DISHing with Mambo Italiano!!

 

 Pacheco Theatre is an amazing critical and commercial success story. Few companies or individuals have won more Beat Magazine DISH awards. The hit maker, John Pacheco, is back with a play that tracks the story of an Italian immigrant family in Montreal. Here’s the plot in a nutshell: a son comes out as gay, the adult daughter can’t leave home, and the son’s lover can’t determine which side of the track he’s on. Mambo Italiano is a story of the love and bonds of family. Along the way, stereotypes abound. As does hilarity.

 

I have been saying for years, “stereotypes are based on half truths.”And when the groups in question are the ones doing the sending up, it’s much easier to swallow. Well, Pacheco Theatre’s Mambo Italiano cast has all its groups covered. Gays, straights, Italians and non make up the cast.

 

Mambo Italiano also takes place in Montreal. The Italian community in Quebec is third in size behind those of English and French descent. Nationally, Italians rank fourth in number behind English, French and Chinese, and in some areas comprise over 12% of the local population. Little Italy neighbourhoods abound, as do Italian-Canadian clubs, such as London’s Marconi Club, founded in 1900.

 

So yes, this play is a gay story about an Italian family in a French city, but it also is really a microcosm of Canadian multiculturalism.

This month, I thought I’d DISH with the gays, straights, Italians and non themselves. Oh, and their director chimed in once in a while as well.  Click on the promo above to read what the cast members had to say about all things Mambo Italiano!!