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CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE

Alley Theatre launched El Zócalo in 2017 with the visiting production of Misa Fronteriza from Monterey, Mexico, and the establishment of the El Zócalo Advisory Team. With the goal of nurturing long-term relationships with community members at multiple engagement levels, this important commitment by the Alley has already seen immense growth and impact, including:
• The tremendous growth of the Advisory Committee with 100 current and active members.
• Strengthening ties with five of Houston’s influential chambers of commerce—including the East End Chamber of Commerce, US/Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Camara de Empresarios Latinos de Houston, World Chamber of Commerce, and the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
• Partnered with three of Houston’s prominent cultural festivals—the Annual Frida Festival, the Annual Houston Mariachi Festival, and the Annual Dia de Los Muertos festival to create collaborative opportunities in marketing, sponsorships, engagement, and group sales.
• Continue to expand the number of hosted community organization-championed events, further solidifying our brand as “THIS IS YOUR THEATRE!” Some of these events include Nuestra Palabra’s “Houstonians Shaping the Nation,” the Texas Music Office’s “Texas Sounds and Cities Conference,” the US/Mexico “Public Speaking Seminar/Photoshoot,” and Alianza Latina Internacional’s “Panel Discussion and Art Exhibit.”
• More Hispanic work on the Alley’s stages and developmental programming, including major productions of Quixote Nuevo (2020), 72 miles to go…(2021), What-A-Christmas (2022), Torera (2023), and American Mariachi (2023).
• Promoting Language Justice through Spanish simultaneous translations since 2022 serving over 300 Spanish-speakers in the community.
• Welcomed over 400 audience members to the Alley, for the first time, through Yo Soy Houston Mariachi Community Project which featured more than 20 musical pre-show events for the production of American Mariachi, including Mariachi bands and Ballet Folklorico performances.
• Evolving existing school programming into bilingual curriculum.
• The addition of two new Hispanic members to the Alley’s Resident Acting Company.

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