After two unstable years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Camille Playhouse in Brownsville hopes the 59th season is free of setbacks with new Artistic Director Brandon Binder at the helm.
After a nationwide search for a new artistic director, Binder started on Aug. 1 with short- and long-term plans.
He told The Rider it feels incredible to be chosen for the position, especially after helping, volunteering and performing at the Camille Playhouse for about 15 years.
The 59th season will feature seven productions, including “Pippin,” “Mojada,” “The Sound of Music,” “Spider’s Web,” “Songs for a New World,” “As You Like It” and “Dorothy Meets Alice.”
With the season already underway with a performance of “Pippin” on Sept. 16, 17, 18 and last weekend, Binder said it was a great feeling to kick off the first show in his new position.
“Pippin” tells the story of a young prince who is searching for his own “corner of the sky,” according to the theater’s website.
“This show means a lot to me, being the show that we were preparing to do in March of 2020, when everything closed down,” he said.
Born and raised in Brownsville, Binder said one of his main focuses in the first year is increasing the exposure of the theater.
“In about a year, one of our biggest things is increasing … exposure of the theater,” Binder said. “We still have people here in town that don’t know that it’s here or know what we do. So, I believe this season and, especially, our next season, we’re going to be able to let more people know of what we do here and what we bring to the community.”
A long-term goal is to be able to perform across the entire Rio Grande Valley and Texas with a full crew and staff to help build and move set pieces.
Karen Gonzalez Goldschmidt, who portrayed Fastrada in the musical “Pippin” during her second season with the Camille, told The Rider she has been a supporter since the early 2000s. She gave it a try in the 58th season with “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
“I had no experience, no background, but it’s just something that I enjoy and I never thought it was something that I could do or thought I was good enough,” Goldschmidt said.
She said of all the works she’s been a part of, the first weekend performance had one of the biggest crowds.
Asked what advice she could give to someone that wants to try theater, Goldschmidt replied, “Just go for it. Because you don’t even realize what you have inside of you until you’re there in that moment.”
UTRGV theater junior Rolando Garza De Leon, part of the ensemble and understudy for Pippin, told The Rider he had to drive every day from Pharr to Brownsville for rehearsals.
“I’ve been looking for a musical to be part of and … I started following all the theater companies I knew here in the Valley and, well, I saw the announcement for the casting and I decided to go for it,” Garza De Leon said.
As an understudy for the main character, Garza De Leon said on Sept. 25, all the understudies were scheduled to perform.
His advice to his fellow theater majors is to always look for opportunities and never expect or wait for something to come to you.
Garza De Leon said he will be unable to audition for the Camille’s next production, “Mojada,” due to obligations in the UTRGV Theatre Department’s presentation of “Molière,” but said he is excited for something “very different.”
Binder said the title of “Mojada” by Luis Alfaro has already brought a lot of controversy but the creator of the play did it to get rid of the derogatory purpose of the word and to bring attention to people who are ostracized by the word.
An adaptation of Euripides’ “Medea” mixed with Mexican folklore, the play examines the tragedy behind America’s immigration system and the destiny of one family caught in its grip. “Mojada” will be performed Oct. 21-23 and 28-30.
“It’s so close to home and it shows and highlights the struggles and experiences that our own family members may have gone through,” Binder said. “So, we’re very excited to bring that and to showcase it, not in a light mood, you know. This is a very intense and dramatic show.”
Asked how important it is to produce works about the Latino experience, he replied, “I think it’s crucial. I think it’s important to have the accessibility and the visualization of what is going on and seeing it brought on to the stage. It’s easy for people to dismiss some things if it doesn’t just directly affect them.”
Ayleen Perez, a Brownsville native who graduated with a bachelor of arts in theater from Michigan State University, was involved with the Camille Playhouse for the first time in a lead role in “Pippin” and will be the stage manager for “Mojada.”
“I feel strongly about arts in places like [Brownsville], because we don’t have, as a Latino community, much access to art,” Perez said.
She said theater is not only about acting but can be for people who want to build sets and design costumes.
“I think it’s important, especially giving the opportunity for those that come from a lower-income family,” Perez said. “It’s amazing what Camille has been doing, especially it being the only theater in Brownsville, being able to give that access [to art] to anybody because it’s for the community.”
For information on auditions, showtimes and tickets, visit www.camilleplayhouse.net.
