Book & Lyrics by Karen Zacarías
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma
Published by Dramatic Publishing.
Upcoming Productions
Synopsis
Alex may seem like a quiet, shy boy, but he secretly wrestles with big ideas inside his head. His life changes when he meets brave and colorful Frida, an unusual girl who gets him to reveal his secret dreams. Forced into an unlikely partnership, the pair discover how dreams can become a reality with the right friend by your side. Frida Libre is an uplifting story featuring delightful original songs which explore the meaning of transformation, understanding and acceptance.
The story is geared to children, but this adult found herself moved by the uplifting story.” – Charlene Baldridge, San Diego News
History
Frida Libre was commissioned and premiered at La Jolla Playhouse, CA as their 2011 Pop Tour, under the direction of Rosemary Newcott. After touring for 9 weeks around San Diego schools, being seen by over 17,000 children, it returned to the La Jolla playhouse for a weekend of sold out performances.
Click Here to watch a video feature on the premiere production at La Jolla Playhouse.
Musical Numbers
Buy the demo from Bandcamp.
Featuring Camden Gonzales (Frida), Steve Limones (Alex), Scott Graff and the composer.
Production Elements
Cast: 2 women, 2 men
ALEX – a shy quiet boy with lots of imagination.
FRIDA – a colorful girl with lots of imagination.
2 ACTORS – who morph and transform to help the story along.
They also become MAESTRO, and SUPER LUCHADOR and FRIDA LIBRE
Music: Lyrical Latin score. Accompaniment tracks available.
Musical Difficulty: Moderate
Technical Requirements: Minimal (ideal for touring)
Suggested Audience: Upper Elementary School/Families
Authors
KAREN ZACARÍAS (Book & Lyrics) is hailed by American Theater Magazine as one of the ten most produced playwrights in the U.S. and the most produced Latina playwright in the nation. Her comedy Native Gardens, about race, class, plants, and fences, hit a political zeitgeist and was one of the top produced plays of 2019. Her musical homage to the telenovela Destiny of Desire, “a terrifically entertaining theatrical roller coaster”(Charles McNulty, LA Times) has sold-out the largest regional theaters from East to West (Arena Stage, The Goodman, Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and is now heading to Broadway. Her gripping drama The Copper Children, about a controversial child separation case in 1905, just had an acclaimed world premiere at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and her bilingual translation of Romeo y Juliet will premiere at California Shakespeare Festival in September of 2021. Other award-winning plays include The Book Club Play, Legacy of Light, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, and the adaptations of Just Like Us, Into the Beautiful North, and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent. Her work has also been produced at The Kennedy Center, The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Goodman, South Coast Rep, and many more.
Karen is also one of the most produced children’s theater playwrights in the country. She is the author of ten renowned TYA musicals with composer Deborah Wicks La Puma including Ella Enchanted, Einstein is a Dummy, Ferdinand the Bull, Looking for Roberto Clemente, Chasing George Washington, Jane of the Jungle, and Frida Libre. Karen is also the author of the Marvel play Squirrel Girl Goes to College, and the librettist of several Ballets. She is one of the inaugural resident playwrights at Arena Stage, a core founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons – a large national organization of artists seeking to update the American narrative with the stories of Latinos – and she is the founder of the award-winning Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT). YPT was cited by the Obama administration as one of the best arts-education programs on the nation.
Karen was voted 2019 Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine for her advocacy work involving the arts. She is an inaugural 2019 Sine Fellow for Policy Innovation at American University for advocating for the intersectionality of art and policy and was selected by The League of Professional Theatre Women to receive the 2019 Lee Reynolds Award given annually to a woman in theater who has helped illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural, or political change. She was awarded the 2019 Medallion by the Children’s Theater Foundation of America for excellence and craft and a 2019 speaker at TEDEX Broadway. A graduate of Stanford University and Boston University, Karen lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children. She is represented by the Gersh Agency. www.KarenZacarias.com
Purchase
Buy the script from Dramatic Publishing.
Buy the demo from Bandcamp.
Featuring Camden Gonzales (Frida), Steve Limones (Alex), Scott Graff and the composer.