Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater.
Gaucho: A New Musical
Book, music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Princeton senior Aaron Ventresca ’24 and Emma Ventresca
Run Time
Approximately 2 hours (including a 10 min. intermission)
Setting
A gaucho home on the pampas (or plains) of Argentina, 1862 — 18 years after landowners adopted barbed wire fencing, which restricted the migratory lifestyle of the gauchos and replaced many of their livelihoods.
Special Notes
No flash photography permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Accessibility
The Wallace Theater is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. The December 9 performance will feature open/live captioning (CART). Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information at our various locations.
Cast
Mateo: Aaron Ventresca ’24*
Sofia: Sydney Mullin ’24
Josefina: Raquel Ramirez ’24*
Carolina: Miel Escamilla ’25*
Pedro: Drew Comstock ’26
Jorge/Sánchez: Joseph McLean ’27
Nacho/Criado: John Venegas Juarez ’25*
Tomochuito: Rowan Johnson ’27
Conoco: William Li ’27
Musicians
Piano/Conductor: Gia Gan
Guitar: Michael Salama ’24
Bass: Jay White ’24*
Drums: Louis Larsen ’24
Percussion: Marko Petrovic ’24
Production Team
Director: Nico Krell
Music Director: Gia Gan
Set Design: Sahaf Chowdhury ’26
Costume Design: Keating Helfrich Debelak
Lighting Design: Alex Slisher ’25
Sound Designer: John Wallar ’25
Stage Manager: Le’Naya Wilkerson ’25*
Assistant Stage Manager: Xander Constantine ’27, Rocco Malvicino
Stitchers: Wyatt Kim, Denise Boyle
Student Stitchers: Tanaka Dunbar Ngwara ’24*, Sabina Jafri ’24*
*denotes a certificate student in the Program in Theater
Faculty Advisors
Elena Araoz
R.N. Sandberg
Miriam Crowe
List of Songs
Act I
“Vivo como el viento” – Pedro
“When I Write” – Mateo
“Payada” – Mateo, Jorge & Nacho
“Waiting” – Mateo, Jorge, Nacho & Tomochuito
“Leave My Life Behind” – Sofia
“Uno de los chicos” – Carolina, Jorge, Nacho & Tomochuito
“The Only One” – Josefina & Pedro
“Amanecer” – Mateo & company
“Buenos Aires” – Company
“Next, Please/The Interview” – Mateo, Criado & Sánchez
“Leave My Life Behind” (reprise) – Sofia
“When I Write” (reprise) – Mateo
Act II
“Under the Stars” – Mateo & Sofia
“Rodeo” – Carolina & company
“Me voy” – Josefina
“Piece of You” – Sofia
“Te quiero” – Mateo & Sofia
“Escribo como el viento” – Mateo & company
A Note from the Project Proposer
Welcome to Gaucho, a new musical that investigates the rich cultural, literary, and musical heritage of Argentina. Inspired by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges and other Boom-era Latino authors, this piece attempts to fill a disparate void in the Western theatrical canon. Specifically, Gaucho (1) dramatizes the literary genre of magical realism, (2) showcases Argentine folk music, and (3) fuses musical theater with the methods of gauchesco storytelling. Consequently, it is our hope that this show serves as more than just theater; it is a form of artistic research that expands our understanding of what the musical can be.
Bringing the gaucho to the stage for the first time, we carry a great responsibility to honor and authentically depict their unique way of life. In doing so, we strive to highlight their complex persona within Latin American society; were the gauchos just roaming ranchers in the fields as Pedro desired? Others may side with Sofia’s idealized image of a “rugged man” whose unabashed individualism is striking. But then again, Conoco and Mateo show that the gauchos are more than the pampas, livestock, and supposedly questionable morals. They are a people, a dreaming people.
— Aaron + Emma
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information, see the websites of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater: Jane Cox
Producing Artistic Director, Theater And Music Theater Season: Elena Araoz
View a full list of the Program in Theater Faculty & Guest Artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a full list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a full list of LCA Supporters
