Where have we been?

Yes, it is true, and we aren't proud to say it, but the snow and holidays got the best of Behind the Curtain, and we've kept our loyal readers waiting far, far too long for a new post.

Fortunately, there is so much going on at SCT this month, we're going to have plenty to write about, what with the imminent closing of The Wizard of Oz and two, count'em TWO, opening nights on the near horizon.

We're going to hold off for now on talking about Pharaoh Serket and the Lost Stone of Fire, which opens at the end of the month, because in four short days we open Tomás and the Library Lady, based on the childhood of acclaimed author and educator Tomás Rivera.

While the play focuses on Rivera as a schoolboy, it was the life that followed that made Rivera's name. Rivera was the first Mexican-American chancellor in the University of California system, and also the youngest ever named to the post. As an author, he is best known for his novella ...y no se lo tragó la tierra (translated to English as This Migrant Earth and later And the Earth Did Not Devour Him), which won the first-ever Quinto Sol award. One of Rivera's enduring legacies is The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, a research institute dedicated to assisting Latino communities, which he helped found.

You can read more about Tomás Rivera, his life and his work here.

Tomás and the Library Lady opens in SCT's Eve Alvord Theatre on Friday January 9th, 2009, and runs through March 1, 2009.