Carmela Full of Wishes
Adapted by Alvaro Saar Rios
From the book by Matt de la Peña
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
Feliz Cumpleaños! It’s Carmela’s birthday, and she’s finally old enough to tag along with her big brother as he runs the family errands. Passing by the bodega and the lavanderia, Carmela picks a dandelion and makes a very important wish… Carmela Full of Wishes illuminates the beauty of working class neighborhoods and the power of community and family. Told through the lens of a heartfelt sibling story, this endearing play explores what hope looks like in a migrant community steeped in Mexican culture.
Recommended for Pre-Kindergarten and older.
The performance is performed in English and Spanish with translation.
A Note from the Director
Carmela Full of Wishes is such a special piece of art. It explores a very modern subject of immigration and a family separated. It also explores the importance of finding joy and hope through everyday struggles and loss.
Our path as a collaborative team was to honor these characters through exploring personal experience, knowledge, and culture. We used this same approach with the bilingual translation of the script. With the understanding that Spanish has nuances based on region and familiarity, we worked as a group to determine the level and comfortability of Spanish with each character: Mami is comfortable in her own skin and uses Spanish fluidly, Papi weaves between the two languages as a way of survival and practice, Big Brother distances himself from Spanish because he’s seen what has happened to Papi, and Carmela honors the person she speaks with by speaking in their language of choice. We rooted the translations in both Central American (Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian) and Tejano Spanish because that’s where the cast is from and what we know.
We hope you enjoy this offering,
Laura Moreno
Grandparents’ Day at Main Street Theater!
We appreciate all you do, Grandparents! Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm at the MATCH, join us for a FREE event for grandparents and their grandchildren! We’ll make Carmela dolls and dandelion crafts, have story-time, taking photos with grandparents, enjoying paletas!
LOCATION
MATCH
3400 Main St.
Houston, TX 77002
Directions
PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS
Weekend Performances:
Ticket Prices: $18 – $28
SUNDAYS: September 24 & October 1, 2023 at 12:30pm & 3:30pm
SATURDAYS: October 7, 14 & 21 at 10:30am & 1:30pm
School Matinees:
School Group Tickets: $8.00 each (discount for Title I schools)
Mondays – Fridays:
September 20 – October 27, 2023
Performances are at 9:30am & 11:30am
October 1 at 12:30pm
Relaxed / Sensory-Friendly Performance
October 1 at 3:30pm
Audio-described Performance
Advance Reservations Required (7 days minimum). Click here to reserve.
October 21, 2023 at 1:30pm
ASL Performance
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.
Running Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes including a 20 minute intermission.
Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show at PUBLIC performances.
Recommended for Kindergarten and older.
Children under the age of 3 (including sleeping babies) are not allowed in the theater.
