“Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Rio Grande River lost all of its water, in the RGV?”, asked Pharr Community Theater’s longtime director/producer, Pedro Garcia.
“Most of us take the Rio Grande River for granted, unless it’s to think about the undocumented trying to cross it to the USA. Nevertheless, the river drying up concept is a predominant issue in our upcoming, fun Christmas play, A Tejano Christmas Carol.”
Now in rehearsals since last October an ensemble of 12 adults and eight children from different parts of the RGV form the cast of this two-act play, told in English, in about two hours, with one short intermission, set entirely in the valley.
“Our play is an adaptation I wrote based on the famous Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol,” added Garcia, who also directs the play. “In our version Scrooge becomes Mr. Codos, (Codos loosely means stingy in Spanish) an unscrupulous businessman and water broker, played by Ray Perez from McAllen. After many years of greedily accumulating wealth, he’s about to reach his goal of becoming a multi-millionaire upon selling huge portions of water rights from all the properties he owns alongside both sides of the famous river, to grave consequences. Now imagine that, I must conclude.”
Codos is also visited by three ghosts who help him see the consequences of his unchanging ways, past and present. The spirits in this adaptation include a woman soldier from the Mexican Revolution known as La Rielera, played by Pamela Zamora from Mission and the spirit of Tejano singer Selena, played by Melody Hernandez from Edinburg.
This is the fifth time, in the last seven years, that the popular RGV theater company stages the play, with new talent and a fresh spectacle, surely to be enjoyed by all ages, especially nine-year old’s and above.
The play runs from December 13, through December 19, at the Pharr Community Theater at 213 W. Newcombe Ave. (Park), in Pharr. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. on weeknights including Saturday and only one matinee on Sunday December 17 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are sold online at www.pharrcommunitytheater.com for the 55 seats available per show. It’s recommended you get them in advance, with no surcharge fee, for only $10 (general admission) or for $8 (Kids under 18, Seniors & Veterans.) For the discount tickets please be prepared to show proof of I.D. at the door. Tickets will also be sold at the door upon availability.
The Pharr Community Theater is a 501 (c) 3 organization founded in 2008 by Drs. Elva and Keith Michal (pronounced Michael) and by Pedro Garcia. For advanced tickets and more details visit www.pharrcommunitytheater.com or text (956) 655-9308. They can also be found on Facebook and on Instagram.
