“American Dreamer” performances Oct. 17-18 tell extraordinary story of nation's oldest living governor, Raúl H. Castro

A full-length play based on the life of 98-year-old former Arizona Governor and U.S. Ambassador Raúl H. Castro will be staged Oct. 17-18 at Sunnyside High School in Tucson as part of a weekend of Hispanic Heritage Month-related celebrations honoring the state’s only ever to-date Hispanic governor.

American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Raúl H. Castro is written and performed by Phoenix-based playwright James E. Garcia. The play is directed by Richard Schultz and produced by New Carpa Theatre Co. in cooperation with the Sunnyside Unified School District, the Raúl H. Castro Institute at Phoenix College and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The play will be presented at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 17, and 2 p.m., Oct. 18, at Sunnyside High School Auditorium, 1725 E. Bilby Road, Tucson, AZ 85706. Admission is $12 for adults; $10 for students and seniors; $6 for children 12 and under. The play is suitable for all ages. Tickets available at the door during performances or atwww.newcarpa.org.

Gov. Castro, the nation’s oldest living former governor, also will be honored at 6 p.m., Oct. 18, at the 25^th Annual Noche de Éxitos – Binational Awards Gala at Casino del Sol Resort, 5655 W. Valencia, Tucson, AZ 85757. The event celebrates the Hispanic Business Man and Woman of the Year and other awardees, including the presentation of the THCC’s Legacy Award to Gov. Castro. For more information about the Gala, contact Alma Peralta at 520-620-0005.

“It’s been a dream of mine to bring the play to Tucson,” said James E. Garcia, who authored the play and portrays Castro in the performance. “Gov. Castro overcame incredible obstacles to become not just Arizona’s only ever Hispanic governor, but a championship boxer, attorney, teacher, judge, prosecuting attorney, and three-time U.S. ambassador. He’s an icon not just to Latinos, but all Arizonans. I’m proud to tell his story.”  

The play was based on Castro’s then unpublished autobiography, “Adversity Is My Angel”, and a series of interviews conducted by the author with Castro over the past several years. “American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Raúl H. Castro” has been performed in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Nogales, but this is its premiere in Tucson.

“It’s a wonderful thing that this play will finally be presented here, given that no other community, with the exception of his hometown of Douglas, is more closely linked to Gov. Castro’s amazing story than Tucson,” said Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford, an award-winning, Tucson-based author, who has written a soon-to-be published bilingual children’s book based on Castro’s life called “Raulito Becomes The Governor/Raulito llega a ser el gobernador”.

For more information about “American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Raúl H. Castro, contact James E. Garcia at 602-460-1374 or emailinfo@newcarpa.org.