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Musical honoring César Chávez hits St. Edwards's stage

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
Sept. 22, 2005

As Ed Begley Jr. recalls it, he had no intention to write a play about civil rights or labor leader César Chávez. He especially didn't think he'd write a musical play.

"The play just kind of wrote itself," says the actor and activist, best known for his role on the TV drama series "St. Elsewhere." "And it really started with a song."

That song was "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel. Begley heard it as he was driving near Delano, the California agricultural town where Chávez founded the National Farm Workers Association and where he started what eventually became a nationwide boycott against grape growers. It was nearly a year after Chavez's death in 1993, and Begley thought the song would make for a good addition to a movie or a play -- if someone were ever going to write a movie or a play about Chávez, that is.


Photo by Amber Novak for AA-S Ed Begley Jr. directs and produces his musical 'Cesar and Ruben,' which pays tribute to civil rights and labor activist César Chávez. 'Cesar & Ruben' When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 9 Where: Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, 3001 S. Congress Ave. How much: $10-$15 Info: 448-8484

Begley filed the thought in the back of his mind. But then more songs seemed to pop over the next few years. Soon Begley decided that he would be the one to write that play. And it would be a musical.

He received the blessings of the Chávez family when he first embarked on the project and spent nine years working on the script, which tells the story of slain newspaper columnist Ruben Salazar welcoming Chávez to the afterlife. Begley first presented "César & Ruben" in 2003 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, producing, directing and partially financing the show.

Now, Begley brings "César & Ruben" to St. Edward's University for its Texas premiere in a production he co-directs with the St. Ed's theater professor Ev Lunning Jr. The show features students along with a few professional actors.

All legs and arms, the lanky actor folded himself up on a couch recently in a tiny windowless -- and very unglamorous -- office in the Mary Moody Northen Theatre. At 56, he still sports of messy tuft of surfer-blond hair. Between commitments in Los Angeles (he's starring in David Mamet's latest play, "Romance," later this month at the Mark Taper Forum), he's had to travel back and forth to Austin first to cast the play, then to start rehearsals.

So just how did he end up bringing his play to Austin?

"You never say 'no' to Brother Gerald," says Begley, who still talks with the earnestness of the altar boy he once was.

That would be Brother Gerald Muller, currently head of the music program at St. Ed's. Muller taught music at Van Nuys High School in the 1960s, and Begley was in the school band. The two have stayed in touch since. So when Muller called Begley about a year ago and asked -- no, stated -- that Begley would bring "César & Ruben" to Austin, well ...

"You don't need to know the specifics of Chávez's life to still get something from the play," he says. "It's also a love story between César and his wife, Helen, and a story of a struggle for justice."

A longtime outspoken environmental activist, Begley worked some with Chávez on pesticide issues and served as a pallbearer at Chávez's funeral. He still remembers the first time he met the civil rights leader in 1985.

"I was in a coffee shop near the Los Angeles airport having a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of tea," Begley says. "And in walks César Chávez." The actor admits being star-struck at first -- not believing Chávez was really, well, Chávez. But Begley mustered up the nerve and approached the celebrated labor activist. Chávez questioned the actor about his devotion to environment causes. "He asked me why I was trying to save the owls when pesticides were killing people as well," Begley says.

A few years later, Chávez and Begley were on a panel at an environmental film festival in Colorado. After the panel, the two of them drifted over to a Catholic church across the street. There Begley and Chávez talked at length about "the sanctity of life and how we had to be stewards of God's creations."

"I can't pretend that I knew him well, but I still cherish that time I spent with him," says Begley. "But yeah -- here I am some, tall, blond kid from the (San Bernadino) Valley writing a play about him. Still, we shared some critical values."

And more importantly, Begley clearly still revers all that Chávez did.

"César stood for the rights of all humans, not just farmworkers."

jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699