A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘नेहा & Neel’

October 19, 2025October 19, 2025 Edward Hong

For better or worse, one of the oldest tropes in Asian American identity stories is often the generational & cultural divide between the immigrant parents and their American-born children. Ankita Raturi’s नेहा & Neel, now having its world premiere at Latino Theater Company in collaboration with Artists At Play, manages to breathe new life into this trope while also being downright hilarious in such an inexplicable mad genius kind of way, thanks to one of the actors playing over a dozen(!?!) characters.

Reviews, Theatre1 Comment

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘The Little King of Norwalk’

October 5, 2025October 5, 2025 Edward Hong

Latino Theater Company returns for their fall season with a laugh out loud hit in Israel López Reyes‘ The Little King of Norwalk, now having its world premiere at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Not only is this play a meaningful tribute to Chicano identity, it is a love letter to the city of Norwalk wrapped up in a hysterically wacky film noir with a touch of magical realism and a nod to Nikolai Gogol‘s The Inspector General.

Reviews, Theatre2 Comments

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon’

May 4, 2025May 5, 2025 Edward Hong

It is only fitting that the opening night of The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon on May 3rd at the Latino Theater Company landed on World Press Freedom Day because this extraordinary and devastating work of art written by Rebeca Alemán (who also plays the main character) is an unforgettable tribute to journalism and to all the journalists who have lost their lives telling the truth. This is a play that is so startling and spellbindingly beautiful that it will stay with you long after you leave the theatre.

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘The Last Play by Rickérby Hinds’

April 28, 2025April 28, 2025 Edward Hong

One of the most common (and perhaps overused) playwrighting tropes I’ve often seen on stage is a meta play about a writer figuring out what the play is all about. This trope becomes explored once again with the world premiere of Rickérby Hinds‘ The Last Play by Rickérby Hinds at the Latino Theater Company, where Hinds presents the possibility of this play being his last play where he brings back characters from his previous works to guide him through his writer’s block.

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Just Like Us’

April 20, 2025April 20, 2025 Edward Hong

Launching the 40th anniversary season of Latino Theater Company is Just Like Us, a rather timely play written by Karen Zacarías, inspired by a bestselling book by Helen Thorpe, and directed by Fidel Gomez.

News, Theatre

Latino Theater Company Announces 40th Anniversary Season

February 27, 2025February 28, 2025 Edward Hong

L.A.’s Latino Theater Company will celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2025 with an ambitious, culturally diverse season of plays, tours and other events. Founded in 1985, Latino Theater Company has operated the City of Los Angeles-owned Los Angeles Theatre Center, housed in a former bank building in Downtown’s historic core, since 2006.

Theatre

‘Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente!’ National Latiné Theater Festival at The LATC

September 20, 2024 Edward Hong

In what may be one of the most exciting and ambitious endeavors I’ve ever seen from the Latino Theater Company, nineteen theater companies (including their own) and 165 artists from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico will be coming to downtown L.A. during a three-week national theater festival of dynamic, contemporary Latiné theater. Latino Theater Company presents Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente!, at The Los Angeles Theatre Center from October 24 through November 10.

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘God Will Do The Rest’

September 2, 2024September 2, 2024 Edward Hong

This may be very inside theatre knowledge but there hasn’t really been an Asian American family play that fully utilizes multiple family members throughout different generations quite like Nicholas Pilapil‘s God Will Do The Rest, now having its world premiere directed by Fran De Leon in a co-joint Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company production.

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘American Mariachi’

May 15, 2024May 15, 2024 Edward Hong

There’s always been a persistent belief that if you want to watch good theatre, it’s all in New York. This particular narrow-minded belief has always been annoying to me because Los Angeles is a unique entity that is thoroughly distinct in all its rich and fantastic ways with so many astounding global majority talent to tell its stories. Such was on my mind after watching American Mariachi at the Latino Theater Company, the second out of the three consecutive plays the company is launching for their 2024 season.

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Ghost Waltz’

May 4, 2024May 9, 2024 Edward Hong

You can consider yourself fortunate when you watch good theatre that has meaningful diversity. But it’s not often that you come across a piece that enthralls you completely from beginning to end that when it’s over, you immediately wish for it to be seen all over the country, in both big and small theatres alike.

Theatre

‘Mix-Mix: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy’ to Open Next Month in L.A.

April 2, 2024April 3, 2024 Edward Hong

Latino Theater Company and Playwrights’ Arena present the world premiere of an epic World War II odyssey inspired by an astonishing, little-known true story.

Theatre

Latino Theater Company’s Free Holiday Pageant is L.A.’s Largest

November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 Edward Hong

For those of our readers in the Los Angeles area, the Latino Theater Company will have their annual signature holiday pageant that will have over 100 actors, singers and indigenous Aztec dancers as well as children and seniors from the Los Angeles community. It is the Los Angeles city’s largest theatrical holiday pageant and the best part about this? It’s free for the general public. Keep reading to find out more!

Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Tacos LA Brooklyn’

October 5, 2023October 5, 2023 Edward Hong

Having its world premiere at the Latino Theater Company and produced in association with East West Players, Tacos LA Brooklyn is a vibrant love letter to downtown Los Angeles and its people that can be felt from the beginning to the end of this terrific play. Its strength lies in the fantastic world and the characters written by Joel Ulloa and directed with gusto and care by Fidel Gomez and is a piece of modern theatre that cannot be missed.

Reviews, Theatre1 Comment

Preston Choi’s ‘This is Not a True Story’ Examines the Dark History of Asian Heroines

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 Laura Sirikul

“Why do I have to die so you can learn your lesson?” says Kim (Chacha Tahng), the ill-fated character from the Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon, in Preston Choi’s This is Not a True Story. She continues on her tirade with her fellow doomed counterparts, CioCio (Julia Cho) from the tragic Madame Butterfly, and Kumiko (Jo Yuan) from the 2014 film, Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter.

Theatre

Latino Theater Company Announces 2023 Fall Season

July 6, 2023July 6, 2023 Edward Hong

Latino Theater Company will partner with two Los Angeles-based Asian American companies and San Francisco’s Magic Theatre to close out 2023 with a fall season of exciting premieres at downtown’s Los Angeles Theatre Center.