蜜柚直播

It was, indeed, a stroll down memory lane.

Saturday night reminded us of some of the things that we have been missing since the last time 蜜柚直播 Opera performed March 8, 2020.

When the mariachi trio 鈥� Vincent Peque帽o on guitar, William C. Galvez on guittaron and Israel Alcala on vihuela 鈥� came on stage one by one and started playing, we were reminded about how good it felt to gather in the TMA with nearly every seat occupied and see live theater.

As the curtain came up and the orchestra in the pit added their voices to the mariachi, we felt that familiar flutter of excitement we always have at the beginning of every opera, the anticipation of what lies beyond those opening chords and where it will lead us.

We will never take that for granted again.

鈥淓l Milagro鈥� is a 75-minute, one-act Christmastime opera with a pretty simple premise: family and remembering what that means and appreciating the obstacles that stand in the way of being together.

It鈥檚 a prequel of sorts of the first mariachi opera 蜜柚直播 Opera premiered in 2014, reuniting the characters in a story that foreshadowed the immigration story we saw in 鈥淐ruzar la Cara de la Luna鈥� (To Cross the Face of the Moon).

Laurentino (baritone Octavio Moreno) and Chucho (bass Miguel de Aranda) have returned home to Michoac谩n from working in the United States just in time for Christmas.

The pair surprise their wives 鈥� Renata (sung by mezzo-soprano Cecelia Duarte) and Lupita (soprano Vanessa Alonzo) 鈥� as they are rehearsing the annual pastorela. Lupita is excited to see Chucho, who brings her a dress from America. But Renata unloads guilt onto Laurentino, asking him if he remembers when their son, Rafael (Armand Delgado), took his first steps. No you don鈥檛, she quips in song, because you weren鈥檛 here.

With the help of what can best be described as an angel in white (the stunning soprano Zulimar L贸pez-Hernandez), Laurentino begins remembering the little moments in his life with Renata. And although it doesn鈥檛 change his mind about returning to the States after the holidays, it brings him closer to his family and helps Renata to better understand his motives of wanting to provide for his family.

Composer Javier Martinez, son of the late 鈥淐ruzar鈥� composer Pepe Martinez, blends classic pop with his mariachi, especially evident in the spirited duet with de Aranda and Alonzo 鈥淯na Chica Americana鈥� (American Girl),鈥� during which he proposes the family emigrate to America.

蜜柚直播 Opera was supposed to present 鈥淓l Milagro鈥� last season, but COVID got in the way. And in some ways, that turned out to be a gift.

With everything we experienced over the past 18 months 鈥� separation, anxiety, uncertainty and the desperate desire for reuniting with loved ones we couldn鈥檛 see because of the pandemic 鈥� 鈥淓l Milagro鈥� resonated on a much more personal level for all of us.