Carlo Albán

Walking out of the Public Theater on April 2nd, I not only learned a word in Spanish that I’d never heard before (in case you were wondering, intríngulis means complex web or ulterior motive – see below), but I also walked out dumbfounded at an outstanding one-man performance. Carlo Albán, most known for his six-year career as “Carlo” on Sesame Street, has also had roles in Strangers with Candy, 21 Grams, Law & Order, Touched by an Angel, and Thicker than Blood, as well as José Rivera’s References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, John Patrick Shanley’s A Winter Party, and Stephen Belber’s A Small Melodramatic Story. In his play, Intríngulis, Carlo, now 28, explores the journey he and his family went through after immigrating from Ecuador to the U.S., and he does so using a creative tornado of singing famous Latin American and American protest songs jumbled with acting out different personalities to tell the story of the immigrant. Ultimately, he demonstrates how we are all alike in the end.

How did you come up with the name of the play?
The title came from the lyrics of one of the songs in the show - specifically Victor Jara’s, Las Casitas del Barrio Alto, (a Spanish adaptation of Pete Seeger’s Little Boxes). When I was ready to do the first reading of the script for my theater company (Labyrinth Theater Co.), I still didn’t have a title. I wanted it to be something that really spoke about the piece, preferably something that was IN the script. At one point, I considered calling it, The Ire of Our People, (as per the novel I tried to write when I was 9) but I thought that was a little too heavy. So finally, right before the reading, as I translated the song lyrics (the last thing I did), I ran across this word, intríngulis, which I had to look up. It means a complex web, or an ulterior motive. I felt it encapsulated the show, and it was a really interesting word that most people don’t know - even Spanish speakers. So it became the title. Later on, I considered changing it, because it’s SO unfamiliar, and maybe somewhat cryptic, but several people convinced me otherwise, and now I love it. I don’t think it’ll change.

What was your reason for and/or sparked writing the play?
I’ve always wanted to tell this story. It’s something I grew up with that screamed out to me to tell, but I couldn’t. So when I finally felt like I could, meaning once I felt safe enough to tell the story, once we were legal, I started developing ideas in my head. I started writing everything I could remember down. I carried a notebook with me at all times (I still do) and whenever I thought of something I would write it down. Eventually I wrote a screenplay, which was kind of a really sanitized version of the story. I put that away once I finished it. The idea to tell the story in the format in which it exists now, as Intríngulis, occurred one day when my Mom had me listen to a recording of Joan Baez singing an old Mexican folk song (La Llorona). I was thrown by the fact that this American singer, who had dated Bob Dylan, was singing Spanish folk songs. It was then that something clicked in my head. I realized the close relationship between musical movements in the U.S. and Latin America - folk music and protest music. From there, the idea for Intríngulis was born, and once again, I started collecting ideas and writing everything down.

Why did you decide to perform each of the characters within the play, and to fragment it the way you did - part music, part different characters, and part your own personal story?
The format was an extension of the writing process. It was conducive to that type of fragmentation. I followed an exercise called "Morning Pages" in which the first thing you do when you get up in the morning is write longhand - a certain number of pages or for a set amount of time. I would write for about an hour every morning. Since the concept was in my head already, most of the time what came out was in some way related to the show. Sometimes they were stories, sometimes they were voices, and sometimes they were random fragments of thoughts. Finally at one point, I typed all the material I had, and I started cutting and pasting, mixing and matching. I started seeing correlations between some of the voices, and out of that the characters were born. The stories about myself I made cohesive and found a chronological narrative. The music is there because the original spark came from music, and because music has always been an integral part of me. It’s also something I wanted to share, because I think that music is just so beautiful. It’s something my parents gave me and which I will always carry with me.

How long did it take you to write it?
I did the original script over a period of nine months, but I’ve worked on it a lot since then, and I’m still working on it. It’s very much a work in progress. So, I guess you could say it’s taken me two and a half years so far.

Where do you live now?
I split my time between NJ and NYC.

How did you get a job at Sesame Street? How old were you?
Sesame Street was another audition among hundreds. Originally I auditioned for the 25th Anniversary Special which they shot in Central Park. They liked me and carried me over to the show. I was fourteen when I started.

You are one of the most multi-talented people I have ever seen. Have you always had a calling for performing? How did you realize it?
I’ve always sang - not in a performance setting though - more like, in the shower, on road trips, or along with the stereo. As far as acting, I never had any intentions of becoming an actor. I fell into it when I was 11. My family was visiting some friends in Union City, NJ, and their children were auditioning for a community theater production of Oliver, so my brother and I went along just to accompany them. Because they needed little orphan boys, they assumed that we were there to audition as well, so they gave us sides, gave us music and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer when we told them we were only there to watch. I ended up being cast as Oliver and my brother as one of the orphans. I met my agent there. Shortly thereafter, she started sending me out on auditions. Three years later, I got on Sesame Street.

Now that you are a citizen, do you think all the struggle was worth it in the end?
Absolutely.

Do you work anywhere else by day?
I’ve had all kinds of jobs along the way. I’ve worked in the kitchen of a pizzeria, as a bartender, busboy, video editor, bike messenger, teaching artist...You never know when the next opportunity is going to present itself.

I could tell by watching the play that you love NJ, but what is your favorite thing about NYC?
New York is the most diverse city I’ve ever experienced. I love the energy that stems out of the myriad cultures that meet there. There’s a little bit of every part of the world I think.

What does "cosmopolatino" mean to you?
Hmm...a cranberry and vodka cocktail on a caribbean beach…? Or not…Well, in this day and age, with so much instant connection, I think it is what everyone will eventually be...Not only cosmopolatino, but cosmopoeuropeo, cosmopoafricano, cosmopoaustraliano, cosmopoLOQUESEA...It is what this world is fast approaching - a global cosmopolitanism – that is, if we can keep our wits about us, and learn to filter out those who would convince us otherwise.

The last performance of Intríngulis is Monday, April 9 at 7pm. And will take place at Martinson Hall at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street). Tickets are on sale now and are available by visiting http:// www.labtheater.org. All tickets are $25.

(Published in NYRemezcla.com)

Doña Rosita Returns to El Repertorio

From now until January 21, 2006, Federico García Lorca’s play, Doña Rosita la soltera, is being reincarnated after 23 years of absence from El Repertorio Español. Directed by esteemed René Buch and starring Miss Universe 2001, Denise Quiñones, as Rosita, Doña Rosita la soltera makes a stunning comeback.

Federico García Lorca, one of Spain’s most revered poets and dramatists, was born in 1898, a few miles from Granada. In 1936, at the young age of 38, he died a violent death also near Granada, as a victim of the fascist movement of the Spanish Civil War. He was highly recognized for intertwining his theatrical works with poetry, and he himself once explained, "El teatro es la poesía que se levanta del libro y se hace humana. Y al hacerse, habla y grita, llora y se desespera. El teatro necesita que los personajes que aparecen en escena lleven un traje de poesía y al mismo tiempo que se la vean los huesos, la sangre…"

One of his last plays before his death, Doña Rosita la soltera, is a precise example of how he combines theatre with poetry. It is a heart-wrenching tale mixed with surprising bits of comedy. The play starts out in Granada during the 1890’s, where a young and beautiful Doña Rosita falls in love with her cousin. Unexpectedly, his family calls for him to return to South America, but he swears to Rosita that he will return for her. She waits patiently for the rest of her life, even after she learns that he has married somebody else.

Lorca does an ingenious job at juxtaposing Doña Rosita’s life with the different historical periods (1980 – 1910) as well as comparing her with a flower – hence her name. As Lorca himself once said, seeing this play performed is like poetry brought to life.

The first scene at El Repertorio opened up with pure whiteness - the women were in white frilly dresses and flouncy white hats, the uncle was in a white suit, even the furniture was white. This is 1890, the period when Rosita is young, innocent and in love. She looked like a white rose in perfect bloom.

Rosita’s boyfriend, played by Freddy Rivera, made an appearance in the first act also dressed in white, and received loud sighs from the women in the audience because of his striking looks. He did not have a substantial part in the play, but it’s no wonder it took Rosita a lifetime to get over him!

In a period of social and gender status stratification, it is ironic that the maid possesses such a crucial role in the play. Alejandra Orozco did a remarkable portrayal of this fundamental character, and received many laughs from the audience. The maid butted her way into every conversation and made herself heard despite her position in society. "I love Rosita more than anybody," she would argue with Rosita’s aunt to explain why she listened in on all of their conversations.

The play portrays a period where a woman meant less in society if she wasn’t married. Rosita resists this societal norm by remaining single for the rest of her life. She proves that love conquers all, even if it is no longer reciprocated. She remains faithful to her heart and not to society. Rosita and the maid are the forces that rebel against society, the maid doing so more aggressively by making herself heard at all times, and Rosita, passively in her room.

By the third act, it is 1910: Rosita’s uncle dies, and everyone is now wearing black. Rosita has aged and looks wilted, she has found out and finally accepts the fact that her love is never coming back, and the play concludes with this heart breaking speech to her aunt:

"Me ha acostumbrado a vivir muchos años fuera de mi, pensando en cosas que estaban muy lejos, y ahora que estas cosas ya no existen sigo dando vueltas y mas vueltas por un sitio frio, buscando una salida que no he de encontrar nunca." Watching Denise Quiñones act out these words causing a tremble throughout her slim frame and tears streaming down her delicate face, sent a chill down my spine. Her anguish was so believable that my heart ached for her. She is a very sincere actress who truly felt the character she is playing. She would have made Federico García Lorca very proud for having revived his poetry so well.

(Published in NYRemezcla.com)