The Three Louies - Luis J. Rodriguez, Louie Perez, Luis Torres
Remembrances and reminiscences about growing up on Los Angeles’ Eastside will take center stage in a group performance by a member of Los Lobos, a renowned Chicano writer and an award-winning Chicano journalist.
The iconoclastic trio Chicano known as The Three Louies will perform at the Crawford Family Forum in the auditorium of KPCC Radio in Pasadena on January 5 at 7:00 pm. The performance is part of the ongoing Town Hall for the 21st Century series. The address is 474 S. Raymond Avenue.
For more info go to: http://www.scpr.org/events/
The performance is open to the public and there is no charge for admission.
The Three Louies recently performed to a standing-room-only crowd at the Vincent Price Museum on the campus of East Los Angeles College where they received a standing ovation.
The Three Louies comprise a group that is difficult to define. Their presentations are part performance art, part comedy and part social satire. The group features three Chicanos whose roots are on Los Angeles’ Eastside and who have individually pursued successful careers in music, literature and journalism. They carry on an unscripted conversation and “invite the audience to eavesdrop.”
The performance evokes something like a mixture of Spalding Gray and a Chicano version of the Marx Brothers.
The members of the Three Louies are Louie Perez of the musical group Los Lobos, nationally renowned writer Luis J. Rodriguez and award-winning journalist and broadcaster Luis Torres.
“I’m really looking forward to performing in Pasadena as part of The Three Louies,” says musician Louie Perez. “Considering what’s going on in the world around us, a public display of silliness is way overdue,” he jokes.
He explains The Three Louies, who are longtime friends, have a conversation in front of an audience, with the audience essentially eavesdropping on the conversation. Topics range from “growing up Mexican” to overcoming discrimination and dislocation and persevering in professional careers – all with a satirical wink at life in America.
“It’s politics, it’s poetry, it’s every topic under the sun,” says writer Luis J. Rodriguez. “The Three Louies makes the Three Stooges look smart,” he jokes. “But on the serious side, it’s what three vatos from East L.A. can do with little to work with but family, community, determination and lots of headaches,” he adds.
Says Rodriguez, “We sit down and share our stories – stories that should wind through any audience and wake them up to their own stories.”
“We’ll begin with our take on the latest perversities in the news headlines,” says Luis Torres. “But our conversations – punctuated by anecdotes and reminiscences – will cover a range of ideas and experiences about growing up on the eastside of L.A,” says the former KNX/CBS reporter. “It’s as if the three of us were just chatting at a party, and we invite the audience to listen in – and maybe add some recollections of their own.”
The performance is free and open to the public.
Luis J. Rodriguez’ latest book is a memoir titled “It Calls you Back.” Louie Perez is currently on a nationwide tour with the rock band Los Lobos. Luis Torres, formerly of CBS/KNX Radio, is the author of a forthcoming book examining the 1968 East Los Angeles high school student walkouts and the work of educational reformer Vahac Mardirosian. He frequently contributes book reviews and feature stories to the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers and writes for national publications.