"Cebollas" brings Colorado-themed comedy to Denver Center stage, follows journey of 3 Latinas
A hilarious story of three sisters unifying to support one another during a road trip through Colorado is the latest play to headline the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. "Cebollas," which translates to "onions" in English, is a tale of three Latinas and their journey from New Mexico to Denver.
"It is impossible to not have fun in this show," said Jamie Ann Romero, a cast member.
Romero joins Zuleyma Guevara and Xochitl Romero as the three stars of the show, all of whom portray one of three sisters.
The story begins in New Mexico where a pregnant woman, played by Jamie Ann Romero, is preparing for labor. However, the father of her child has suddenly died in her home. The catch is, that the father of the child is a married man from Denver who was having a secret affair.
The next 80 minutes of the production follow the sisters unifying to try and transport the deceased man back to his home in Denver's Washington Park neighborhood before his wife returns home.
The show is a great comedy that will make people of all backgrounds laugh, especially those who have lived in Colorado.
Jamie Ann Romero and Guevara sat down with CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas to talk about why the show is so much fun, and what underlying stories it brings for Latinas.
"(The show is about) three Latinas who are there for each other without question," Guevara said.
Guevara portrays the elder of the three sisters, a Latina who is wise and willing to help and serve as caretaker for her younger siblings.
"As the play progresses you really see those bonds cement even more," Guevara said. "They go through it with humor and goodwill and come out at the other end in their bonds and their knowledge of each other."
The sisters are joined on stage by a fourth character, the body of the deceased father. Throughout the show, the trio has to carry around his dead weight, in and out of cars and through places like gas stations and restaurants.
Much like the movie "Weekend At Bernie's," much of the laughter comes with watching the trio try and disguise the man as alive.
Set designers created a fun way of showing the sisters' journey through Colorado. Projections of the real drive from Pueblo, through Colorado Springs and Denver help place audiences into the setting. At each stop along the way, the cast makes several jokes about each city they are passing through.
"It is really fun to hear Coloradans laugh at those jokes because they are written for them," Romero said.
The cast also makes subtle jokes that Latinos in the audience will quickly pick up on. From pronouncing "Ikea" as "Ikeas" to having cravings for hot fries. However, the show never excludes people from other backgrounds.
"Every culture has these idiosyncrasies, but we can still relate, we can still enjoy it and we can still connect," Guevara said.
In the end, the cast says this story is about how a family unit can come together to handle adversity through both laughter and familial support.
Romero said this story, which is taking off in Denver at the Singleton Theatre, is a great opportunity for people to see a new production before it becomes a much bigger show down the road.
"When you come to the Denver Center and see these new works, you might be seeing the next great American play, and you get to say you got to see it first," Romero said.
Cebollas plays at the Singleton Theatre through March 17. For more information on tickets visit DenverCenter.org.
CBS News Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.
