TH E O RIG IN S TO RY
Many years ago, John Leguizamo had
an idea for a play about the Aztec Empire. He felt hungry to celebrate the rich culture of Latin America and to create the roles he wanted to see in American theatre. At that time, John didn’t think that audiences would be ready for his type of humor — so established in the world of standup comedy and not yet tested out in the theatre — so the unnamed Aztec project was put on the back burner as he pursued other projects. But the idea always stayed in the back of his mind, and two things became clear as time passed: this story wanted to be a musical, not a play; and John would not be performing, instead focusing his efforts as a member of the writing team. From here, a project called Pain in the Aztec was born, and John began the hunt for collaborators. Early on, lyricist David Kamp and composer/co-lyricist Benjamin Velez joined the music team, excited to bring their musical theatre expertise to the process. Originally strangers, the duo became fast friends and infused the score with humor to match John’s book. Separately, John and Tony Taccone, Berkeley Rep’s artistic director, began collaborating on other projects (like Latin History for Morons, which graced our stage in 2016). As their own creative partnership strengthened, John approached Tony about directing Pain in the Aztec. Intrigued by the concept and thrilled by the chance to work with John again, Tony hopped on board as co-writer and director. In April 2018, the fully formed writing team held a workshop at The Public Theater in New York. The process brought new dimension to Pain in the Aztec, and Tony decided to program a full world premiere production as his final show at Berkeley Rep. Over the past year, Pain in the Aztec became Kiss My Aztec! as we see it today. The team held two smaller workshops in 2018 before a longer two-week workshop this March. The most recent workshop also included choreographer Maija García and the full cast for the show’s time in Berkeley. The energy in the room resulted in major revisions that fueled the storytelling, bringing new life into the world premiere production. After playing on the Roda stage, our Berkeley Rep production will head to La Jolla Playhouse for a run that opens in September, sharing this hilarious story of Latinx culture to audiences across the state.
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s é t r o C a t a wh ! d r a t s ba TA LK I N G CO N Q U E S T S A N D CO M E DY WIT H J O H N LE G U I Z A M O A N D T O N Y TACCO N E B Y K AT I E C R A DD O C K During a workshop of Kiss My Aztec! in New York City this March, Artistic Associate and Assistant Dramaturg Katie Craddock huddled up with John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone in a wee writing studio to learn about the inspiration for this show, the political function of comedy, and their creative partnership.
