By Zita Arocha
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 27, 1998; Page D02

Some theatrical productions are like magic shows where pennies and scarves seem to appear out of nowhere. In its last production of the season, "Raices Cubanas: A Cuban Mosaic," GALA Hispanic Theatre has pulled off a sort of smoke-and-mirrors act, drawing on a uniquely talented assortment of local performers from international backgrounds to conjure up a nostalgic and highly entertaining retrospective of the moods and music of pre-Castro Cuba.

The show's magic is in the images it evokes of smoky cabarets, noisy city streets, rum-and-Cokes, and voluptuous women singing of unrequited love in tight-around-the-hips dresses. All of the above is accomplished through a creative weaving and blending of the music and poetry of some two dozen of Cuba's finest musicians, composers and writers -- poets like Jose Marti, Nicolas Guillen and Alejo Carpentier and composers like Carlos Manuel de Cespedes and Ernesto Lecuona. There are 36 separate musical and poetic selections -- some sad, others foot-stomping or funny -- presented in a two-act format.

While not a seamless show, "Raices Cubanas" leads its audience across time from the turn-of-the century era of the danzon and bolero to the looser and more modern rhythms of the mambo, cha-cha and conga. From a sociological perspective, the production runs the gamut of Cuban society -- fancy salon parties of the well-to-do, street scenes among the lower classes, peasant life, Afro-Cuban religion and culture, and the high-flying cabaret life of the 1940s and '50s.

The show clearly was a challenge for GALA because of the vast quantity of material available to chose from and the task of finding and directing more than a dozen singers, musicians, dancers and actors of diverse backgrounds who had never worked together before. An unexpected addition to the cast was Santos Jesus Gonzalez, a former dancer at the Tropicana Nightclub in Cuba who has performed with singer Gloria Estefan and recently moved to Washington. Gonzalez choreographed "Raices Cubanas" and was a lead dancer in the show.

An aficionado of Cuban music and culture, director Hugo Medrano, an Argentine, relied on advice from several music experts, including Mari Paz, the show's pianist and a niece of composer Jaime Prats.

What the show lacks in the authentic grit that comes from being closer to its cultural source -- Miami, where nearly a million Cubans live in exile, or the island nation itself -- it makes up in sass.

Several of the selections are like tiny diamonds in a large but plain setting. In one called "Xiomara," Francisco Rigores, a Cuban who was a member of several Afro-Cuban folk groups on the island, belts out a soulful rumba while dancer Lourdes P. Elias performs a stunning ballet with a handkerchief. Mexican Pablo Talamante's powerful, operatic voice and Ricky Ricardo good looks have the uncanny ability to transport the audience to the still-famous Tropicana. Singer Ana Castrello's heart-stopping solo rendition of the classic bolero "No Te Importa Saber (You Don't Need to Know)" is star quality. GALA newcomer Cristelle Rodriguez-Singh's versatility and range as a singer were also impressive. Alessandra D'Ovidio's myriad costumes, some with sequins and ruffles, were lovely and sexy.

As can happen in a show as ambitious as this one, there were disappointments -- including an unevenness in quality, some rough transitions between numbers and several awkward exits and entrances by the singers and dancers. It's also a shame that the retrospective ended with the revolution of 1959 and did not include more modern Cuban music like the popular salsa.

But there is something for everyone in "Raices Cubanas" -- a little nostalgia, a little history, lots of fun, never mind a rumba and a conga, too.

Raices Cubanas: A Cuban Mosaic, in English and Spanish, through June 14 at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Call 202-234-7174.