Boston Conservatory at Berklee musical theater senior Rachel Da Silva directs Woman on Fire by Marisela Treviño Orta.
The ghost of a woman who died crossing the U.S. border haunts this story’s heroine, Juanita, a first-generation Mexican-American woman. Torn between her Mexican heritage and her American life, will she risk her husband's career at the U.S. Border Patrol, or will she find justice for the immigrant woman who never got the life she dreamed of?
Audience Advisory: This performance includes topics of terrorism, immigration, death, racism, and mental illness, as well as loud sound effects, flashing strobe lights, and strong language.
Program Information
Welcome
Welcome all! On behalf of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee student directors, we'd like to thank you for joining us this evening. Directing these shows has been an amazing learning experience for all of us and we truly couldn't do this without your support. We would like to thank the Conservatory for giving us this platform to present work outside of the musical theater repertoire that is unique to each of our individual backgrounds. Please enjoy!
—Student directors
Director's Note
Woman on Fire went from an assignment from Alyssa Schmidt to a passion project and duty for me. Immigration laws and border politics are subjects that come and go in the media but are ever-present in the lives of immigrants and the younger generations that hyphen "American" at the end.
As a first-generation Brazilian-American woman, it is an honor and privilege to attend a conservatory where I have opportunities like this one to make art that matters. Latines come to the United States and share their foods, familial values, work ethic, music, and more. We hold a unique community and are the epitome of a "melting pot" with infinite variations of race, culture, and language.
This story is about the racism Latines endure in the United States and the colorism we experience within our own diaspora. It is about both the brave people who took the risky and often dangerous journey to have a better life, as well as the "-American" generation and what they do with the privilege they have been handed.
The Latine community is not the only community of immigrants that faces these battles. It is an ongoing issue and a relatable story to anyone who took the leap to come here, but especially people of color.
And this is part of our story, but only part of it.
—Rachel Da Silva, Woman on Fire director
Cast
JUANITA – Gigi Gomez
PAOLA – Isabela Garcia
JARED – Wyatt Anton
ARACELI – Lauren Abraham
VOICE OF JOAQUIN – Martin Hernandez
VOICE OF DISPATCHER – Jack Villhard
Production Credits
CREATIVE TEAM:
Director – Rachel Da Silva
Assistant Director – Kait Herrick
Stage Manager – Clara Tomás
Assistant Stage Manager – Juliette Ojeda
Lighting Designer – Brogan Nelson
Art Director – Arriana Glenn
CONCERT SERVICES STAFF:
Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Senior Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov
Special Thanks
- Jermaine Hill
- Chris Webb
- Angie Jepsen
- Audrey Kimball
- Larry Dembski
- Marisela Treviño Orta, for her generosity to allow us to put on this show
- Alyssa Schmidt and Meghan Stahl, for continuing to share immigrant stories at BoCo
- Dear friends Arriana Glenn, Max Polsky, and Julia Grace Kelley
Boston Conservatory thanks audience members for viewing this program information online. This paperless program saved 110 sheets of paper, 12 gallons of water, and 10 pounds of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.
