OCT 14TH – NOV 26TH, 2022
APO CULTURAL CENTER
An immersive play about the histories and people that haunt us.
Synopsis
The Wizards follows Amado and Sam, a Brown and Black genderqueer couple that move back to Amado’s hometown of Chicago after surviving a hate crime in New York the day after the 2016 presidential election. In their new apartment in the city’s gentrifying Pilsen neighborhood, the two find a Ouija board that puts them in touch with the ghost of four boys who were members of The Wizards, a Mexican-American Motown cover band on the Southside during the 70s. The Wizards is a supernatural thriller about the histories and people that haunt us.
About the play
The Wizards world premiered at A.P.O. Cultural Center on Friday, October 14th, 2022. The play ran Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until November 26th.
Despite a lack of media coverage from local theater press, The Wizards received a sold-out run and extension and became a hit play in the city. Audience members came from as far as Carbondale, Illinois to see the play and would crowd the lobby hours before the show in hopes to gain tickets.
Ricardo Gamboa wrote The Wizards based on the stories of their parents to honor that generation of Chicago Mexican Americans whose reality and stories are seldom represented on screens or stages (even in their own city). The Wizards looks at that cultural history and the impact of the Trump administration and the legacy of U.S. racism.
The Wizards was commissioned by the Goodman Theater in 2019 where it received two sold out staged readings and was part of the theater’s prestigious New Plays Festival.
In 2022, Gamboa, Katrina Dion, Sean J.W. Parris formed Concrete Content to produce The Wizards in Chicago. The Wizards is produced in conjunction with APO Cultural Center, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival and Gertie.