I recently found a new place to explore my Hispanic heritage: GALA Hispanic Theatre on 14th Street in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. I watched a show with my family titled “Hector El Niño Electrico” or “Hector the Electric Kid” in English. It was a very engaging and exciting experience. (GALA is actually an acronym for Grupo des Artistas Latinas Americanas.)

The show was a packed student matinee, and the crowd was so excited. We saw friends there from George Washinton Middle School, which was such a fun surprise, and really made me feel that GALA is a local theater, even if it’s not right down the street. The theater’s director introduced us to the show and gave us a brief background on the play before it began. 

The eye-catching set instantly drew us into the story. Hector, a 10-year-old boy living in Mexico, is struggling to find friends when a magician who comes to his mom’s auto repair shop gives him an electric spark superpower. The cast of five actors interacted extensively with the audience, and the wit and creativity of the show kept everyone laughing. An adorable puppet played the family dog, and his silly antics were a fun background detail.

I also enjoyed that the play was bilingual! I enjoy chatting with my dad and grandparents in Spanish, so I appreciated that the play was performed in two languages, and so did the students seated around us, who are part of dual language programs. The actors spoke and sang in both English and Spanish, but it wouldn’t be hard to follow even if you could only speak one language or the other.

After the play, the actors participated in a Q&A session with us, where we learned a great deal about their experiences in bringing the musical to life. We met the other people involved, such as the lighting and sound technicians, as well as the ladies who assisted the actors in quickly changing between scenes.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at GALA Hispanic Theater. I am very excited to find a venue that features Latino actors, but anybody could enjoy this play. I would definitely recommend GALA as a great place to watch entertaining and creative shows.