PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — The sounds of Tejano music can now be heard in East Tennessee.
A Pigeon Forge theater is preparing to host a show about the life of the late artist Selena Quintanilla. It brings more Latino entertainment opportunities for Sevier County's Spanish-speaking community.
The show is called "Selena Reina de Tejano," and means "Selena, the queen of Tejano." It will be at The Grand Majestic Theater, and the show's producers said they are stepping out of the theater's typical fare to bring a new face to Pigeon Forge.
"We have a very large Hispanic community working here, in the hospitality industry, and so we wanted to have something that was available for them to see," said Bud Beasley, producer and writer of Selena.
Pigeon Forge is home to hundreds of hospitality businesses, many in areas where Latino communities live and work. Despite the large Latino population, the owners of the theater said that there are few opportunities for entertainment around them.
Douglas Miranda and his wife Jackie Miranda own the theater and say they haven't seen a performance like this in Pigeon Forge. For them, this is a performance that surpasses any cultural difference and unites two communities into one — all done through the sound of Tejano music.
"Everybody will come together because music, no matter what language — it makes you feel good," Miranda said.
Miranda is Latino himself and said watching this comes to life brings him great pride.
"I feel proud, proud to share my inheritance with everybody here who has never really had exposure to this," he said.
The performance is a docu-musical. It walks the viewer through the story of the Mexican-American artist, Selena Quintanilla Pérez. It shares her life story, told through her most remembered songs and outfits, and her iconic cumbia footsteps that are already turning heads.
"We have a couple of non-English speaking employees here, and when they heard her rehearsing, they stopped what they were doing," Miranda said. "And I watched them. And they just started moving to the music, singing the song, and I said, 'Wow, this is big. This is going to be really big.'"
For Jessica Beasley, who plays Selena, this is a dream come true.
"Now it's a big honor because I've always loved, always loved, Selena — even from when I was a teenager," Beasley said.
The show is Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Majestic Theater. Anyone who wants to see the show can buy tickets online. They cost $10.