Soundtrack of an (After)Life: Performing Transfemicide, Mourning, and Pop Music in La Prietty Guoman by César Enríquez

Abstract:Inspired by the 1990's hit film, Pretty Woman, and the gritty reality of prostitution, César Enríquez's teatro-cabaret piece, La Prietty Guoman, takes shape. However, the protagonist of this performance, La Prietty, differs from Julia Roberts' film character: La Prietty is a transwoman and tells her story from beyond the grave. In an example of teatro-cabaret par excellence, the protagonist keeps the audience engaged through rapid costume changes, quick wit, and impeccable comedic timing. This essay focuses on how La Prietty filters her socio-politically driven humor through live musical performance, emphasizing US pop songs and their Divas from the 1990s. With her re-working of popular hits such as "Like a Virgin" and her story of discrimination, abuse, and hope for love, La Prietty captures the audience. An interdisciplinary framework is employed to analyze the piece's performance of an (after) life and to highlight how audio-visual transformations can resist the erasure of transwomen in contemporary Mexico and, on a broader scale, offer hope to marginalized Others.