 calendar is a great example of this variety, starting with the modern staging of Don Juan Tenorio last year, the Flamenco Recital that they host every year, the adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s historical novel In the Time of Butterflies, the Latin American Film Festival and the dancers from Bolivia’s Carnaval de Oruro. Personally, I was touched to learn that every year GALA hosts the Kings Day Parade on January 6th so that parents can bring their children to meet the Three Kings of Orient.
Both the Theatre and its founders have been recognized (repeatedly!) over the past four decades for the excellence of their artistic, cultural, and community work. The city of Washington DC decreed in 2016 that every May 10 is GALA Day, in honor of the theatre’s anniversary, and in recognition of the promotion and enrichment of Latin culture in the city that Hugo and Rebecca Medrano made during that time.
The theatre and its performances have won 20 Helen Hayes Awards; these are the awards given in DC yearly recognizing excellence in professional theatre. The GALA institution has countless awards for its contributions to the Latin and Washingtonian culture and community. Rebecca and Hugo themselves have received awards from the city of Washington, from various of the city’s mayors, from the first lady of the United States Michelle Obama, as well as from king Juan Carlos the first of Spain in thanks for their
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| GALA'S iconic awning. Photo: GALA. |
dedication and the promotion of our Latin culture over the years. The lengthy list of awards shows a lifetime of endeavors and work in Washington DC -and the United States-.
It’s been a great honor to talk with Mrs. Medrano and have the chance to hear, in person, so many amazing, beautiful and persona anecdotes that spice up the history of great labor of love for the arts. I recommend to all our members to keep up to date with what the Theatre’s staging for the upcoming 2018-2019 season starting this fall, as it promises to have many great productions. Early in the season will be the first-time-in-Spanish (with subtitles) adaptation to the stage of the world-known love story from Laura Esquivel Like Water For Chocolate. Another large project, still in the process of obtaining proper financing, will be the Spanish rendition of the huge 80s television (and later Broadway) hit Fame, a musical conceived, written and developed by David de Silva. Don’t miss it!
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