an trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i am damian trujillo. and today, "placas" is back on the show. plus, the music of my great and late friend, rudy madrid. on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle," with damian trujillo. damian: we begin today with the magic that is happening over at the victoria theatre in san francisco. with me back on "comunidad del valle" is my good friend ariana lopez, of course, of legendary fame in her acting career. bienvenida, welcome back to the show. ariana lopez: thank you, thank you, damian. damian: well, tell me what has happened, because i know that when you had your monologue show, you had it for a certain days, then you had to extend it, and extend it, and extend it because people were just coming. how did that go? ariana: it was fantastic. it has been a really good experience this last year.

finally, we create our own company, called tres lopez productions, tree lopez productions. and you can check all that we are going to do this year in the website 3lopez.com. and it was thank to the good response of the people. that is true. we were in the mission control center for 3 weeks, then again in the mission control center, and then at the victoria theatre. and then we went to new york. damian: right, how did that go? ariana: fantastic, fantastic. people didn't know anything about the story. they didn't know who i was or anything, and they respond so nicely. like, the story of a woman, they connect with the story of the immigrant woman who came, who is, like, looking for a better life and then is facing all this debate about raise immigration rights, corruption, politics. and how this character, in this case, me, was in the middle of all this and her voice was lost.

so that gave us, being in new york, gave us the opportunity to see the show, like, with a distance that we are not here in san francisco, and realize that this show is bigger than san francisco. and it's why we want to keep doing it and bring it to the community. the problem that we are facing is that our community, the latino community, is, we don't have, like, several options to go, like, regularly. maybe we have music, more music. but we don't have, like, theater in our own language. in this show, this show is bilingual. so we don't have, like, every month an opportunity to go to see our movies that we see ourselves in the story, shows that we see ourselves. i'm so happy that you are going to have "placas" because that is the kind of theater that i think we need to expose and keep producing. damian: you're changing that. you're changing that.

ariana: yeah, so we are going to bring, now, some movies. i think our experience in venezuela, like in mexico, like in argentina, we have a fantastic movement with theater, movies. the films that we are producing in our countries are so high quality. we have--we are going to start with these, like, works, bringing the goya winner award, that is a venezuelan movie called "my straight son," that in venezuela was called "azul y no tan rosa." and it's a beautiful story that we can see ourselves in the movie, in the screen. and we can also reflect our own stories. so we are going to start at the victoria theatre, that i want to also say is the oldest theater running in san francisco. and the owner is a latino, is roberto correa. damian: and they're taking over, basically,

the victoria theatre in san francisco. i mean, it's gonna be a long-running production of latino-themed productions. now, you were here last year to promote your monologue. your familia flew in from venezuela to help you out with it, but they were gonna fly back. they're here in the--they didn't go back. [speaking in spanish] ariana: they are here. they are here. they are helping me to produce this, the 3 lopez production. and we are a team. we want the same thing. we want our community be more involved in the arts because it's through the stories that we can really reflect deep what is really happening to us. it's good to watch tv. it's good to watch things at home. it's good to go to concerts. but the experience to go and receive in a story that is telling me about myself, about immigration, and through, and a story of women and family, that is something, that experience,

that you are there with all these people that maybe you don't know, just seeing something that is happening on the stage and exploring that magic. that is something that we need to expose more our community. and i invite all of you to please support these efforts. because to do this is a big effort. it's not--la "placas," they have years working to do this. and the same with us. we are working very hard to give you options. but we need also that our community respond. damian: now, my last question to you is what message is this sending? the fact that you're taking over, basically, the victoria theatre and you're bringing latino-themed productions. what does that say about latinos and the interest in the arts in the san francisco bay area? ariana: i think we have, you know, for me it was a surprise. we receive a lot of people from different places in the bay area. we are going to be not only the victoria theatre, we are going to keep pushing at what is the standard. we are going to be in berkeley in la pena

and go back to the mission control center. for all the details, please check tres lopez, 3lopez.com. and you will see, we have one show every month that you can see movies from our countries: argentina, venezuela, mexico, right now. our show, "what is the scandal?" and we are going to bring back "vagina monologues." that is how i met you before. that was my first production. and we want to bring, like, in a superstar from mexico to help us to come to see the show. damian: all right. well, mucha suerte. if you'd like more information, we do have the website for the victoria theatre. it's the, again, oldest operating theater in san francisco. your website again, so that we can actually include here? ariana: 3 lopez productions, 3 with number-- damian: the number 3. ariana: 3lopez.com. damian: all right, gracias. ariana: so, thank you, damian. damian: mucha suerte. ariana: thank you. damian: all right, up next, here on "comunidad del valle," we'll be back about a new app to help mexicans here and abroad. stay with us.

many families here in the bay area will find it useful. with me on "comunidad del valle" are cristal galeana, and marco montes is the ceo of saldo mx. welcome to the show. marco montes: thank you so much. cristal galeana: thank you so much. damian: now, you all sent me, or it's on your site, it's a great, it's kind of a cartoon animation of how your site works. so describe to me, if you will, marco, what we're seeing here and how your app works. marco: sure, well, there's a lot of immigrants here in this country who come from mexico and they still want to support family back home. and what they typically do is they send money through services. but they have to give cash and there's a lot of commissions and fees involved. and the purpose of this money is actually to pay bills, such as electricity, and cable company, back in mexico. so we decided to go directly to those companies and enable from this mobile experience to be able to settle debts so that you

can help your mom, or your grandmom in mexico by paying their bills. "hey, grandma, abuelita, i'm gonna pay your electricity bill so that you don't have to go and pick up the cash and then go to a different store and you know, and pay those extra fees." damian: you can do that directly from here. marco: from here, using, you know, your form of payment, such as your debit account that is linked to your funds here in the us. so we take care of these fraud concerns and issues, which is the main problem why this was not possible before. so there's a lot of technology that we created so that this--we collect some information here in the us, like kyc information, know your customer, which allows us to know and understand what's the context of this person in the us, and so that there's no fraud concerns. damian: and cristal, you're kind of a, you have boots

on the ground here in the bay area. what kind of response have you gotten from people who are starting to learn about the app and are able to use the application? cristal: well, we're really happy because a lot of people, they're, like, they love the app because you don't have to pay anything. just pay the bill that you have to pay. and a lot of people, they're working with us and they're really happy with us. so we kinda, like-- damian: i mean, because a lot of folks are used to going to the money wiring companies, western union and what not, and doin' it that way. but this is an easy way to do it from your mobile app and take care of family back home. cristal: yes, and right now, this year, we have our new-- we have something new in saldo. marco, he's the one that gonna explain that part. i think it's gonna be great for this year. damian: before we get into that, now, what do i need from my grandma in mexico? do i need an account number? do i need an address? what do i need to make sure that i do it right? marco: it depends on the company that you want to pay to. so, for example, if you want to pay your phone bill, you

obviously need your phone number, that's it. but if you need, probably, to pay your cable company, there's a reference number. the same for electricity. and so we started with these companies 'cause we think that it's, like, the main thing-- damian: the basics. marco: around the household. but then, like, we, there's a lot of interest from other companies in mexico. so we decided to aggregate more services, such as micro-insurance. so, for example, if you want to support your family back by from here paying an insurance service, like health, micro-health insurance, and micro-life insurance. so all those things, those are the thing that we have been working on the last couple of months are ready to be deployed. and the same thing for other services that are very interesting. damian: no cost to the user? marco: yeah, i mean, there's a very, very good approach. and if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

if you want to pay your bills from your bank account in the us, you obviously don't have to pay extra fees. so we are taking the same approach. and there's obviously costs behind the scenes that we take care of by doing some business development in mexico, by, you know, taking some commissions from the companies. so making them understand that we are a distribution channel for their products and services. so it makes a lot of sense. and we take commissions from them, but not, you know, from extra fees. so that's the magic. damian: how long have you been deploying this app for? marco: so we, you know, probably last year we've been, like, you know, making sure that all the things work correctly. but we've been for a year and a half working on this project full time. damian: wow, that's great. well, it's a downloadable app. if you'd like more information, we'll give you a web address that is for saldo.mx. cristal, any final thoughts to add to this interview? cristal: it's a great app. i love this app.

i mean, it's, we have a lot of people with us that they're really happy. they're really happy. damian: and trust is a big thing because when you're talking about, you know, i guess we mexicanos are very distrusting of a lot of things. and you want to make sure that this is a legitimate app where the money you're sending in is gonna get paid on the other end. marco: oh, that's very interesting. i mean, i totally agree. i think now technology has helped us. so, for example, if you pay your phone, immediately you get an sms. so that, and that comes directly from the company. so there's no trust involved. so that they can start by paying, you know, prepaid phone minutes are a very great example of that. and then they can start trusting in us. and then they start trying some other things. damian: okay, so if i go on my iphone today, download the app, saldo mx? cristal: yes. damian: all right, mucha suerte. marco: gracias. cristal: gracias. damian: thank you for your service. and up next here on "comunidad del valle," "placas" is back in the bay area.

stay with us.

we're talking about "placas: the most dangerous tattoo," that great play that was here in san francisco not too long ago. with me here on "comunidad del valle," are marisa marshall and eric reed, who are both with the production of this great play. welcome back to the show. welcome to the show. marisa marshall: thank you so much. eric reed: thanks for having us. damian: now, we have some video clips that y'all provided us. but tell us about, i mean, you guys have been traveling all across the state, all across the country doing this performance. what's that been like, and what kind of reception have you received? marisa: the production is amazing. the experience of traveling with a show that is so important to the community, that is so necessary for healing, to show people that their stories are being told by someone that looks just like them is extremely, it's so gratifying to be a part of something that's so big, you know? a lot of plays, a lot of things that--a lot of things that i've

worked on have not been as community oriented. i prefer, you know, things about our people, plays about our people. it's very important to share our stories with each other so that we're not forgotten. damian: no, the message is powerful. and "placas" is obviously slang for "tattoos." what's the message? the storyline, if you can briefly describe the storyline for us. eric: sure, "placas" is about a salvadorian immigrant who was just released from prison after 9 years. and he's trying to gain redemption with his son, who is on the verge of joining a rival gang. and he is trying to gain a new relationship and pull him out of the life that got him into prison. and he finds the difficulty that his son, having not have a father, is trying to gain that, rebuild the relationship that was lost over those years. at the same time, his former gang members are still trying to, he still has a relationship with them.

and as he's trying to go through the tattoo removal process, he finds it difficult to balance his world again. so he's trying to reintegrate himself back into society in a healthy, nonviolent way, and still build a relationship with his son. damian: i know that sometimes at the end of a performance the crowd will gather and want to speak with the actors and those behind the production. what kind of feedback have you received from those who have been witness to that? marisa: we receive such amazing feedback. we get a lot of people who come up to the actors and say, "oh my goodness, you know, that's me." or, "that was my aunt." or, "that was my brother." you know, and it's extremely powerful, the connection that we have with our audience members. we have people come back, you know, two or three times, and they bring their relatives. you know, "i gotta bring my grandma. i have to bring my uncle," you know? they don't want to leave. and they want, you know, "where are you gonna be next? where else can we see you? where are you going? we want to be there."

it's drawn so much attention through different community organizations that want to be a part of what paul is doing with "placas." damian: now, the last time the production was here, richard salinas was here on the show to kind of promote it. i mean, what a talent to be able to work with when it comes to a topic like this one. eric: and rick is fantastic. and this is my first year workin' on the production. and i just had the privilege of watching him in rehearsals. and he has such a powerful presence. and his authenticity as an actor just, you know, adds to the character. and i think that's the power of theater, and that's the power of this play, is how authentic these characters are. that the audience can relate to their circumstances. and that's the power of theater that marisa was talking about, is being able to see your life's circumstance played out on stage gives the audience members a sense of connection to their community, a sense empathy with the characters as well. and rick just does a fantastic job at playing "placas" in this play. damian: and he's not tryin' to be funny backstage or during rehearsals.

rich, of course, he's one of the members of the culture clash comedy troupe. eric: that's right. well, he has an inherent charm about him, you know? he has a magnetism that's undeniable. so i don't know if he tries to be funny, but his charm really comes across. and to see him as a professional kind of take on the role in a very dramatic way is pretty compelling. damian: now, you're kind of, you have a powerful production on your hands. one, it's entertaining. you can see the actors play the roles, if you will. but the social message, you touched on a little, but the social message that you're sending with this production is pretty powerful. marisa: it's extremely important for people to know what's going on in our communities, that we're not okay with the violence, that we're not, you know, it's not acceptable. and that we want better for our future, for our kids, for our families.

we want them to have opportunities to excel, not to be dragged back into, you know, the darkness that is gang violence. damian: you've taken the production to southern california, bay area, the central valley, the same reaction, same response you've gotten? i guess, when it relates, it relates, huh? eric: it does. i think there's a universal message here of suffering and redemption. and i think that as we as a country start to move forward, that message of redemption is startin' to hit home a little bit more. and so, "placas" does a great job at bringing that to the forefront. damian: all right, well, it's running in richmond, there at the center for performing arts january 21 through the 24. you can log onto placas.org for more information. good luck, and thank you for bringin' it back to the bay area. marisa: thank you so much for having us. damian: and up next here on "comunidad del valle," the legendary rudy madrid. stay with us.

on "que pasa." [music]

[music] [music] [music] [music] damian: and our saludos to those celebrating a special day,

felicidades. [music] damian: and here's our address for next week's saludos. you can follow me on twitter. my handle is: @newsdamian. also, pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us. we're gonna leave you now with the music of the late and great, my great friend, rudy madrid of rudy and the cruisers. que en paz descanse. [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]

[singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]

[singing in spanish] damian: here's old brown eyes with a little bit of old blue eyes, rudy madrid and the cruisers. [music] ♪ and now, the end is near ♪ and so i face the final curtain. ♪ ♪ my friend, i'll say it clear, i'll state my case, ♪ ♪ of which i'm certain. ♪ i've lived a life that's good. ♪ ♪ i've traveled each and every highway. ♪ ♪ but more, much more than this, i did it my way. ♪

♪ regrets, i've had a few, but then again, ♪ ♪ too few to mention. ♪ i did what i had to do ♪ and saw it through without exemption. ♪ ♪ i've lived a life that's good. ♪ ♪ i've traveled each and every highway. ♪ ♪ but oh, much more than this, i did it my way. ♪ ♪ yes, there were times, i'm sure you knew ♪

♪ when i bit off more than i could chew. ♪ ♪ but through it all, when there was doubt, ♪ ♪ i ate it up and spit it out. ♪ ♪ the records show i took the blows ♪ ♪ and did it my way. [music] ♪ just one more time let me hold you ♪ ♪ in my arms, one more time. ♪

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