Musical director Edd Key's recorded score contains diverse Mexican musical styles including mariachi, ballad, waltz, polka, lullaby and two-step. The performers' singing capacities vary widely. Faye B. Summers, as a brothel proprietress with the legendary heart of gold, does a good job with a grim ballad about the wages of sin. Nitzi Arellano, whose songs detail the agonies and ecstasies of love, also does good work. The ensemble numbers, however, look and sound as if they could use another week's rehearsal.
Diction is murky.
Dancing lacks assurance. A theatrical impresario, William P. Gillette, has paid Vasquez for stage and literary rights to his story. Valdez's play takes the form of a preliminary brainstorming session preparatory to a theatrical extravaganza. As Gillette, Dennis T. Kleinsmith slips into over-overacting. Kleinsmith's portrayal, however, suggests a sleazy villain.