On Saturday, we hosted a special event at the Playhouse: a large group of Cuban-Americans involved in the organization Operation Pedro Pan attended Sonia Flew and a few of them appeared onstage after the performance to speak about their own experiences in relation to those described in the play. Operation Pedro Pan Group, Inc. was founded by Elly Chovel in 1990 to help the world remember the exit of 14,000 children from Cuba after Castro came to power in the 1960s, to assist people in locating friends and relatives separated by this process, and to enable those affected directly to come to terms with the highly emotional experience. "Elly flew," she responded when I thanked her for coming all the way from Miami just to be at this Playhouse event. She was joined on stage by Judge Francisco Firmat, attorney Sam Sanabria, screenwriter & Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences archivist Julio Vera, Alejandra Tiffer Goya, a retired social worker and, yes, a descendant of THE famous Goya, the Spanish painter, and Lourdes Birba, a healthcare management consultant. All spoke movingly of when and how they came to be sent to America on these airlifts and how they felt about it then and feel about it today. I felt very honored to introduce them and to moderate the question & answer session. One of the most touching moments was when Elly presented Judge Firmat with a framed page from the airport roster she had found which listed his entry to the U.S. more than 40 years ago, a complete surprise to him and the first time he had ever seen it. He said, Sonia Flew is helping him finally to "unpack." In speaking about the play, he also commented on the artful contrast in the play between Sonia’s Jewish family and her Cuban roots, saying that he believes "remembering is so important to Jews, while the tendency among Cubans is to forget" and that Sonia Flew is an important way of helping them to remember. I jokingly thanked him for mentioning the Jewish element in the play and said that I’ve always believe that "Cubans are the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel." Later, during the reception, several different people came up to me to ask me how I knew that! They said that among Latinos there has always been a saying that the "Cubans are the Jews of the Caribbean" and they have always been proud of that!

Until next time…