Caridad De La Luz’s latest poetic work From Poor to Rico envisions a future built on organic Indigenous-Afro-Taino-Jibaro culture and autobiographical imagination.
This one-woman show offers a full arch of storytelling and musical accompaniment that speaks to people from the island and the general public to help all to imagine something more for the island than existing as the 1%’s playground.
Caridad: I want to connect with audiences on the island to help them feel spiritually enriched during this time of crisis. I also perform From Poor to Rico for my grandmother who was forced to relocate after Hurricane Maria devastated her home to a nursing home in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. I want to give her the glimpse of the island I knew from spending summers with her as a child in the mountains of Puerto Rico. The visual accompaniment to this performance of my poetic writings and songs is original photography taken on the island in the early 1970s by my father along with my own photographic work.
(L-R): Rodney Rivera, Caridad De La Luz, TiLou Lil Wolf Balan,Miguel Sague, Roberto Múkaro Borrero. Clason Point Park, Soundview, The Bronx Oct 9, 2021
photo: Marisol Diaz-Gordon, 2021
From Poor to Rico will be performed in a showcase on January 28, 2022 produced by Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative in partnership with Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture Rep Theater, and will be workshopped at local venues before its Bronx premiere at Hostos on Friday June 3 and Friday June 10, 2022.
From Poor to Rico is Caridad’s sixth original full-evening length musical theater production; the others include: Boogie Rican Boulevard, Non-Demonizational Nation, Salsa Bruja, La Consulta, and The BruHaHa Comedy Cabaret.
From Poor to Rico will tour with one production/tech person and videographer. A tech rider is available upon request.
This theatre work already has the support of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative, and The Poets Passage of San Juan, Puerto Rico.