New play revives stories of west side Jewish community in Denver
Chicano Theater company Su Teatro is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and this fall honoring a shared history with Denver's West Side Jewish community.
The theater company born to fight racism and to showcase Chicano culture is ensuring its neighbors' stories aren't erased, by reviving stories of the Jewish community that once populated Denver's West Colfax Neighborhood.
Executive Artistic Director Tony Garcia and entrepreneur/philanthropist Max Appel came together to write "Promise on the Hill."
Appel said, "I begin to realize the beautiful culture is what binds us together. There are so many similarities between prejudice."
Garcia added, "They built a shtetl, they built a community that supported each other until they were safe in that community until they were strong enough to expand outside the community."
Appel recalls the promise he made to himself on the hill on Hooker Street while looking over the city of Denver, "When I grow up I'm going to marry the prettiest woman, I'm going to have a lot of money and I'm going to go forward. And it all came to be pretty true. The country offers us such opportunity, I was able to go to CU because I had the GI bill. From that vantage point, I saw the possibilities."
The new play recounts the experiences of a generation whose parents immigrated from eastern Europe to escape the horror of antisemitism, of poverty and oppression. Turning their learned resilience into generational success.
Garcia was reluctant at first writing such a piece thru the eyes of a Chicano. He said, "West side Story was written by a Jewish guy named Sondheim and Bernstein. They did a pretty good writing about Latinos. So I think there is room for us to write a story about the Jewish community."
Promise on the Hill is just one of many stories that need to be told says Garcia, "We are not connected by our common oppression but by our common humanity."
Promise on the Hill runs September 22-24 at Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center. Find out more, here: http://suteatro.org/