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Written by Alexis Scheer

Directed by ictoria Collado

H H H Spanish Spanish Spanish

laywright - Alexis Scheer

Alexis Scheer’s breakout play was the ff Broadway hit R DEAR DEAD DR L RD ( Critics Pick, ohn assner Award L C Carnaval of ew Latinx ork ilroy’s List), and she recently made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd ebber’s BAD C DERELLA. er new play BREA E S R will premiere ff Broadway at Second Stage this spring directed by o Bonney. ther plays include LA S SPA S ( ennedy Center’s arold Mimi Steinberg Award) and C R S A (Roe reen Award ’ eill Finalist). er plays have been produced by Second

Stage, P heater, Center heatre roup, Denver Center, Boston Playwrights’ heatre, and more. Alexis is currently under commission by Manhattan heatre Club, Miami ew Drama, and Seaview. elevision Film: “Pretty Little Liars: riginal Sin” ( B Max), and pro ects developed for B Max Salma ayek’s Ventanarosa and Sony etflix. Alexis was born and raised in Miami, Florida in a ewish-Colombian household. er mother is from the magical mountains of Medell n (yup, like Encanto) and her father is probably the great grandson of Motel the tailor from Fiddler on the Roof. Alexis is a proud alum of ew orld School of the Arts and holds a BFA in Musical heatre from he Boston Conservatory and MFA in Playwriting from Boston niversity.

D Y K ?

In her early years, Scheer s parents ran a button shop along th Street in Wynwood. I used to go all the time, especially in summer, and my parents called it button camp, Scheer says. ust walls and walls and shelves of every kind of button you could ever imagine. I would sit and snap buttons together. I used to have a bag and collect my favorite ones, mostly the glittery ones.

aughs in Spanish was written as Scheer’s thesis play for Boston University’s M A playwriting program.

Scheer says that Estella is not based on her own mother too much. Of course my mom is a little bit extra in the way all of our moms are a little bit extra. But when I was thinking about that character, I was thinking about all the actresses I love, many of whom are my teachers, who I wanted to play the part. Boston

Further

ow laywright Alexis Scheer’s aughs in Spanish elped and er a Turn on Broadway

Interview with Alexis Scheer at Boston University

1 uestions with Alexis Scheer

Director - ictoria Collado

Victoria Collado is a Cuban-American director creating adventurous storytelling experiences on-stage and onscreen. She is also the co-founder of Abre Camino Collective with Vanessa arcia. amed Best Director of by the Miami ew imes, Collado is well-known for her direction of the hit immersive theatre piece, he Amparo Experience, which was named “Miami’s ottest icket” by People en Espa ol. She also directed the naugural Anthem Award-winning digital piece Black Feminist Video ame written by Darrel Ale andro olnes. She was the assistant Director to ony accone on Broadway’s Latin istory for Morons by ohn Legui amo.

Most recently in film, Victoria directed the Social Media version of Amparo ( theamparoexperience) and is working on multiple documentaries one of which is based on the life of legendary actor, Ruben Rabasa and a short film called Miami Magic by comedienne and actor, atalie Birriel.

WYNWOOD WYNWOOD

Consistently top rated by Trip Advisor as Top Things to Do in Miami, Wynwood stands as a vibrant testament to artistic expression and cultural diversity. enowned for its kaleidoscope of outdoor murals, painted by internationally acclaimed street artists, the neighborhood serves as the backdrop for our play.

Wynwood is situated north of downtown Miami and is delineated by orthwest 0th Street to the south, I-1 to the north, I- to the west, and the lorida East Coast ailway to the east.

Wynwood started off as farmland in 1 1 and the neighborhood name was chosen in a contest.

he winner Mrs. S. . ard, who according to local historian Casey Picket won the contest with “ yndwood” as her entry." er pri e A lot in the new area valued at . here was also a large green space, called yndwood Park, (notice the extra D) in the area. Eventually, the D disappeared and the name ynwood stuck. Established as a

working class neighborhood from the beginning, ynwood was once home to factories belonging to Coca Cola, American Bakeries, and arrett Construction among others. arment manufacturers also became an instrumental and key part of ynwood's development. ner et al. in their article on the global arts world and ynwood, mention that "through time the southern part became more concentrated by ones of manufacturing activities (garments and shoes)...Later sewing, cutting, design factories, and retail establishments were added." t was around this point, in the 's and 's, that ynwood really hits its stride as a "garment district" on the national level.

T: Merita Bread Company in via Miami- istory.com ABO E: Contest winner declared in Miami Metropolis on Feb , via Miami- istory.com

WWII brought with it the suburbani ation of parts of Miami. Many Anglo families left the Wynwood neighborhood which left room for new tenants. A large influx of uerto icans in search of opportunities moved in. According to Miamiistory.com some migrated to Wynwood "to be closer to a family member" or "for affordable housing that was close to their obs in the garment district of Wynwood, or obs in the hotels on Miami Beach."

igh h S i n . s n h h uin ana uni n as na in h n h uin ana h i a han ha h i s ing h uni an a n n as h a ss n .

h as a in in h u i an p pu a i n in n as n i ig an s h a a a un h . S n n h p pu a i n n as u i an hi h as a u p p . n n s shi in an a s ina i n is sai ha gun i h h pu has h i an a i s ui ing n n a a s a h us . i h an p i s a h h in h a s n a an a s s ina i n a u ing u a s ga i s an pu i spa s i h n a s. pa s g n i i a i n in Li San uan an s n s u h h s un i a u h s u an in s n s. h a a n h h s h s s i ains a g un u h . from istoryMiami Museum h a p i n Li San uan p a s ha Li a ana a u a a an a h i s a g in u ispani i ig an s S u h i a. S n u i an u u u app ia h ugh u h a a i h ags ing p u h h s an usin ss s su h as La i ua Sh p. ui ings an pu i spa s na a i p an igu s in h u i an uni su h as n a an h ug ni a ia s s

E T: Customers entering La Casona apparel store in the late s via nbcmiami.com

In the 1 0 s, Wynwood overflowed with clothing retailers and manufacturers. Wynwood was the third largest garment district after ew York and os Angeles. Miami- istory.com states that "retailers represented about million in sales and manufacturers drew about 1 million in revenue annually."

DDEventually, rent increases in the 1 0 s and the opportunities offered by ialeah s own growth as a manufacturing hub meant that many manufacturers left. Wynwood encountered higher than average unemployment rates and a growing drug trade. As businesses left the area, artists began moving in to the now vacant buildings like the American Bakeries building.

Local historian Casey Picket from Miami- istory.com explains the transformation of ynwood, "from to the founders of the ynwood Art District began transforming the old warehouses and neighborhood into art galleries and studios. hey also created the famous Second Saturday's allery alk." ynwood was on the precipice of change. he murals, galleries, and abundance of art led to restaurants, breweries, clubs springing up. Developers dug the edgy meets gritty meets artsy vibe of ynwood and soon started investing in ynwood's real estate. t was prime time to buy as the real estate market was reeling due to the sup-prime mortgage crisis. Famously, in , the ynwood alls were unveiled to the public.

E T: An abandoned warehouse in ynwood in via he Miami erald

I T: FEC railroad property, which was to become the site

Midtown Miami in via he Miami erald

oldman, a force behind the revival of ew ork’s So o neighborhood, and the Art Deco district in South Beach, had a knack for seeing thriving, artsy neighborhoods when others could only see urban plight. he oldman family began buying up chunks of ynwood’s warehouse district in .

n ctober of , ony oldman dreamed up an open-air gallery of murals called ynwood alls. he gallery opened a couple months later to coincide with Art Basel. oldman’s vision was that the entire ynwood neighborhood would become a canvas for urban street art.

via Miami- istory.com

Our set was inspired by A oldman lobal Arts alleries in Wynwood.

The set is painted by Didirok. A Miami based artist born in eru. er work pi u igh focuses on strong, beautiful women, often representing her atin heritage.

Wynwood is home to the highest concentration of street art in the country.

Ella’ by Didirok

ART BASEL ART BASEL ART BASEL

Art Basel has been instrumental in putting Miami on the art world map.

Miami was crowned as one of the top cities in the world for contemporary art.

Art Basel originated in Basel, Switerland in . t's considered by many the world's most important art fair for modern and contemporary art.

Art Basel Miami Beach debuted in . t's slated to run this year from December , .

Art Basel had a whopping , visitors auser irth logged the most expensive sale reported from the fair: Philip uston’s Painter at ight ( - pi u igh ) for million

More on Art Basel Miami Beach

What Does It Take for a allery to Show at an Art Basel air?

Everything You Ever Wanted to now about Art Advisors

Booths ready for customers via secretmiami.com

WYNWOOD WYNWOOD

Atomik is a familiar name, thanks to his signature character resembling the Orange Bowl mascot, Obie. otoriously renowned for his creation, Atomik aka Adam argas has spent considerable time tagging it across city streets.

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an pa h ag h ang aus u

g a ga s an h n s h sai

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i h na an i n s na an i h

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atomiko

via biscaynetimes.com

pETER tUNNEY pETER

eter Tunney brings art and life to everything and everyone he encounters. is work probes our culture by mining images from newspapers, magaines, and art books and reinterpreting them through his own uniue perspective.

is recent works, where refreshingly optimistic phrases and quotes are colorfully painted over collaged headlines, serve as a subtle attack on our culture of fear and ennui.

As our media sources relay stories of death, destruction, hysteria and greed, Peter whimsically overpowers them with his own headlines, such as “D’ PA C”, “BEL EVE”, “ RA DE” and “C A E E A SEE EVER

”. After having a career on all Street, Peter turned to art and opened his first gallery in ew ork in . n , he became the ynwood alls first tenant when he opened the Peter unney Experience gallery inside the alls.

petertunney

miami style gods

ounded in the early 0s, Miami Style ods, a graffiti crew, has put their stamp on Miami’s streets. n the 's bombing was everywhere and two of the most common names (and culprits) were grafitti artists Crook and Crome from the MS Cartel. he amount of grafitti on the highways became such a problem that the Florida Department of ranportation's had a budget of , to clean up the bombing

msgcrew

LADY PINK

ady ink is the pioneer of female graffiti writing. Over years she has been working as a graffiti artist, inspiring many young women and men to pursue the life of self-expression and creativity.

owadays she is a true legend, inspiring women with meaningful life philosophy. She made her first graffiti when she was only years old. Starting from , over the period of years she painted subway trains. She had first solo exhibition at and her paintings are included in important collections like the ME , he hitney Museum, he Museum of the City of .. and others. his powerful woman went to great lengths to fight for equality, ustice, and women's rights.

ladypinknyc

via widewalls.ch

MS photos via wlrn.org

EXERCISES EXERCISES

Sonic Storytelling: Crafting Soundscapes for the Stage

In our staging of Laughs in Spanish, sound plays a multifaceted role during transitions. It serves various purposes, such as enhancing storytelling, facilitating smooth scene transitions, and vividly portraying the atmosphere of Miami through soundscapes. A guiding influence for us is Alexis Scheer’s note on style: "Everyone should always be a moment away from dancin g." But every designer’s ear is different so how would YOU paint Miami with sound...?

Divide the class into groups and assign each group a scene from Laughs in Spanish

Ask students to identify key moments where sound could be used to enhance the audience's experience. Remember to pay attention to what sound can be heard within the world of the play (diegetic) and what sound is reserved specifically for the audience’s experience of the story (non-diegetic).

Present your design in storyboard format, sketching out particular moments of the scene to help focus in on when sound would start and stop. Accompany with sound clips of what you’re imagining. Explain to your audience the reasoning behind how minimal or extensive you chose your design to be and how it will assist the furthering of the action in the scene.

Extension Activity:

For advanced students, challenge them to create original sound compositions using musical instruments or voice recordings to accompany a scene from the play.

Dialect Coaching 101 : Mastering the Miami Accent for Theatre

Imagine you are tasked with coaching out-of-town actors on how to best prepare to play a character in Laughs in Spanish. What are the foundational aspects of the Miami voice that everyone needs to know?

Begin by discussing the distinct features of the Miami accent, including its influe nces from Cuban, Caribbean, and Spanish-speaking communities.

Play audio or video recordings of native speakers from different areas of Miami, highlighting specific pronunciation, intonation, and vocabulary unique to the region.

List key features of the Miami accent, such as:

Pronunciation of vowel sounds (e.g., "ai" as "ah", "th" as "d")

Rhythms and intonations that have been introduced by the various communities in the region Vocabulary and slang commonly used in Miami

Provide examples and demonstrate how these features differ from “standard Am erican English” pronunciation.

Divide the class into small groups and assign a particular character from Laughs in Spanish to study over the course of the play.

Present your findings to the rest of the class, using your work to highlight how th e character’s voice may change when in different emotional states throughout the course of a particular scene.