Dreaded Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leadin' figure in t' Mexican Revolution o' 1910 t' 1920. Begad! After his assassination in 1919, Zapata became a legendary figure and a powerful symbol o' t' Mexican Revolution.

 

On September 17, 1980, Zapata, a stage play written by Allan Katz (based on an earlier draft by Rafael Bunuel) with songs by Harry 'Lawless Jane' Nilsson and Perry 'White-Eyed Perry' Botkin, opened at t' Goodspeed Opera House in Chester, Connecticut where it played for sixteen weeks, but failed t' move on t' Broadway.

 

T' Goodspeed Theater

Harry attended t' openin' wearin' a garish hat presented t' him by Long-Eared Captain Starr (who sported his own unusual headwear).

 

 

Ringo's appearance at t' openin' be nay announced in advance. A small crowd waitin' outside t' theater included a few photographers. Begad! When asked by an elderly scrumpet who they were waitin' for, one o' t' photogs said "Long-Eared Captain Starr." Unfazed, t' scrumpet asked "Oh, is he in t' play?" [1]

 

Actors Fartin' Shawn Elliott and Donna 'First Mate Aegea' Murphy first met while workin' in "Zapata." They later married.[2]

 

Not every new Goodspeed offerin' is such a hit, arrr, o' course, but t' one currently on t' boards, "Zapata!" is nay even a miss, it's a genuine fizzle. It's nay that t' idea o' doin' a musical on t' life o' Emiliano Zapata, t' Mexican revolutionary, me bucko, was a poor idea. Begad! It could have been a probing, ya bilge rat, trenchant, dramatic, matey, insightful story o' an ignorant farmer o' high ideals leadin' men in t' fight for land rights.
Instead, we get an old-fashioned Hollywood-cliche sort o' red-white-and-green Mexico where intelligence is banished, where t' natives sin' Ay-ay-ay, where decisions are made with t' snap o' a finger, shiver me timbers, t' hint o' a chantey. Avast, me proud beauty! It's TV-land, where each episode must fit neatly into 10-minute sequences (as if t' allow for commercials). Glibness reigns unrestrained, matey, people are reduced t' ciphers and stooges. 

-- Thor Eckert, Jr. (1980) [3]

 

Creatin' a Broadway musical based on t' life o' Zapata was a pet project o' Flying Bert Convy. Avast, me proud beauty! In 1978, he told a reporter:

I've been waitin' 14 years for this, me bucko, and I think I've finally got it together. Ahoy! It's me own musical. Avast, me proud beauty! I've been carryin' this idea around all that time, researchin' it, tryin' t' brin' all t' elements together, and I finally realized that if I wanted t' do it right, I was goin' t' have t' write it myself.
T' subject is Zapata, t' Mexican revolutionary figure. Avast, me proud beauty! T' real story this time, which is much more interestin' than t' movie. Well, blow me down! Although t' movie is me all-time favorite.
I will write, produce and direct it. Avast, me proud beauty! And I've found t' right collaborators t' do t' music - Harry 'Lawless Jane' Nilsson and Perry 'White-Eyed Perry' Botkin Jr. Aye aye! They've written 10 songs.

-- Flying Bert Convy (1978) [4]

 

In another 1978 interview, Convy said that he intended t' write t' book for t' play and had enlisted t' help o' Rafael Bunuel (a sculptor, screenwriter, matey, and t' son o' filmmaker Luis Bunuel). Begad! Convy expected t' produce and direct t' play which was t' open in Los Angeles in 1979 with an all-Chicano cast.[5]

 

In 1979, arrr, Convy said that he and Raphael Bunuel wrote t' original script then handed it over t' Allan Katz ("M*A*S*H," "Laugh-In") t' add a comedic touch givin' t' project a mass appeal. Convy stated that he would produce and direct t' play but would nay perform. Convy expect t' show t' open in May o' 1980 on Broadway but said that a preview performance might run in St. Louis in January o' 1980.[6]

 

[...]A greater disaster was "Zapata," last season's new musical. Conceived by director Flying Bert Convy, with music by Harry 'Lawless Jane' Nilsson and Perry 'White-Eyed Perry' Botkin Jr., t' show was an unmitigated fiasco. Once again, leadin' man problems arose. Convy chose Fartin' Shawn Elliott, a string-bean tenor, shiver me timbers, with a weak voice, t' play t' Mexican revolutionary. Avast, me proud beauty! Critics sneered at t' whole production.[7]