Inebria Me

San Cha

LOS ANGELES PREMIERE

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Price: $27*
Genres: Music, Theater
Season: Fall 2025
DATE: OCT 16-18
TIME: THU-SAT, 8 PM
RUNTIME: Approx. 90 minutes, no intermission
COUNTRY: USA
PROGRAM: Not yet available

* Discounts available for REDCAT members, students & the CalArts faculty and staff

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About

Los Angeles-based composer, musician, and performance artist San Cha presents a new experimental opera. San Cha appears as Dolores, a beauty of humble means who, after marrying wealthy Salvador, is caught in a web of jealousy and abuse. Esperanza, a genderless being of light and empowerment, visits Dolores, giving her strength to realize her true value. Drawing on influences including Mexican immigrant family life, Catholic church choir, and Bay Area drag, this bold new work merges the dramatic, opulent operatic form with the melodrama of telenovelas. Compositions fusing ranchera, cumbia, punk, classical, and electro music are performed by a stellar cast led by Darian Donovan Thomas alongside stefa marin alarcon, Lu Coy, Kyle Kidd, Carolina Oliveros, and Phong Tran. With its title, Inebria Me references the intoxicating, transcendent, and sublime power of love that conquers all.

On October 17, there will be a post-show Q&A with San Cha, moderated by REDCAT Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Performing Arts, Katy Dammers.

Presented in Spanish with English supertitles.

Please note: Inebria Me contains strobe lights, flashing lights, nudity, and mature content.

Her voice is a revelation, immensely powerful; it evokes wondrous beauty as she plumbs the depths of tragedy.

—

Matthew Ismael Ruiz, Pitchfork

Inebria Me is commissioned by Performance Space New York, National Performance Network (NPN), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), and Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), with support from On The Boards and Roy & Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT).

Additional support provided by Ballroom Marfa, Denniston Hill, Los Angeles Performance Practice, and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.

about the artist

San Cha is a Mexican-American artist whose multidisciplinary practice blends rancheras, electronics, cumbia, and pop to explore themes of identity, power, and liberation. Born Lizette Gutierrez to Mexican immigrant parents, San Cha’s artistic journey began with singing in the Catholic church choir and evolved within the vibrant Bay Area queer drag nightlife scene. Rooted in the DIY, punk, and queer nightlife cultures, San Cha’s creative process is fueled by community narratives, lucid dreams, and cultural exploration. San Cha’s early work, including the Capricho del Diablo EP (2018), received critical acclaim, with Bandcamp Daily naming it Album Of The Day. Her 2019 album, La Luz De La Esperanza, earned an 8.0 rating on Pitchfork and recognition as one of The Advocate’s Women Of The Year in 2020. Her music has been featured in the Starz TV series Vida and Kacey Musgraves’ film Star-Crossed: The Film, with the Los Angeles Times declaring, “San Cha sings from a divine place.” Her ongoing Processions (2024) mixtape, released through Ballroom Marfa, further demonstrates her artistic versatility and commitment to exploring complex narratives. San Cha’s practice extends to collaborative projects in classical music and opera. She has engaged in projects, performances, and residencies with Performance Space New York, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, lumber room, the Getty, LACMA, Red Bull, Ballroom Marfa, Denniston Hill, Oak Head, On the Boards, REDCAT, Movimiento de Arte y Cultural Latino Americana, KQED, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and more.

Recent awards and accolades include the National Performance Network Creation & Development Fund Grant (2023), National Performance Network Documentation & Storytelling Grant (2024), Los Angeles Performance Practice Research & Development Award (2024), a 2023 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. San Cha’s work consistently pushes artistic boundaries, utilizing music and performance as powerful vehicles for sociopolitical change and liberation.

Instagram / Website

cast & creative team

CREATIVE TEAM

Creator, Composer, Librettist: San Cha

Director, Musical Director, Arranger: Darian Donovan Thomas

Sound Designer: Phong Tran

Producer and Project Manager: Roya Amirsoleymani

Tour Stage Manager and Production Associate: Antonieta Castillo Carpio

Lighting Designer: Pablo Santiago

Associate Lighting Designer: Joey Guthman

Scenic Designer: Anthony Robles

Sound Designer: Phong Tran