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Thursday, February 3, 2000
Selena musical to be staged here in April
City among the first visits for stage show 'Selena Forever'
From staff reports
A stage musical celebrating the life of Selena will open in Corpus Christi in April, almost five years to the day after the Tejano star was killed by her fan club president.
Producers of "Selena Forever" plan to announce plans for a national tour today, with several local performances set for Selena Auditorium in the first week of April. The performances in Corpus Christi will be among the first in the tour, producers said.
"Selena Quintanilla singlehandedly brought Latin music into the consciousness of mainstream America five years ago," said Michael Vega, one of the show's producers. "Her life story continues to inspire millions of young Hispanic women."
"Selena Forever" will feature a cast of 35 singers, actors, dancers and musicians, with nearly 30 songs in the show. Ten of the show tunes are songs Selena performed and recorded before being killed by her fan club president at age 23 on March 31, 1995.
The rest of the songs are an original mix of Latin pop and Tejano.
"We're tapping into a different public here," Fernando Rivas, who composed the score, has said.
"It's a Latino mindset, but I'm hoping the Anglo world will find this good. I'm hoping it will cross over."
"Selena Forever" is the 14th stage musical for the composer, whose Latin-themed credits include "Santiago the Birdman" and "Barrio Babies," which is set to open in New York this year.
Hundreds of young women auditioned for the part of Selena in eight cities, including Corpus Christi, before producers chose two San Antonio women to share the lead role.
Rebecca Valadez, a 21-year-old who sang backup for the 1998 Janet Jackson tour, and Veronica Vasquez, a 24-year-old New York-based Latin-R&B singer, will alternate in the role.
The actress playing Selena will perform more than 14 solos during the two-hour show, producers said.
"They both are incredible singers," Edward Gallardo, the New York-based playwright and lyricist, has said. "You needed a triple threat with this part, an incredible singer, dancer and actress. Both are wonderful."
Denise Stefanie Gonzalez, 11, of Los Angeles, described as a "wunderkind" by producers, will play the role of Selena as a child.
The Selena stage musical joins a long line of entertainment vehicles that have featured the singer since her fatal shooting by Yolanda Saldivar. Saldivar is serving a life sentence for the crime.
Selena has inspired a feature film, television drama, a documentary, books, dolls and a national clothing line. The movie "Selena" catapulted singer/actress Jennifer Lopez to Hollywood fame.
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