RP  Thanks for joining us today.  I guest the obvious question is, how long have you been in theater?

AKM  I started about 20 years ago, but I became actively involved in theatre about six years ago when I joined the Bilingual Foundation of The Arts.  Before that although I had some theatrical experience, I was using my talents (his emphasis) to raise a family to learn the language, and to understand this culture.  I’m still struggling with that (he laughs).

RP  You said to learn the language, so what is your native language?

AKM   OK, I was born in Spain, in a little town called Coria del Rio near Seville.  Since Seville grew so much, now the town is engulfed by Seville, so geographically and by extension, I am Sevillano.

RP We know that your background is Gypsy.

AKM  Yes, my background is Gypsy through my mother’s side.  She belongs to the Gomez family, which is a family of bullfighters.  On my father’s side I am a descendant of the Rajputs – they are the second caste of India; it’s a caste of warriors, and they are considered sun worshipers.  That’s our clannish symbol.

RP And you are also a singer.

AKM  I’m a singer, yes.

RP  Which came first for you, acting, or singing or both, do you remember way back?

AKM  I think first I was a singer, because I started as a singer when I was seven years old my first experience was in theatrical production – it was a musical and they hired me just as a talented little kid to sing – “Gorrioncillo, Pecho Amarillo”  a Mexican song.  That was the first song I ever sang.

RP  That was in Spain?

AKM  No – that was in Colombia, because I lived there for several years.  My father was in the diplomatic service and he traveled with the family, so I lived in Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela.  Lots of years.

RP So when you were on stage for the first time, how did you feel?

AKM  It was a tremendous thrill for me!  It was something magical!  If you can imagine a little kid, seven years old, in front of a full audience – a big crowd of people attending the musical, and being applauded and being treated different – from that day on, I think I got infected!

Alberto laughs a highly contagious laugh, and besides the obvious joy of the memory, there is a far away look that seems to transport him across the miles and through the years.

RP   So have you had much formal training in singing or acting?

AKM  None.  The only formal training that I got was when I went to East Los Angeles College and I took two semesters of singing with a very famous instructor and singer and I remember her name is Rhonda Miller.   I remember that for the first time in my life I sung in German – I had to prepare something for my final and I had to prepare something from – what’s his name - - let me think – Schubert, yes Schubert and I had to sing in German, and she works with my diction, with my breathing, with my support, and those two semesters were very special for me, but as far as the Flamenco singing, which is my the part which comes natural, because I have heard it all my life – from my father – my mother, it was always around.

RP  We understand that you have sung some background for film?

AKM  Yes, I did. I has hired to sing for a movie called “No Turning Back” that was a production between Spain and the United States and the producer in Spain was Cartel, and in the US it was Zocalo, and that movie earned at least fourteen awards including the International Film Festival in Malaga, in the year 2000.

RP  Your acting credits in Los Angeles include the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, and El Patronato (a Cuban Theatrical company).

AKM  That is correct...

RP Anywhere else?

AKM – No because I have no time.

RP  - And you can actually do roles in English or Spanish.

AKM – Yes

RP – Do you have a preference?

AKM – I prefer doing it in Spanish, especially if we are doing classics from Spain, but when it comes to productions like Salon Mexico, which we’ll be doing again (The Bilingual Foundation), I think it’s important that the American audiences understand this particular piece, because Copland, the American composer was a regular in the actual famous cabaret called Salon Mexico, and he’s one of the characters in the play. I think I’ll be doing again the part of Diego Rivera, who is the one gets into a kind of an argument with Aaron Copland in Salon Mexico.  It’s a very interesting argument, because Diego Rivera tells Copland that Mexico has to be for Mexicans, - and so forth.  It’s a big argument, about the situation he encountered in New York – remember when his mural was desecrated by the Rockefeller family?  When he went back to Mexico he was very, very upset with Americans and became very active against the system here.

RP  And you’ve also played Diego Rivera in a reading

AKM  Yes – a musical – Mesquite Productions, another company for which I work, but getting back to singing – I did something for  "Holiday on Ice" which is now in South America and Central America. . .  I was hired to do a version of Bamboleo – a different version from the one by the Gypsy Kings.

RP So it’s a recorded track – something they use in the background?

AKM  They use it in a musical thing they have for the dancers, so my voice has been heard all over the world, first on the movie and now this show.

RP You recently finished a short run of Zarzuelas.

AKM Yes, with the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts – we did it at the re-opening of Ricardo Montalban’s theatre.  We were the ones that re-inaugurated it.  But after that I was hired by the Los Angels Light Opera - they did Goyescas, the first part was done with short arias from famous Zarzuelas and they hired me again to do Don Hilarion, which is one of my strongest characters as far as the singing.

RP You play and old man who enjoys chasing young women.

AKM  Yes, but that has nothing to do with me now!  (laughter)  That’s definitely not me, just my theatrical nemesis.

RP  Just to clarify, what is the significance of Zarzuelas?

AKM  Zarzuelas are part of the folkloric music of Spain.   They were created during one of the Bourbon’s kings during the 19th century. They were called Zarzuelas because they were performed in the Palacio del Las Zarzuelas, and also a Zarzuela came from a popular dish that includes everything.  During those artistic gatherings at the palace, with the king and his court,  he invited the famous and popular singers and little by little the genre developed incorporating elements of the classical opera, the operetta and popular and folkloric music. – and it became a unique and very distinctive style.  You can tell if it’s a Zarzuela from Italian operetta because its very different.  There are always either comic elements or dramatic.  I interpret Don Hilarion – that character you mentioned is one of the icons of the Zarzuelas.  That character is from the La Verbena de La Paloma.

RP   You’ve been with the Bilingual Foundation for some time, and I know that you are an avid reader, and enjoy the classics.

AKM Oh Yes

RP  Do you find that having a literary background adds to your acting and if so how?

AKM  Definitely – one of my greatest passions besides theatre and singing is history.  I have a passion for history – I love politics, and I follow them very closely, but I don’t want to talk about politics now because I become – SICK!

RP  I think you just talked about politics!

AKM  It has a lot do with it.  I think a serious actor should be a person who reads and gets involved with the historical background of the character he will become.  It will be interesting if they ever offer me the role of a prince – because for me it will be a tremendous responsibility because – well, I’m a Gypsy with royal blood, lets put it that way.  I’m one of the Rathore’s – my last name is Mahecha Rathore.  The Rathore is a dynasty  - it's a Rajput dynasty.

RP Do you have a preference for playing any characters?  Comic, or drama or villains?

AKM  I love villains. I love villains and I’d die to have an opportunity to play a villain. But I enjoy doing comic characters because I’m a comic person, but when offered the opportunity to do a dramatic role, I enjoy the challenge – somebody said that it’s harder to make people laugh than to make people cry.  To me making people laugh is simpler, but portraying a serious character is also a great responsibility.

RP  Do you have any plans for your career in the next five years or so.

AKM  Well, my goal is to play in India.  We are having serious offers I understand.  I belong to a group called A Gypsy’s Tale.  It was named after the number one song in our CD called A Gypsy’s Tale.  The group incorporates flamenco and rock, and I’m the only gypsy in the group, and I am the one that has to put the flamenco flavor in something similar to rock.  It’s becoming an interesting thing, because no one has done it in this country.  In Spain there are many groups, Navajita Plateada, Ojos de Brujo and like that but in America nobody has done it. We played the Blue Cafe in Long Beach and on January 14 we will open at B B King’s House of Blues in Universal City Walk.  We’ll be opening for a band, but I can’t remember the group.  It happens that I’m in a group that plays some kind of rock and jazz, but I’m not a musician.

RP  So the Gypsy’s Tale plays music and you’re the singer?

AKM  I’m the singer, and I help with the lyrics in Spanish.  It’s an American group that has a singer that is Gypsy and sings in Spanish.  That’s a little bit of a weird thing because we play for audiences that are not Hispanic.  The director, Ted Owens is an American – the drummer is an American – there’s a Venzuelan guy and the bass player is from Spain but we are more oriented towards the Americans and we will see how the Latin American community will receive us when this production hits the waves.

RP If a young person came to ask for your advice or views on being an actor, what would you say to him or her?

AKM  First of all they have to be willing to make sacrifices, to be very serious about it and be willing to study, to learn and have a lot of discipline, because the most important thing for an actor is discipline and respect for the profession.  A lot of young kids and girls think “I’m so pretty – so beautiful, I’m going to be an actor!”  It’s not about the face. If they just want to use their physical attributes, then they should go into modeling.  But for an actor, you don’t have to be beautiful – just be willing to spend a lot of hours rehearsing and taking it very seriously.

RP  How do you prepare for a part or a performance?

AKM  Well first of all, I don’t masturbate – (laughing) at least three or four weeks before a performance -  I’m serious about it because sex has a lot to do with this wonderful tool that is the voice.  I don’t smoke – anything.  And normally I don’t drink cold drinks. I just start thinking about the people who are going to be listening and those that will be performing with me and I pray for them. I’m a very religious person and it’s a very spiritual preparation.

RP  What religion to do practice?

AKM I’m a Buddhist – I’ve practiced it for the past fourteen years.

RP  How does being a Buddhist fulfill your spiritual needs?

AKM  In Judeo Christianity they teach you to seek help outside of yourself.  To pray to God or the Virgin or saints, but in Buddhism we believe that the only person who can control your destiny is yourself – the greatest help is within you, the greatest force is within you and the divinity is within you.  So you start with yourself.  If you decide to live in hell, you start with yourself – if you decide to live in heaven, you start within, so the people and the circumstances around you are a reflection of you as a person.  So following that, I know I am the master of my own destiny.  That’s the big difference right there – I don’t depend on a mysterious or supernatural force to create my destiny.  So if I want to be a successful actor, I decide that – if I want to become a successful singer, I decide that.  I create the cause – I study, I take care of my health – I take care of my mind – my body etc.

RP  What would you like the readers to remember most about Alberto Kiko Mahetcha?

AKM  Well, I am a regular human being who believes that I have the power to create my own destiny and become a successful human being, not only to pursue my own happiness but also try to help others to become happy as well.  Every time I perform for people, I think of them as wonderful human beings for whom I have the privilege to sing or to act.

RP  Is there any thing you’d like to close with that maybe we failed to cover?

AKM  That probably I’m the first Rajput in the United States of America that is doing theatre, doing something different than a Rajput in India might be doing.  Also, for people to remember that Gypsies are part of the Rajput caste – they are coming from a place called the Punjab area.

With that firm admonition, we continued our lunch, as the tables kept filling up, and soon a waitress comes over to ask Alberto where he can be seen or where he will performing.  We mention this website as his next immediate appearance and he is quick to remind everyone that the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts will soon open a production of Salon Mexico – where he will probably be a major player.

Comments? Write to us at: Letters@ReviewPlays.Com

Click here for previous interviews

>