Presentation of She Flies

Friday, March 23, 2007, 1:30 P.M.
Perez Elementary, 7500 S Pleasant Valley Rd, Austin, TX 78744

Austin, Texas- Latinas Unidas Por El Arte (LUPE Arte) in a partnership with Perez Elementary and Nushank Theater Collective present “She Flies” at Perez Elementary campus.  An inspiring stage play, “She Flies” was adapted for the stage by playwright, Mike D. Garcia from a short story written by award winning author, David Rice. 

Background on how the play was first produced in 2003:
Author of the award-winning book, “Crazy Loco”, David Rice had been asked by the Gear Up Foundation at the University of Pan American in Edinburgh, Texas to devise curriculum for the students of Region I which includes the Rio Grande Valley encouraging the students to strive for a college education.  After completing the curriculum, David Rice convinced the Gear Up staff to fund the production of a play based on one of the stories in “Crazy Loco” to be used as part of the curriculum as a tool to drive the message more efficiently to the students.  The short story was titled, “She Flies”.  After much deliberation, the Gear Up staff decided to trust in David and allotted the funds to produce the play and tour it all over the Rio Grande Valley.  David Rice partnered up with Nushank Theater Collective and Co-Founder Mike D. Garcia was commissioned to write the stage play.  The funding was regarded as a risk but very soon, the risk gave way to many rewards as the tour proved to be such a huge success that the staff at the University of Pan American were singled out for their innovative methods and were invited to present the play at the Gear Up Foundation National Conference in Washington, D.C. in 2004.

From that presentation, Gear Up staff members across the nation wanted to present the play to their students.  Nushank Theater Collective and David Rice traveled to cities such as Albuquerque, Las Cruces, New Mexico and Miami, Florida.

The play is about a young woman and two other classmates who overcome their obstacles of socio and economic disadvantages to get into college.  The audience follows the stories of “Milagros”, a talented young woman who is being offered scholarships to Ivy League schools but her father does not want her to leave the home, “Leila” is a good student who although not blessed with the talents of her counterpart, finds a way to ensure a higher education for herself and finally, Raul a diamond-in-the-rough artist who finally realizes the potential in his art.

This will be the first time in two years the play will be presented in Austin.

For more information, contact:
Marita De La Torre
Executive Director: Latinas Unidas Por El Arte
(512) 241-9799
marita@lupearte.org

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