Cabaret will meet cumbia when “Broadway en Spanglish,” a project that reimagines musical theater classics with lush Mexican folk arrangements, comes to Mass MoCA on February 4.
Created by Broadway composer-performers Florencia Cuenca and Jaime Lozano and featuring the traditional band Mariachi Real de Mexico de Ramon Ponce, “Broadway en Spanglish” fuses Mexican folk music with contemporary styles. In the show, Lozano—called Broadway’s “next big thing by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda—adapts and sings favorite hits from “Rent” and “Hamilton” while Cuenca delivers profoundly moving bilingual performances. Lozano is also the composer of “Frida the Musical,” a forthcoming production about Frida Kahlo that was developed with special access to the late Mexican artist’s estate.
Here, Cuenca performs “Burn” from “Hamilton”:
“Broadway en Spanglish” will be performed at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, on February 4 at 8pm. Tickets are $22 in advance and $32 on the day of the show ($46 preferred attendees).
This article appears in January 2023.
