CARMELA FULL OF WISHES Comes To Main Street Theater,

Main Street Theater opens its 2023-2024 Theater for Youth season upcoming with CARMELA, FULL OF WISHES, adapted by Houston's own Alvaro Saar Rios, from the book by Matt de la Peña. The production runs  Sept. 24 – Oct. 21 at MST's Midtown location at 3400 Main Street, 77002 at the MATCH. 

The production is recommended for Pre-Kindergarten and older and will be performed in a mix of English and Spanish with projected translations. Please see director's note below about the translation.

CARMELA FULL OF WISHES

Adapted by Houston's own Alvaro Saar Rios

From the book by Matt de la Peña

Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Ticket Prices: $18 – $28

SUNDAYS: September 24 & October 1, 2023 at 12:30pm & 3:30pm

SATURDAYS: October 7, 14 & 21 at 10:30am & 1:30pm

Feliz Cumpleaños! It's Carmela's birthday, and she's finally old enough to tag along with her big brother as he runs the family errands. Passing by the bodega and the lavanderia, Carmela picks a dandelion and makes a very important wish… Carmela Full of Wishes illuminates the beauty of working class neighborhoods and the power of community and family. Told through the lens of a heartfelt sibling story, this endearing play explores what hope looks like in a migrant community steeped in Mexican culture.

A Note from the Director, Laura Moreno

Carmela Full of Wishes is such a special piece of art. It explores a very modern subject of immigration and a family separated. It also explores the importance of finding joy and hope through everyday struggles and loss. 

Our path as a collaborative team was to honor these characters through exploring personal experience, knowledge, and culture. We used this same approach with the bilingual translation of the script. With the understanding that Spanish has nuances based on region and familiarity, we worked as a group to determine the level and comfortability of Spanish with each character: Mami is comfortable in her own skin and uses spanish fluidly, Papi weaves between the two languages as a way of survival and practice, Big Brother distances himself from Spanish because he's seen what has happened to Papi, and Carmela honors the person she speaks with by speaking in their language of choice. We rooted the translations in both Central American (Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian) and Tejano Spanish because that's where the cast is from and what we know. 

Now in its 48th season, Main Street Theater provides theater experiences for all ages.  The MainStage produces professional, intimate, literary plays for adults and operates under an Actors' Equity Association union contract; the Theater for Youth produces professional, engaging productions based on children's literature for families and school groups, both in-house and on tour around Texas; and we offer Education and Outreach programs on-site and at satellite locations around the Greater Houston area for youth aged 4 – high school.  We work out of 2 facilities: our Rice Village home on Times. Blvd., and as part of the MATCH (Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston) on Main Street.  

Main Street Theater is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theaters, of Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (formerly ASSITEJ), the world theatre network of theatre for children and young people, and a founding member of Houston Arts Partners. Main Street Theater is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Main Street Theater is also funded in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. This project is generously funded by the Houston Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.

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