From Maria La O! The Cuban Zarzuela (Operetta)
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona
Maria la O: Soprano, Gabriela Crowe
Niño Fernando: Tenor, Joseph Garate
A Bilingual Foundation of the Arts Production
ZARZUELA UNDER THE STARS
Director: Margarita Galban
Stage Manager: Cecilia Garcia Serrano


Set in 1830s Havana, in times of slavery and Spanish colonial rule.
The conflict revolves around the interracial romance between the sensuous
but ill-fated mulata, María la O, and the galán, Niño Fernando, a wealthy young criollo
from a powerful family of Spanish descent. This story evolves into a triangle
when the gallant Fernando, torn between forbidden passion and angelic love,
resolves to leave María la O to marry the granddaughter of the Marquis, La Niña Tula.
María la O, is the quintessential mulata, and has become a Cuban cultural icon. This
tense plot of interracial passions and social pressures culminates in a romantic tragedy.
In this scene, Maria realizes that Fernando is seeing someone else. Because in this particular show, there was no Jose Inocente (the character who in the story, kills Fernando), the director, had Maria do it...

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