Somewhere East of “East L.A”…

Having recently seen comedian Paula Poundstone at the Lewis Family Playhouse, as well as the amazing one-man play “I’m Not a Comedian… I’m Lenny Bruce,” written and performed by Ronnie Marmo (“General Hospital”) the Inland Empire-based theater is quickly becoming a favorite venue of mine. Its auditorium is much smaller than say, the Pantages in L.A., but it’s also comfortable and within easier reach; located behind the Victoria Gardens outdoor mall in the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California; an area that once contained sprawling vineyards. Offering far easier access than the theaters in Los Angeles, the Lewis Family Playhouse has been stepping up its game with plays, guest artists, and lower-priced tickets that make an evening spent there an attractive option for entertainment and culture.

On Thursday evening, October 1st, my wife and I had tickets for the Lewis Family Playhouse to see “Cheech Marin: Culture, Comedy & Chicano Art,” a live discussion with comedian/actor/musician and lifelong art lover/collector, Cheech Marin, and one half of Cheech & Chong, with Tommy Chong, who began off their comedy duo act some 58 years ago, and had it cemented through decades of live shows, bestselling comedy albums, films and TV appearances. I first began listening to the wildly popular Cheech & Chong albums at the age of eight or so. They were forbidden fruit in our house; filled with racy jokes, characters and material I intuitively understood and enjoyed, even at such a young age. Funny is funny, and their humor featured a variety of characters, voices, and situations that my siblings and I enjoyed like so much prized contraband. And a good fart joke never goes out of style…

Well over five decades later, I still remember nearly every track of the 1973 Cheech & Chong album “Los Cochinos” (“The Pigs”) nearly verbatim. One of my favorite sketches featured pothead characters ‘Pedro’ (Cheech) and ‘Man’ (Chong) smuggling several ill-fated friends in the trunk of their car to avoid buying extra tickets at a drive-in movie theater (“The Drive-In”). There was also their earlier 1972 album “The Big Bamboo” (which came with a set of joint papers) where Cheech voiced substitute teacher ‘Sister Mary Elephant,’ who hilariously attempts to control her unruly class during a disastrous visit from narcotics agent, Mr. Stadanko (Chong). After we got married, I got my wife into their sketches through their compilation CDs in the early 2000s (as a teacher, she especially loved “Sister Mary Elephant”). Over the years, I’ve seen a number of the Cheech & Chong movies (“Up in Smoke,” “Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie,” et al), but I enjoyed the albums most, since the characters’ voices and sound effects let my warped imagination do most of the heavy lifting.

In 2022, my wife and I first visited The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture (aka “The Cheech”) in downtown Riverside, California, which is the only museum devoted exclusively to Chicano art, and has emerged as a world-class art museum, drawing visitors from all over the world. In recent years, Cheech Marin has become nearly as famous for his vast collection of Chicano art as for his movies and comedy. As an art teacher for nearly 30 years, Cheech’s collection was my wife’s interest into seeing the show, wherein Cheech would discuss how he cultivated his tremendous passion for art. After the show, my wife and I joked she could almost write off her ticket as a business expense, since she also teaches ethnic studies in her art curriculum.

In addition to our tickets for the discussion, we paid an extra $50 for the VIP passes, which entitled us to an exclusive meet-and-greet with Cheech an hour before the show in an isolated room which featured samples of his extensive art collection. Most of that collection now resides in The Cheech in downtown Riverside, California, near the historic Mission Inn hotel. The Cheech is the only museum devoted exclusively to Chicano art. The Cheech has, in a few short years since its opening in June of 2022, emerged as a world class art museum; drawing visitors from all over the world. My wife and I actually attended the opening weekend of The Cheech, and we’ve been back a few more times since. For any art lovers reading this, I’ve linked all 98 of my photos from that opening weekend visit here, if you’d like to check them out.

For the prepaid meet-and-greet with Cheech, my wife and I were close to the front of the queue. When we met him, we were allowed two photos each, and could each get one item autographed. My wife wisely brought her sketchbook, which had ample room for signatures. She asked Cheech if he could sign it for her high school. Me, being more shortsighted, forgot to grab a program booklet in the lobby (d’oh!), so I took off my VIP lanyard and asked if he could sign my pass. I kiddingly thanked Cheech for “corrupting” me with his albums at the age of eight, and he quipped, “Ah, you turned out alright.” We then told him how much we both enjoy his art museum, and shook hands. After that, we had a few minutes to kill, so my wife and I went to the lobby bar and got some drinks and sat outside for a few minutes, as the sun set. At about 15 minutes before the discussion began, we went back into the theater and found our assigned seats. Third row, aisle! Woo-hoo…

The theater filled up fast, as the show was nearly sold out. My wife said all but ten or so tickets remained. Despite the crowd, one of the lovely things about the Lewis Family Playhouse theater is its ‘coziness.’ It’s smaller than larger venues like the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa, or any of the grand historical theaters of Los Angeles, which means there are no bad seats; even the balcony offers a nice full view of the stage. The theater’s seats are very soft and comfortable, and nicely accommodating for creaky, arthritic older folks like myself who also suffer from ‘senior spread.’ For comfort alone, the Lewis Family Playhouse seating easily outclasses far more expensive venues.

The 90 minute discussion began shortly after 7:30 pm, and after brief introductions from the theater’s general manager, the discussion began. It was moderated by Todd Wingate, the former manager of the Riverside Art Museum (where my wife and I were married 27 years ago). Diving right in, Wingate asked the legendary comedian about the origins of his interest in art, which began at age nine with a group of like-minded friends. Knowing he had to learn the basics of art, young Cheech checked out art books at his local library in East Los Angeles. A lesson he learned early on was that the best way to view classic pieces of art was in person. Seeing them secondhand in photos lacked the connection. After memorizing the masters, he soon began to cultivate an interest in the art produced by fellow Chicanos; a once-dismissive term that he’s reclaimed, saying it used to mean someone with a lesser connection to Mexican culture.

Cheech also talked about his early days of comedy with Tommy Chong, where they struggled to make enough money to eat, before they soon began raking in paychecks of $400,000 or more. Their first three bestselling comedy albums catapulted the duo into fame in the early 1970s, which they would later parlay into movies and TV appearances. One of the pre-written questions from the audience submitted to the discussion asked if Cheech & Chong would ever reunite for another comedy tour. The 80-year old comedian said his touring days are over, and that he and Chong are more comfortable meeting their fans at conventions these days, where they still get that fan connection without the exhaustion of performing.

The actor also discussed his friend and frequent cinematic collaborator, producer-director Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Spy Kids”), an early pioneer of digital cinema and editing, which helped liberate current filmmakers from the cutting-and-pasting chores of analog film. As a parody singer, Cheech had to ask permission from Bruce Springsteen (who once opened for a Cheech & Chong comedy show) to parody “Born in the USA,” which he retitled “Born in East L.A,” a song and 1987 feature film based on a true story Cheech once read in the L.A. Times about a young (possibly autistic) Hispanic American man from Los Angeles who was mistakenly deported to Mexico, and who struggled for a month before contacting his family. With ICE in the United States aggressively deporting more and more immigrant residents, that song and film have proven sadly prophetic.

Cheech also spoke of his own surprise, during his touring days, at seeing growing Hispanic populations in US cities he never expected. Most surprisingly in Chicago, which now has the third largest population of Mexican-Americans in the United States. This was a personal factor in his cultivation of Chicano art, and his own personal interest in seeking out new Chicano artists and buying their works for wider exhibition. While The Cheech has seen many visitors from around the world, its namesake wishes that more locals from the Inland Empire would visit his museum as well. As someone who’s visited The Cheech a few times, I very much agree. The Cheech is a world-class art museum–on a par with New York’s Museum of Modern Art–and I would encourage anyone visiting Riverside County or the Inland Empire to book a side-quest there. It’s well worth it.

Overall, my wife and I had a terrific evening, and we thank both Cheech Marin for sharing his stories, and the Lewis Family Playhouse for hosting him. It was a night to remember. Estuvo genial.

Book Your Visits.

Tickets for future events at the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga, California can he booked here: Ticket Center, Lewis Family Playhouse, and reservations to tour The Cheech in downtown Riverside, California can be booked here: The Cheech; Riverside Art Museum. Either or both would make for a memorable visit to SoCal’s Inland Empire.