Mariachi opera to honor Mexican laborers of the 1950s bracero program

Brian J. Varela, Ventura County Star
·2 min read
Volunteers announce the names of bracero workers at the beginning of the 2016 performance of "El Bracero – A Mariachi Opera." Oxnard’s ANIMO Theatre Company is performing the play Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.
Volunteers announce the names of bracero workers at the beginning of the 2016 performance of "El Bracero – A Mariachi Opera." Oxnard’s ANIMO Theatre Company is performing the play Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.

Oxnard’s ÁNIMO Theatre Company is transporting audiences to the 1950s to remember Mexican laborers who sought work in the United States through the federal bracero program.

Using mariachi music and Folklorico dance routines, "El Bracero – A Mariachi Opera," depicts the life and struggles of Noe and other workers at a bracero camp.

The sole performance begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased at aminotheatre.org starting at $25.

The one-act play features performances by the mariachi ensemble Mariachi Águilas de J. Carlos Ozuna, rising opera singer Estefani Lopez and students and musicians from Oxnard’s Inlakech Cultural Center. Photos of bracero workers from the 1950s will also be on display.

Ide Gonzalez, right, sings in the 2016 performance of "El Bracero – A Mariachi Opera." Jonathan Lopez, left, plays a young Noe, the main character of the play. Oxnard’s ANIMO Theatre Company is performing the play Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.
Ide Gonzalez, right, sings in the 2016 performance of "El Bracero – A Mariachi Opera." Jonathan Lopez, left, plays a young Noe, the main character of the play. Oxnard’s ANIMO Theatre Company is performing the play Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.

“This is a cultural and educational experience that teaches an important chapter of Mexican-American history,” director and producer Miguel Orozco said.

The U.S. started the bracero program during World War II at a time when most of the country’s workforce was overseas, said Euclides Del Moral, head consul at the Mexican Consulate in Oxnard.

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The program brought thousands of Mexican laborers into the country to work on farms and ranches. Although the program ended in the 1960s, it created a longstanding practice of Mexicans working in the fields, Del Moral said.

“(The play) is for the younger generation to learn the struggles the older generations faced coming here to work in the fields,” Del Moral said. “It is something to be proud of.”

Written by Rosalinda Alexander Verde, "El Bracero" will be performed in a mix of Spanish and English. Subtitles will be displayed, but Orozco said the hybrid performance allows speakers of both languages to follow along.

The theatre company has performed the opera multiple times in the last six years across Santa Barbara, Kern, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Saturday’s rendition will be its last performance of the play. The actors last performed it at Pacifica High School in 2019.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Mariachi opera tells life of Mexican laborers in 1950s