"Great Performances"
La pastorela (1991)

Director:

Luis Valdez

Writer:

Luis Valdez (writer)

TV Series:

"Great Performances" (1972)

Original Air Date:

23 December 1991 (Season 20, Episode 3)

Genre:

Music | Musical

Plot:

It is the day before Christmas. Gila Diaz is a young adolescent girl, the oldest child in a large rural Tex-Mex family...

Plot Keywords:

Morality | Angel | Christmas | Rural | Bethlehem

Cast

Linda Ronstadt	...	San Miguel (archangel)
Paul Rodriguez	...	Satanas
Robert Beltran	...	Luzbel
Karla Montana	...	Gila
Anahuac Valdéz	...	Bato
León Singer	...	El Hermitano
Lalo Guerrero	...	Tebano the Elder
Cheech Marin	...	El Cosmico
Don Novello	...	Father Guido Sarducci
Freddy Fender	...	Tebano the Younger (pastore)
Mario Pardo	...	Cucharon (pastore)
Miguel Sandoval	...	Bartolo (pastore)
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Parranda (pastore)
Flaco Jiménez	...	Meliso (pastore)
Rosa María Escalante	...	Maria Diaz

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Company:

El Teatro Campesino

Soundtrack:

Hermanos Pastores

EXPERIMENT IN CULTURE

I first saw "La Pastorela" (A Shepard's Play) on PBS's Great Performance, and recorded it to show to my family. It was originally performed by a Non-Profit Northern California group called El Teatro Campesino (The Farmer's Theater). (Note: I purchased a Legal VHS tape from them several years ago). It's a Wizard-of-Oz type adventure/musical; a demonstration of the Mexican-American or Chicano culture, as this movie is replete with a mixture of English and Spanish dialog also known as Tex-Mex or Spanglish. If you're not Mexican-American or familiar with the culture, you may not be entertained by "La Pastorela." My family and I enjoy watching this movie every Christmas as a tradition along with "It's A Wonderful Life," "White Christmas" and "Home Alone." If you watch it for the first time, you may be surprised to see (beside Linda Rhonstadt), some now well-known faces such as Comedians Paul Rodriguez and Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci); Musicians Freddy Fender and Falco Jimenez and Actor Lupe Ontiveros (The murderous Yolanda in the movie "Selena"). La Pastorela is both funny and moving, and has a great message of hope and good triumph over evil.