Back by popular demand, Juggerknot Theatre Company, creators of “Miami Motel Stories” presents “The Blues Opera”, an autobiographical, immersive one-man-show written by Miami blues musician, Eric Garcia, AKA “Uncle Scotchy”. Returning on Wednesday, Sept. 21, after two months of sold out shows, this one-of-a-kind intimate performance opens to 12 guests at a time in a secret location in Little Havana.
The Blues Opera, performed in Miami, FL on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.
Photo by Scott McIntyre
ArtBurst says in the The Miami Herald says, “The Blues Opera is an emotional catharsis”. The Miami New Times says, “The stories tear through your heart like a hot knife”. And, Jitney Books calls the “The Blues Opera” a unique Magnum Opus, and says, “The Blues Opera is a poignant, unforgettable theatrical experience. Miami has never seen anything quite like this”.
The Blues Opera, performed in Miami, FL on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.Photo by Scott McIntyre
Participants can expect a night of live music, games, drinks and true stories about love, family, loss and redemption. Tickets on sale now at TheBluesOpera.com
Each night, audience members will be greeted by Garcia himself, as a life-long friend invited into his home. Then they will be whisked away into a whirlwind of live music, games, drinks and true stories. Locals familiar with the bluesman’s work will soon realize that “The Blues Opera” isn’t your usual concert or performance, but an immersive experience connecting audiences through music, comical truth-bombs, drinking games, laughter, and the stories that form us as adults.
The Blues Opera, performed in Miami, FL on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.Photo by Scott McIntyre
“Everyone who has a parent, is a parent, or will become parents, can relate, said said Juggerknot Theatre Company founder and “The Blues Opera” co-producer, Tanya Bravo. “And what will connect audience members to Eric even more are the shared experiences of being a caregiver.”
“When my mom was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the tender age of 57, I embedded my tragedies of being a sole caregiver to her into my stories and into my music. It saved my life,” said Garcia.
The Blues Opera, performed in Miami, FL on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.Photo by Scott McIntyre
“And, just like Eric, my father was diagnosed with the same disease at the very same age, continues Tanya Bravo.
“We are really seeking to familiarize, normalize, and de-stigmatize what it is to be a person who is also a caregiver to a loved one and all the realities that come with it,” added co-producer and Tanya’s sister, Natasha Bravo. “Watching each other grow on this path, “The Blues Opera” really culminates in a true labor of love.”
The Blues Opera, performed in Miami, FL on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.Photo by Scott McIntyre
Tickets for “The Blues Opera” are limited to only 12 guests per show. Tickets available through www.TheBluesOpera.com
ABOUT JUGGERKNOT THEATRE COMPANY is the producer of the critically acclaimed series Miami Motel Stories,a real-time immersive theatre experience that takes place inside hotel/motel spaces within developing neighborhoods. Juggerknot Theatre Company was founded in Miami, Florida in 1998.The company helped redefine the burgeoning theatre scene emerging from Miami’s Urban Core, showcasing and developing works from local and national playwrights. Today Juggerknot continues to push the boundaries and expectations of its audience by delivering alternative, experimental, and non-traditional theatre works to audiences
ABOUT ERIC GARCIA (PLAYWRIGHT/PERFORMER) Eric Garcia is a modern day Bluesman. Eric fell in love with the sound of a harmonica back in college and never looked back. He learned the instrument from the Miami/Texas legend, Fleet Starbuck; began playing professionally and writing his own lyrics in 1995, and then formed Juke in 2009. A year later, Eric took the stage as the beloved “Uncle Scotchy”, an original one-man-band where he simultaneously plays guitar, vocals, harmonica, and drums with his feet. He has been the frontman of the Blues/Fusion Miami based powerhouse band, “Juke”, for 13 years. He has opened for many national acts and played with the likes of G. Love & Special Sauce and Gary Clark Jr most recently in 2019, selling out the Filmore Miami. He’s toured California, played many high-profile festivals such as the acclaimed Wanee Festival since 2009, and Suwannee Hulaween Festival twice, as well as countless other venues throughout the country. Eric is grateful to be able to command an audience, connect and generate excitement with local and national crowds as he does with his dynamic performances. As an only son, Eric began the journey as primary caregiver to his mother who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2002. The trek he now embarked on and experienced with his parents influenced his music and writing tremendously. His music and writing became not only a professional tool but a personal means to processing tragic events he experienced, eventually utilizing his music and writing to heal from the death of both of his parents. In 2020, Eric conceptualized, produced and performed “Uncle Scotchy’s Storytelling Extravaganza”, a weekly event at Bar Nancy on Calle Ocho where people in the community are invited to story-tell their true, personal stories. He began recording his own stories, and created a podcast of the story telling nights accessible on Spotify as well as other platforms. It was during this time Eric began playwriting for an autobiographical one-man-show he conceptualized: “The Blues Opera”.
ABOUT ANA MARGINEANU (DIRECTOR) Ana is a theatre director who works both nationally and internationally. She most recently directed Long Distance Affair and Miami Motel Stories North Beach for Juggerknot Theatre Company. She is co-founder of PopUp Theatrics, a partnership creating immersive theatrical events around the world and in collaboration with international theatre artists. She is a past resident of Women’s Project Theater, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and an alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab. She graduated from The National University of Theatre and Film of Bucharest, Romania. Her work has been presented and developed at the Working Theater, Urban Stages, NYTW, The Lark, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Secret Theatre, The Public Theatre and in numerous theaters and festivals in Europe, most notably: New Plays from Europe Wiesbaden, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Theatre Festival Bucharest, Sibiu International Theatre Festival. She has also directed, taught and facilitated workshops at Colleges and Universities like: Pace University, Queens College, National Theatre and Film University of Bucharest. She is currently teaching a devised theatre class at The New School.
Called “one of the reigning queens of New York’s highly intimate, one-shot-only, conceptual-based theater” by the NYC critic Randy Gener, Ana Margineanu is known for close cooperation with the local communities who are audiences for her work, highly metaphoric visual style, and ability to draw raw, visceral performances from her actors.
