Homeboys, A Musical

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. Reservations required. RSVP beginning Monday, March 3, at 10 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION: 
Join us for workshop performances of Homeboys, a new musical celebrating the iconic L.A.-based nonprofit that began serving former gang members and at-risk youth in 1988. Created by Alberto López, Greg Koppenhaver, and Mark C. Marino, and co-produced by CASA 0101, the original theatre piece follows six homeboys and homegirls as they try to leave la vida, recounting the founding of Homeboy Industries by Father Greg Boyle and featuring pan-Latin musical styles from 1990s rap to reggaeton and cumbia.  

Following the matinee performance on Sunday, April 6, a conversation featuring the creators of Homeboys and members of Homeboy Industries will be moderated by USC professor Robert Hernandez. 

Bios: 

Alberto López (book and lyrics) has performed, recorded, composed, and/or produced music with artists such as Quetzal, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, Lee Ritenour, Stanley Clarke, LCD Soundsystem, The Brand New Heavies, Juanes, the Dalai Lama, and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. In November 2004, López founded Belú Music, a music production house and independent label, with the aim of developing and sharing the musical vision of artists around the world. Additionally, he is a co-founder and partner of Artivist Entertainment, an independent entertainment company founded in conjunction with Aloe Blacc, Maya Jupiter, Quetzal Flores, and Veronica Gonzalez to represent artists whose art and music inspire positive social change. López assisted USC’s Josh Kun on 2017 Pacific Standard Time LA/LA events.  

Greg Koppenhaver (music and lyrics) is a composer and musician who has performed and conducted throughout Los Angeles and has produced, directed, or been music director for over 100 community, youth, and university musical productions. He has composed and performed works in nearly every style of music—classical, Broadway, opera, gospel, choral, rock, country, pop, Latin, jazz, and reggae— everywhere, from the Music Center and Hollywood Bowl to the missions of Skid Row. His liturgical compositions are performed in churches around Los Angeles, up and down the West Coast, and throughout the country.  

Mark C. Marino (book and lyrics) is a professor in the Dornsife College Writing Program at USC, where he directs the Humanities and Critical Code Studies (HaCCS) Lab. A writer and scholar of digital literature, he is the director of communication of the Electronic Literature Organization. His work a show of hands was a finalist in Repertorio Español’s Nuestras Voces competition and a regional finalist in the David Mark Cohen playwriting awards. He was one of ten co-authors of 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 and was a collaborator with Jessica Pressman and Jeremy Douglass on Reading Project: A Collaborative Analysis of William Poundstone's Project for Tachistoscope {Bottomless Pit}. His most recent book, Critical Code Studies, won the N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature. Marino is currently working with his two children on a series of interactive children’s stories entitled Mrs. Wobbles and the Tangerine House.  

Robert Hernandez (moderator) is a professor at the USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. His areas of interest include vulnerable youth populations, adolescent social issues, adolescent gang intervention, strength-based/resiliency, and youth empowerment models of practice. His area of emphasis is exploring violence-related trauma due to urbanization and rapid development and its impact on healthy youth development, as well as the implications on urban communities. Hernandez is the current chair of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council for Los Angeles Congressional District 29. In addition, he is the founder and board chair of Visionary Youth Los Angeles (VYLA), a nonprofit organization centered around youth voices for change. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Mark C. Marino (Writing) in partnership with CASA 0101. Co-sponsored by La CASA.