Come to My Awesome Fiesta, It’s Going to Be Awesome, Okay?

This one-weekend-only cabaret piece is a hilarious and skewed deconstruction and reconstruction of coming-of-age ceremonies and the cross-cultural cult of "cuteness." Drawing from such rich source material as the late-’70s bilingual PBS sitcom ¿Que Pasa U.S.A.? and the traditional Latino coming-of-age celebration known as the quinces, described by Julia Alvarez in her novel Once Upon a Quinceañera:

“You are dressed in a long, pale pink gown, not sleek and diva-ish, but princessy, with a puffy skirt of tulle and lace that makes you look like you ‘re floating on air when you appear at the top of the stairs. Your court of fourteen couples has preceded you, and now they line up on the dance floor, forming a walkway through which you will pass to sit on a swing with garlanded ropes, cradling your last doll in your arms. Your mami will crown you with a tiara recessed in a cascade of curls the hairstylist spent most of the afternoon sculpting on your head. Then your papi will replace the flats you are wearing with a pair of silver heels and lead you out to the dance floor, where you will dance a waltz together…”