César Jáquez moved around a lot as a kid but after moving to El Paso right before high school, he says he became more rooted in his Latinx identity. Jáquez also always had a love for theater, and while taking classes at Sam Houston State University, he began to see himself as a director. Now, he's directing his first show at Stages, a laugh-out-loud comedy that takes place in Houston and follows a university professor who’s hired to help a political party understand the Hispanic vote.
When did the theater bug first hit you?
“I started doing theater at 8 years old. My first production was Annie. I remember I really wanted to be Annie, but, alas, I was a boy. From then on, I continued doing theater up until high school. I ended up going to school for acting and directing at Sam Houston State University. That’s where I met Stages’ former Artistic Director Kenn McLaughlin. He was my directing professor. He made me fall in love with directing more than acting. After I graduated in 2018, I was determined to be a professional director and to learn as much as I could. Now, this is marking my directorial debut. So, after six years of working and grinding, I finally got my own show.”
How do you relate to the political and cultural themes in this play?
“I can most definitely relate to the nuance of the Latinx community. We’re always put in a box. We’re always put under this big umbrella, when there’s a huge diaspora of the Latinx community. And being able to do a show with Latinx people for Latinx people is the most invigorating thing for me. I just feel so grateful and proud to be able to spearhead this. I think anybody who comes to see the show is going to be able to leave with something. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what ethnicity or race you are, you’re going to be able to lean into the joy of it all, and leave hopefully being changed.”
What is a moment that you won’t forget directing?
“Whenever I was assistant directing ‘Thunder Knocking at the Door’ here at Stages with my really great friend Tevin Washington. We went to college together. We had a previous show in 2020, but since the pandemic, it got shut down early. Being able to do a new show with him, it uplifted my spirits. I love musicals, but I had never directed a musical. It reawakened something inside of me, that I was like, ‘This is exactly where I need to be. This is exactly what I need to be doing.’”
"The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine vote" is playing at Stages until Oct. 6. I’m honoring Hispanic culture and history in Houston during Hispanic Heritage Month. Do you have any other interesting Houstonians I should feature? Hit up my inbox 😉
