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I, Carmelita Tropicana. - Review - book review
Advocate, The, April 25, 2000 by Monica Palacios
I, Carmelita Tropicana * Alina Troyano * Beacon Press * $17
Do yourself a big favor and get your hands on I, Carmelita Tropicana, the intelligent, political, and very entertaining book by New York City-based performance artist Alina Troyano (whose stage name gives the book its title). This jam-packed creative collection of Troyano's one-woman shows, plays, and essays reveals her distinctive combo plate of assets: She's Cuban, lesbian, and one bad motha. Troyano is one of the many hip, happening homos to come out of the WOW (Women's One World) Cafe, a funky hole in the wall on Manhattan's lower east side. And Carmelita is one bold mujer whose deliciously ribald sense of humor extends to her male alter ego, Pingalito Betancourt, the self-proclaimed Cuban Antonio Banderas. My only regret is that the book doesn't come with a video. Troyano's work is so visual, it doesn't surprise me to learn that she collaborated with her sister, filmmaker Ela Troyano (Latin Boys Go to Hell), on several of the pieces here.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Liberation Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
