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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Maria Conchita Alonso Forced To Resign From Play Over Tea Party Ad

Many moons ago I was interviewed by some talk show host who tried to ridicule me for my reasons for remaining anonymous. He refused to believe that conservative actors could lose work over their politics. I tried to explain that perhaps well-known, Hollywood celebs might still get jobs, but that even then, some have complained about less work. And the theatre world is even less tolerant than the film world, so I wasn't surprised to read that Latina singer/actress Maria Conchita Alonso was asked to resign from a Spanish language production of Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues." The play was slated to open at the Brava Theatre Center in a mainly Hispanic area of San Francisco, and Conchita made the mistake of filming an ad campaign for would-be California governor Tim Donnelly. Donnelly is a Tea Party favorite, which did not sit well with the theatre producers especially considering his views on immigration.  Then there were the people threatening to boycott the production, and it was bye-bye Conchita.

“We really can’t have her in the show, unfortunately,” Eliana Lopez, the producer of the show scheduled to run in the heavily Hispanic Mission District, told KPIX 5. “Of course she has the right to say whatever she wants. But we’re in the middle of the Mission. Doing what she is doing is against what we believe.”

You can see the ad campaign video on Huffpo.

Yeah, most definitely, conservative politics can get you fired or result in loss of work. Even for those who have a name, of sorts.

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