Digging for Jewish Roots in ‘Palestine, New Mexico’

By Naomi Pfefferman

URL: http://www.jewishjournal.com/theater/article/digging_for_jewish_roots_in_palestine_new_mexico_20091216/

It seems out of character — to say the least — when Richard Montoya expresses concern about how his new play, “Palestine, New Mexico,” might be received at the Mark Taper Forum. Montoya, after all, is the irreverent front man for Culture Clash, the mostly left-leaning, often Chicano-themed political cabaret that has cheekily taken on multiculturalism for a quarter century in productions such as “Chavez Ravine” and “Water and Power.” No subject has been too sacred for its vaudevillian brand of humor — early sketches featured Latino “superheroes” such as “Busboy Man” and “Lawnblower Man” — and even Latino idols such as Che Guevara were fair game. “We didn’t realize until we read in a textbook out of New York University that we had heroically resurrected Che, but then killed him again,” Montoya said with a laugh.

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Comments:	A friend has recommended you read the following from The Jewish Journal... Digging for Jewish Roots in ‘Palestine, New Mexico’ It seems out of character — to say the least — when Richard Montoya expresses concern about how his new play, “Palestine, New Mexico,” might be received at the Mark Taper Forum. Montoya, after all, is the irreverent front man for Culture Clash, the mostly left-leaning, often Chicano-themed political cabaret that has cheekily taken on multiculturalism for a quarter century in productions such as “Chavez Ravine” and “Water and Power.” No subject has been too sacred for its vaudevillian brand of humor — early sketches featured Latino “superheroes” such as “Busboy Man” and “Lawnblower Man” — and even Latino idols such as Che Guevara were fair game. “We didn’t realize until we read in a textbook out of New York University that we had heroically resurrected Che, but then killed him again,” Montoya said with a laugh. http://www.jewishjournal.com/theater/article/digging_for_jewish_roots_in_palestine_new_mexico_20091216/ Sign up for our free email news alerts at http://www.jewishjournal.com/email.

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