ZORRO
The Gypsy In
His Soul
Just
as the core, or heart, or "corazon" of our Z
music is Flamenco, which is in its origin Romani or Gypsy, so
is our story of Zorro. In fact, Diego's personal story is full
of Gypsy passions. A story to be told by a Gypsy campfire.
In
the play, Diego's maternal Grandfather, Count Montero, fell in
love with a Gypsy Princess. Forbidden by his father to see her,
they secretly wed, and fled Spain to California. There they lived
together and were happy. Endara was treated as a great lady,
and the young Count prospered beyond his greatest expectations.
They had a lovely daughter, Sonya, who would grow up to be Diego's
mother. Then after seven years of happiness tragedy struck, when
Endara and her still born son died in childbirth.
Devastated,
Count Montero leased his lands to the neighboring Vega family,
and locked the doors to the grand villa he had built for his
"Princess". He left with his tiny daughter for Spain
and his ancestral home, never to return to California. There
he lived with the promise to his father that Sonyas Gypsy
heritage was never to be revealed nor acknowledged.
Years
later on a visit to Spain in an attempt to buy the leased lands
from the Count, a then young Alfredo Vega, met the now grown
and beautiful Sonya Montero, and married her. After their return
to California, she bore him a son. At the tender age of 11, Diego
Vega sailed to Spain to spend the next 9 years of his life living
with his aging grandfather in his castle near Madrid.
There
Diego learned the secret of his grandmothers past. In fact,
her Gypsy tribe had settled on the Counts lands, and at
his insistence, Diego learned not only the art of fencing, (since
the Monteros for generations had been the royal sword masters
of Spain) but the use of a whip, a dagger, and sleight of hand
from his Gypsy friends and relatives. He learned to think like
a fox, to move like a shadow, and to live his life with passion.
It
is this young man of 20, wise beyond his years, that returns
to a troubled California upon the death of his grandfather. This
passionate youth finds a spirited, beautiful, young girl in a
church. She is kneeling before the statue of the Madonna, praying
for a hero to rise up and lead her people against the evil Governor.
Diego creates an older, darker character, Zorro, who thinks like
a fox, and moves through the night like a shadow. He becomes
that character, that masked avenger, to answer the prayers of
the lovely Carlotta.
©
and all rights reserved by Robert W. Cabell 1996-2010
site maintained by Get Z'd Productions and RWCabell email rwcabell@aol.com for questions or comments. |