Bring El Cruce to Your Stage

What This Is

El Cruce (the crossing) is a bilingual one-act musical, continuous, running roughly 85 minutes.

It takes place over a single dinner service in a small Latino-owned Chicago restaurant that matters more to its neighborhood than its ledger would suggest. There's a protest in the street, an enforcement action working the block, and a developer who has been circling the building for months. Sophia has run this room for thirty years. Tonight she finds out what it's worth to her, and so does everyone who works for her.

Nine songs — cumbia, bolero, son montuno, tango, melodic hip-hop, and indie folk — played live by a band that never leaves the stage.

Production Requirements

Runtime 75-90 minutes
One act, continuous, no intermission
Single set, the restaurant
Sound design carries the street: protest noise, sirens, and the door opening and closing on it.
The front door and front window are practical units. The street beyond them is a controlled offstage playing space with actor access, used for one impact moment that requires a fight director. The show opens and closes on the door.
The band is in the room and never leaves. Not a pit, not offstage.
Written for a proscenium or black box. An immersive restaurant staging is possible provided the production can control the space beyond the front window.

What's Available

Complete studio recordings of all nine songs, streaming now. [Listen]
[One-sheet PDF] — logline, cast breakdown, song list, production requirements, contact.
Full script available upon request.

Casting

10 actors, 3–5 musicians

7 male, 3 female. Roles for Sophia, Carlos, Maria, Luis, Donovan, and Eduin are written for Latino actors. All cast members sing.
Spanish is limited throughout. Conversational comfort preferred for Carlos, Eduin, Sophia, and Luis.
Ensemble plays Ray, Nico, KID.

3 musicians minimum, live, no tracks

Guitar (acoustic and electric)
Cajón / percussion
Keys / MIDI covering bass, horn, and violin
Recommended: add live horn (4 players), then violin (5)

Songs

1. El Cruce (Opening) — Cumbia, sung by Ensemble

2. Don’t Rush the Bread — Latin pop / Cumbia, Sung by Maria, Sophia, and Carlos

3. A Reputation Preserved — Latin Pop / Melodic Hip-Hop, sung by Carlos and Kari

4. It Will Be Mine — Son Montuno, sung by Donovan and Sophia

5. Come Back Tuesday (El Cruce Reprise), Sung by Ensemble

6. Dancing With Judas — Tango, sung by Evan and Maria

7. This Is My Place — Son Montuno, Sung by Sophia

8. I Just Met Me — Bolero, Sung by Maria

9. Tend the Fire — Indie Folk, Sung by Ensemble

Sophia, Latina, 60s. Mezzo. Owner. A physician in her own country. Leads the show. The moral center.
Carlos, Latino, 50s. Baritone. Head cook, fifteen years on the line. Pride and temper in equal measure. Says little, means all of it. The room’s foundation.
Donovan, 50s. Tenor. Successful Latino developer.
Maria, Latina, late 20s - early 30s. Alto. Server, and Sophia's niece. Caught between the room that raised her and the life she's building outside it.
Luis, late 20s. Tenor. Server. Latino, recently arrived. He is the room’s rhythm.
Evan, White, late 20s - early 30s. Tenor. Maria's partner. Arrives with a ring and a coat he won't explain
Kari, 30s, White. Soprano. A food influencer who loves the culture and can't see the people making it.
Eduin, Latino, late 30s - early 40s. Tenor. ICE agent. Has reasons, and knows exactly what room he's walked into. Struggles between duties and heritage.
ICE Agent, White, 50s. Tenor or Bass. Eduin's partner, wears the uniform comfortably.
Ensemble — 20s–30s. Bass. Any ethnicity.

What I Am Looking For

El Cruce is not my story, and I've been clear about that from the beginning. I wrote it because ICE enforcement reached people I know, and the songs came before anything else did. What it needs now is people from the community it's about, with real authority over the work.

I'm looking for:

A director or dramaturg to lead a sit-down reading and shape the next draft. Not a consultant on my script — a collaborator on the piece.
Latino actors for that reading.
Producing theaters interested in a developmental production.

The script is finished and the full score is recorded. I'm in Chicago and can travel.