Carlota Background
“Fantastical and immersive”
-Carlos Turner, Where Y’at Magazine
Carlota is a tormenta. Carlota is a fantasma. She is a grandmother, a revolutionary, a healer, and a pain in the ass. She stabbed a Spanish colonel (maybe), met the goddess Oya, survived a flood, crisscrossed Cuba, played the lotto, saved lives, survived enslavement — and laughed when she wanted.
Carlota weaves together the extraordinary life and legacy of Carlota Ruíz de González — a fictional character rooted in the real, shared history of Cuba and New Orleans. Spanning five generations, the show follows one Afro-Caribbean family across centuries, tracing the threads of migration, love, loss, and survival that connect the Crescent City to the Caribbean world. Under the musical direction of Denise Frazier, internationally celebrated Cuban musician Yusa, and multi-instrumentalist Peter J. Bowling, the production weaves Afro-Cuban and Creole rhythms into an original score of ten songs.
Project Premiere
In March 2026, Goat in the Road brought Carlota to life at CANOA (Caribbean and New Orleanian Arts Center) in the heart of the 9th Ward. The two-week sold-out run brought together a diverse community of people and languages to celebrate and investigate the connections between Cuba and the Gulf South. Carlota was built by an extraordinary team of New Orleans artists — twenty performers, musicians, directors, and designers. Take a look at the full program in the links below.
The Response
"What the future of the arts should be looking like." — Scally Music
"This feels like a very important story for struggling family dynamics, generational immigrant experience, and interpersonal connection. The scale of the time jumps and mystery surrounding the matriarch of the family make this story feel like a Homeric epic."
— Carlos Turner, Where Y'at Magazine
At the close of every performance, audience members gathered at a lobby reflection station to share their thoughts with the creative team. The responses were moving, generous, and often deeply personal. One Dominican-born New Orleanian told us: "It's the first time I felt seen onstage in this city." In addition, eighty students from local high schools attended a dedicated student matinee, sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University, followed by a lively post-show discussion. Two public talkbacks gave audiences a chance to go deeper: one explored the creative journey behind the show, with directors, composers, and cast members sharing how Carlota came to be. The other brought together cast members and immigrant justice advocates for a conversation about the lives of immigrants in New Orleans today. Approximately 20% of ticket proceeds were donated directly to support Cuban families and to Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy.
The Background
The character of Carlota is a historical composite originally created by Dr. Denise Frazier in 2018 as part of Goat in the Road's immersive show, The Stranger Disease, and re-visited in the digital project, Sick Note: Letters from the Epidemic. González is born in Cuba as an enslaved woman, sold to a family in New Orleans, before gaining her freedom after the Civil War, and spending the Reconstruction era in the Crescent City. She returns to her homeland in 1878, becomes part of the Cuban War of Independence, is jailed and freed, and finally, reunited with her son and grandson. González is a healer, musician, petty thief, and ardent revolutionary. The musical focuses on Carlota’s story, but also the stories of her descendants: son Mateo, grandson Mateo Jr., and her great-great-grandaughter Carlota James, who is studying to become a doctor. Throughout the show these descendants are trying to make sense of González’s life and their own.
Over the past four years, Goat in the Road has conducted a series of work-in-process creation workshops of the show. Photos from the November 2024 workshop at CANOA are below.
Carlota is made possible by support from the New England Foundation of the Arts’ (NEFA) National Theater Project, and Creation Fund support from the National Performance Network (NPN). Lead commissioner, NPN: Junebug Productions. Co-commissioner: Duke Arts. It is also supported by the New Orleans Tourism & Cultural Foundation and the New Orleans Theatre Association, as well as the Harper Family Foundation and the Mitchiner-Gittinger Family Foundation. Additional support comes from a Carol Sutton Memorial Grant, a Jazz & Heritage Foundation Community Partnership grant, and a Louisiana Project Grant administered by the Louisiana Division of the Arts and Arts New Orleans. Carlota is also supported by Tulane University’s Stone Center and the Threadhead Cultural Foundation.