Perez’s show hits ‘em where they eat

Friday, March 31, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

After years of performing in politically themed Chicana theater productions, Ruby Nelda Perez realized she needed a new way to reach the "gringos" in the audience.

Their only familiarity with Latino culture, it seemed, was through cooking.

"We'd have this great play," Perez, a Houston actress, said. "It would be politically conscious, and afterward there would be people who would say, 'I sure like your enchiladas.'

"So we decided we'd do a play about cooking, but we're going to tell stories."

The result is "Dona Rosita's Jalapeno Kitchen," a one-woman comedic show that Perez, 52, will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday at Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

The two-hour play, which is presented mostly in "English with accent and attitude" and a little bit of Spanish, centers on a Mexican-American woman who saved her money to open a restaurant, only to be threatened by closure.

Neighboring merchants had already sold to developers, but Rosita is the last holdout and she faces the threat of takeover by eminent domain. Performing 12 characters - friends, family and neighbors - Perez discusses her issues with the audience and incorporates other stories and issues.

"It's funny," Perez said of the play written by Rodrigo Duarte-Clark. "It also makes you take out your hanky."

Perez studied theater at Texas A&M University in the state she jokingly refers to as "occupied Mexico."

While in college, Perez said, "We had a professor come to the school. He saw how many brown people at college that were in theater and asked, 'How many plays to you do in Spanish?' We said, 'None' because there were none."

After performing Latin-American productions in college, Perez went to San Francisco, met Duarte-Clark and moved into more political theater. Three decades later she's presenting the bilingual production at theaters throughout the country tackling serious issues through food.

"Eminent domain crosses a lot of different people," said Perez, who rarely breaks from humor. "Those Wal-Marts are coming and changing things."

The play, she said, "has a lot to do with tough issues, but there has to be a lot of laughter."

Reed Whipple Cultural Center is at 821 Las Vegas Blvd. North. Tickets are $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 229-6211.

Dance

Dancers from the Erick Hawkins Dance Company in New York City have been in Las Vegas this week working a residency with UNLV's Dance Department. For a taste of what the students and dancers have worked on, attend the 8 p.m. performance Saturday in Dance Studio 1 in UNLV's Alta Ham Fine Arts Building.

The performance, under the direction of Katherine Duke, the Hawkins company's artistic director, includes new work and a repertory piece from the late composer Lucia Dlugoszewski.

Admission is free. For more information, call 895-3827.

Art

California artist Tom Everhart will be at the Entertainment Galleries at the Venetian from 6-8 p.m. Saturday for a reception of "Cracking Up," an exhibit of new work in his series of renditions of the "Peanuts" gang. The gallery will show new paintings and lithographs, and Everhart will also discuss the recent lithographs. For information, call 866-6813.