"A modern day southwest West Side Story"
When they first met, Roque Moya Blackstone teased fourteen
year old Ritz Keller Evans calling her princess, telling
her that her friend was prettier, and taking her horse from
her. The encounter ends in an incident with his father
hurting him and her father warning her to stop acting the
whore and stay away from that evil family. Rogue's half brother Caleb and Ritz become friends and
dance together in public. Her drunken brother Steve and
her boyfriend, both filled with liquor, go crazy and chase
after their enemy. In an ensuing car crash, Caleb dies.
Separately Steve also crashes and is left a paraplegic.
Not long afterward Ritz saves Roque from a beating and
takes him to Mexico. They make love, but he is married.
Her father rejects a pregnant Ritz as a whore and
eventually she loses their baby from working too hard to
support herself. Ten years later, a bitter Roque still
blames Ritz for the baby's death. MARRY A MAN WHO WILL DANCE is a modern day southwest West
Side Story starring a half-Mexican-half American and an
American whose fathers hate each other. Ritz is an
intrepid individual whose morality shines through the novel
in spite of overwhelming pressure by her parents, the
townsfolk, and her beloved to break. Her only oases as the
eye of the storm over the years are a kind grandmother and
Caleb. The deep character study requires the audience to
accept some improbable pivotal points that ring untrue for
the characters hurting an insightful story line. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted September 7, 2002
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