Give Me
Carmelita
Tropicana!
by Alina Troyano and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
directed by Eric Ting
starring Carmelita Tropicana
October 23 2024 - December 1 2024
B: I was at the end of a particularly good year for me when A, my mentor and former teacher, called me up. It was during a thunderstorm. —Hey A!
A: I have to… I think I’m gonna kill her.
B: … Kill who? (no answer) A? Who are you killing?
A: Carmelita Tropicana.
(A loud crack of THUNDER.)
Thus begins Give Me Carmelita Tropicana! — part love letter to an iconic performance artist, part intergenerational debate about the legacy of “downtown” New York, part theatrical interrogation of the uses/abuses of nostalgia, real estate, representation, and the avant-garde, 100% fantastical journey in which Branden Jacobs-Jenkins attempts to buy Carmelita Tropicana from her creator…but at what cost?
Creative Team
Alina Troyano
Co-Writer / Performer
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Co-Writer
Eric Ting
Director
Mimi Lien
Co-Scenic Designer
Tatiana Kahvegian
Co-Scenic Designer
Greg Corbino
Costume and Puppet Designer
Barbara Samuels
Lighting Designer
Tei Blow
Co-Sound & Video Designer
Jeremy Kadetsky
Co-Sound & Video Designer
Cookie Jordan
Co Hair and Wig Designer
tbd casting co.
Casting
Cha Ramos
Fight Director & Choreographer
Eliza Simpson
Dialect Coach
Mariana Catalina
Assistant Director
Brian Freeland
Production Manager
Graham Zellers
Associate Lighting Designer
Cast
Carmelita Tropicana
Octavia Chavez-Richmond
Ugo Chukwu
Will Dagger
Keren Lugo
Supporters
With support from Creative Capital Foundation.
