By Matt Gerding
IV Leader Staff, Sept. 23, 2010
“Let The Eagle Fly” tells the story of Cesar Chavez, a true American hero.
One of the most influential civil rights leaders of our time and a crusader for non-violent social change, Chavez devoted his life to improving the lives of the impoverished and oppressed.
With only an eighth grade education, this Navy veteran went on to become a labor leader, environmentalist and consumer advocate conducting campaigns against racial and economic discrimination.
Through scenes and songs, this two-act musical drama presents a number of core themes that dramatize what Chavez accomplished and why and how he did his pioneering work.
“Let The Eagle Fly,” intended for family audiences, traces Cesar Chavez’s life from his childhood as the son of migrant farm workers in the Great Depression through his founding of the farm workers union and his commitment to the non-violent struggle for social and economic justice.
The show focuses primarily on the five-year national grape boycott, which culminated in 1970 with the first ever union contracts for farm workers.
In the words of the former editor of the farm workers’ union newsletter, whom the authors interviewed at his farm in the California desert, “Let The Eagle Fly” focuses on “the glory years - the time we thought we could change the world.”
The show will be performed by an ensemble cast of over 30 performers at the IVCC Cultural Center Thursday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 300 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.
General admission is $8; entry fee for children 12 and under is $4. Admission is free with IVCC ID.
For additional information, contact David Allan Kuester at (815) 224-0352 or Norm Engstrom at (815) 224-0279.