Santa Ana College presents “Welcome to Arroyo’s” at Phillips Hall Theatre

Rancho Santiago Community College District Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2013

Contact: Judy Iannaccone, Director, Communications , (714) 480-7503, E-mail: iannaccone_judy@rsccd.edu

Santa Ana College Presents Welcome to Arroyo’s at Phillips Hall Theatre

*Production runs March 15-23*

(Santa Ana)—Santa Ana College (SAC) is set to open Kristoffer Diaz’s Welcome to Arroyo’s on March 15. First produced at the Lark/Hip-Hop Theater Festival in 2005, this urban hip-hop comedy is a sweet, loose-limbed shout out to Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The play that is almost more of a party than a play features two DJs from the TripNel Cartel, along with an exuberant chorus of hip-hop dancers.

SAC brings Welcome to Arroyo’s to life beginning March 15 at Phillips Hall Theatre, 1530 W. 17th St. in Santa Ana. Show dates are March 15, 16, 22, and 23 at 8:00 p.m. General admission is $12 and $9.99 for students and seniors. The SAC theater students produced a trailer that highlights some of the high-spirited dance moves that will be featured in the play.

Welcome to Arroyo’s is directed by Chris Cannon, SAC assistant professor of theatre. Danny Gonzalez serves as the assistant director. The coming-of-age story, set in a struggling bar, Arroyo’s on New York’s Lower East Side, focuses on Puerto Rican brother and sister. Alejandro Arroyo, the owner of the bar, wants to make this bodega into a hot spot, a dream shared by the two DJs who work in the lounge and also serve as the self-aware chorus of the play. Meanwhile Arroyo’s artistic younger sister, the teenage Amalia has a nasty habit of spray-painting her name on the back wall of the local police station, attracting the attentions of Officer Derek. Socially awkward college student Lelly Sanitago may have discovered that the Arroyo siblings’ late mother was one of the founders of the hip-hop movement in the South Bronx.

“Welcome to Arroyo’s is a fun play! The humor is bold and infectious, but underneath its exuberance, it is a play about identity and new beginnings. It is not just the story of a Puerto Rican brother and sister and the people and culture that influence their lives; it is a representation of our own frustrations, our own stories, and our own truths,” said Cannon.
The cast of Welcome to Arroyo’s features:

• From Santa Ana: Adrian Lopez [Alejandro Arroyo]
• From Santa Ana: Natalia Gutierrez [Amalia Arroyo]
• From Santa Ana: Dominick Gallardo [Trip Goldstein]
• From Santa Ana: Johnathan Vu [Nelson Cardenal]
• From Santa Ana: Marisa Acosta [Lelly Santiago]
• From Santa Ana: Vontre Stubblefield [Officer Derek]

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.sac.edu/theatre or call (714) 564-5661. Tickets purchased online are discounted by $1 each.

About Santa Ana College

Santa Ana College (SAC), which will turn 100 years old in 2015, serves about 18,000 students each semester at its main campus in Santa Ana. The college prepares students for transfer to four-year institutions, provides invaluable workforce training, and customized training for business and industry. In addition, another 13,000 students are served through the college’s School of Continuing Education located at Centennial Education Center. Ranked as one of the nation’s top two-year colleges awarding associate degrees to Latino and Asian students, the college is also recognized throughout the state for its comprehensive workforce training programs for nurses, firefighters, law enforcement and other medical personnel. SAC is one of two comprehensive colleges under the auspices of the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Visit http://www.sac.edu to learn more.

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