Some holiday traditions go back generations, while others are more recent. Over the past decade, The Latina Xmas Special has become an annual tradition for thousands of Los Angeles theatergoers.
The brainchild of Miami-born Cuban-American Diana Yanez, the production debuted in 2013 at the Elephant Asylum Theatre on Theatre Row, inside the Hollywood Media District. Along with Yanez, the show starred Texas-born Mexican-American Sandra Valls and Los Angeles native Maria Russell (whose mother is Mexican and father is Lithuanian). Together, they portrayed three first-generation immigrants sharing their unique family Christmas tales.
The show quickly became a local sensation, earning a Critics’ Choice Award from the Los Angeles Times in 2015 for its humorous and heartfelt take on the traditional holiday special. Following its success, the production moved to larger venues, including the Latino Theater Company in DTLA and A Noise Within in Pasadena. It even had an off-Broadway run in New York City. Over the years, Yanez, Valls, and Russell continued to evolve their roles, giving fans a fresh reason to return year after year.
“It’s like watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Yanez explains about the show’s enduring appeal. “You see it over and over again. Yes, you know the jokes, but you still enjoy it.”
That comforting sense of familiarity is a cornerstone of holiday traditions, though some changes are inevitable. This year, both Valls and Russell faced scheduling conflicts, leaving them unable to commit to the show.
“It’s like watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. You see it over and over again. Yes, you know the jokes, but you still enjoy it.”
Just when it seemed like there might not be any performances in 2024, a storybook twist came along to keep the spirit of Latina Xmas Special alive. Yanez was approached by Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx, the artistic director of the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Center, with the idea of turning the ensemble piece into a one-person show. And the Una Latina Xmas Special was born.
“I realized that our show was essentially three mini-monologues embraced lovingly by the overall play,” says Yanez. “And I had all of these stories that I had taken out because they didn’t fit time-wise in the three-person show.”
“I never talked about my sexuality,” she continues, “because I thought that it was good that it wasn’t a ‘gay show’ and it wasn’t a ‘straight show.’ But now that we’re doing it at the LGBTQ+ Center, I get to talk about how both my brother and I are gay. I’m enjoying writing about that.”
In addition to having the time to address more personal topics, the solo format also allows Yanez to tap into some other inspirations, particularly one-person performances like Whoopi Goldberg’s first HBO special from the 1980s and John Leguizamo’s run of shows in the 1990s, as well as Lily Tomlin’s restaging of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life from 2000.
And this is far from Yanez’s first time unaccompanied onstage. Her 2010 show, Viva La Evolución, won an “Excellence in Solo Show” award at the New York Fringe Festival. She’s also an experienced stand-up comic.
“The rhythm of stand-up comedy, it’s like, ‘little joke, little joke, big joke, little joke, little joke, big joke,’” Yanez says. “The difference when doing a one-person show is that you can tell the whole story.”
As opening night draws near, Yanez is hard at work perfecting her hour onstage. Rehearsals are taking place in New York, where Yanez moved with her wife in 2022 after 30 years of living in the same apartment on Fountain Avenue in Hollywood. She’s excited to get back to LA and also returning to the Hollywood Media District where her Latina Xmas adventures began.
Yanez might be returning as an Una, but she still delights in the way audiences continue to relate to her immigrant holiday history.
“These are universal themes,” she explains. “All of us are descendants of immigrants (unless you’re indigenous peoples). And there is a gigantic part of the population that is first generation that has that unique experience of growing up in two cultures. It’s very identifiable.”
FOOLISH KIDS WINTER THEATER WORKSHOP
Performance is embedded in the DNA of the Hollywood Media District. The Sacred Fools Theater Company at the Broadwater understands how helpful acting can be for teaching young people life skills like teamwork, empathy, and communication. That’s why they are offering the first Foolish Kids Winter Theater Workshop for students aged 8-18, running from December 16th to the 20th.
During the week-long workshop, kids and teens will learn theater games, improv techniques, and acting methods, all culminating in a showcase at the end of the week. It’s a great way for area students to stay busy during the extended winter school break.
And who knows, maybe it will set a future EGOT winner on the path to artistic fulfillment and acclaim. This is Hollywood, after all!