Last Stop Ranchara Staged Reading Script (239.48 kB)

 Excerpt

ACT 1

PROLOGUE: (Excerpt from)

“Prodigal Hija and The Last Stop Cantina”
by Mónica Sánchez

Sound cue of heart beating and panting. Lights fade up.

PRODIGAL HIJA:

I am running
And I can't stop
Estoy corriendo
To the Last Stop
Last Stop Ranchera
Where all roads lead
For those in search of a truth
like me

MUSICA: Mariachi music to "La Negra". Ends with sound montage of Ranchera endings.

This is my quest. This ubiquitous "tan-tan" leaves me no rest. Like a reccurring
waking dream, like a ringing echo in my ear, like an audio pebble in my shoe, this
musical punctuation hammers at my core, consumes me desde el corazón al patín. I have
to get to root of the matter, I have to know: Why? Why, "TAN-TAN"? What is the
Genesis of the Finale, "TAN-TAN". Y como el viento que corre, I run: past Banda

MUSICA

past Cumbia

MUSICA

past Bolero

MUSICA

past Corrido

MUSICA

past Salsa y Son

MUSICA

until at last, the distant sounds of mariachi
and the smell of tequila lead me to my ranchera revelation.
In true Ranchera form, I follow my heart, which in this case means to follow my feet,
hasta llegar al fondo, straight to the caballo's mouth, to the end of the line, to the last stop
ranchera.