A Day of Luis Valdez

A DAY OF LUIS VALDEZ
WEDNESDAY MARCH 5, 2008

The Department of Television-Radio-Film and Theatre at San Jose State and 90.5 FM KSJS presented a “A Day of Luis Valdez” Wednesday, March 5, 2008 during the Northern California premier production of Valdez’s Mummified Deer, directed by his son Kinan Valdez, at San Jose State’s University Theatre.

“A Day of Luis Valdez” featured an exploration of the life, times, and creative process of one of San Jose State’s most esteemed alumnus.

A DAY OF LUIS VALDEZ, HOSTED BY RAMON N. JOHNSON, 90.5 FM KSJS
FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS, LUIS VALDEZ, KINAN VALDEZ, AND
MODERATOR MARILYN ABAD-CARDINALLI, FROM EL TEATRO CAMPESINO’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE IN SAN JOSE STATE’S HAL TODD AND UNIVERSITY THEATRE’S, HUGH GILLIS HALL, LOCATED AT 5TH AND SAN FERNANDO STREETS IN DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE.

7:30-8:45 A.M. EVENT REGISTRATION (Hal Todd Theatre, HGH 103)

9-11 A.M. ACTING AND DIRECTING VALDEZ IN THE HAL TODD THEATRE PRESENTED BY LUIS VALDEZ AND KINAN VALDEZ (BROADCAST LIVE ON KSJS)

11:05-11:40 A.M. LUNCH BREAK

12 NOON-2:15 P.M. “ MUMMIFIED DEER” MATINEE PERFORMANCE IN THE UNIVERSITY THEATRE (TIME IS APPROXIMATE)

2:20-2:55 P.M. “MUMMIFIED DEER” Q&A/DISCUSSION WITH LUIS AND KINAN VALDEZ AND CAST. PRESENTATION OF CITY OF SAN JOSE COMMENDATION AND “DAY OF LUIS VALDEZ PROCLAMMATION” (BROADCAST LIVE ON KSJS)

3:00-4:30 P.M. “INSIDE LUIS VALDEZ”-A CONVERSATION WITH VALDEZ HOSTED BY RAMON N. JOHNSON AND MODERATED BY MARILYN ABAD-CARDINALLI (BROADCAST LIVE ON KSJS)

4:30-6 P.M. DINNER BREAK

6-8 P.M. A SPECIAL SCREENING OF “ZOOT SUIT” IN THE UNIVERSITY THEATRE INTRODUCED BY LUIS VALDEZ

About Luis Valdez

In honor of the 150th anniversary of San Jose State University the Department of Television-Radio-Film and Theatre (TRFT) is producing the Northern California debut performance of Mummified Deer written by Luis Valdez and directed by his son Kinan February 29-March 8, 2008. Mummified Deer is an exploration of personal identity that Valdez was first inspired to write when he read a newspaper article about the discovery of a 60 year-old fetus in the womb of an 84-year-old woman. For Valdez, the mummified fetus became a metaphor for the Chicanos’ Indi heritage as seen through the lens of his own Yaqui blood.

Valdez, a San Jose State Alumni, wrote his first play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, while still a student in the Theatre Department in 1964. The play was performed in TRFT’s Studio Theatre, now named the Hal Todd Theatre.

Best known for his productions of Zoot Suit, about Mexican-American gang members during the Los Angeles race riots of 1942-43, and La Bamba, the screen biography of Ritchie Valens, the 1950s Mexican American rock-and-roll singer, Valdez is the founder of El Teatro Campesino (The Workers’ Theatre) and renowned for his work with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Association.

Valdez holds honorary doctorates from San Jose State University, the University of Santa Clara, Columbia College of Chicago, and the California Institute of the Arts. He is also a founding faculty member of the new California State University Monterey Bay and a founding member of the California Arts Council. His awards include the George Peabody Award (1987), the Governor's Award (1990), and Mexico's prestigious Aguila Azteca Award (1994).

Valdez credits the educational and creative opportunities he received at San Jose State for his success and it was at San Jose State that his activism for positive social change first publicly manifested itself.