Los Angeles Times: 'Cesar & Ruben' is a moving tribute to social strife
"To be a man is to suffer for others," declares Cesar Chavez at the start of a hunger strike that segues into a fierce ensemble number set to Don Henley's "I Will Not Go Quietly" -- one of several cultural juxtapositions that prove surprisingly effective in "Cesar & Ruben" at the NoHo Arts Center. (more)
Review Plays.com: Cesar and Ruben
God bless Ed Begley Jr. for his undying devotion to the cause of keeping the memory of Cesar Chavez alive! When his musical tribute to the legend Cesar and Ruben, currently playing through September 9, 2007 at the NoHo Arts Center, first premiered in 2003 on the El Portal Mainstage in NoHo... (more)
LA Weekly: Cesar
and Ruben 
...Under Begley’s smart direction, Bolero and Mendoza are rock solid, and the lives of their characters unfold with compelling interest... (more)
Backstage West: Cesar and Ruben (critics pick)
The production is quite polished, and more kudos to Begley for finding music director Ron Snyder, Frankie Anne's choreography, and terrific players... (more)
LA StageScene: Cesar and Ruben
Writer, director, costar Ed Begley has taken a page out of recent California history and fashioned one of the most moving pieces of theater I’ve seen. (more)
Tolucan Times: Cesar and Ruben
This is a musical you must experience! It is a true telling of the life and dedication of labor activist and pop icon Cesar Chavez. (more)
Excerpt from review in the Daily News by Julio Martinez of a previous production:
"Written and directed by actor/activest Ed Begley Jr., the intersecting lives of two historic Mexican American social activists, United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez and newspaper columnist Ruben Salazar, are celebrated in song and story in this impressive large-cast production...
Unlike conventional musicals, "Cesar and Ruben" does not posess and original score. Begley has adapted the works of such luminaries as Enrique Iglesias, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Joni MItchell, Ruben Blades, Phil Collins, Carlos Sangana and others to provide the musical framework for this story of a young migrant worker who rose to international acclaim in his efforts to foster a better life for his people. ... brings Chavez's struggles to vivid life.
"Cesar and Ruben" begins at the time of Chavez's death in April 1993. NOt knowing exactly what has happened, the confused spirit of Chavez ... is confronted by the ghost of Ruben Salazar... the hip Angeleno journalist who was killed by police in a controversial riot control "accident" in 1970. ... Togethether they re-create the high points in Chavez's life from his early youth ... through his marriage to Helen Chavez,... his teaming with the dynamic farm worker activist Dolores Hurerta ... and his years of effort to silidify the rights of the United Farm Workers union.
...the musical highlights are generally superb. Begley has seamlessly integrated the songs into the storyline, beginning with Enrique Iglesias' tender "Nunca Te Olvidare" as Cesar's spirit attempt to comfort his grieving widow. Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give up" performed by Cesar's parents....and the youthful Cesar...
The most haunting song in the show is Sting's "Fields of Gold" ... as an affirmation of Cesar's lifelong love of the vast California farmlands."
A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review of a Previous Production
César and Ruben
By Martin Jones Westlin
If César Chavez were alive today, he would find his legacy has taken on a dimension he couldn't have foreseen. His name, of course, is synonymous with the betterment of the migrant labor climate, and those pursuits were fueled through his advocacy of nonviolence. In life, Chavez maintained that peace was the surest way to fruition; in death, he's an unlikely character for portrayal in song and dance.
Chavez's lessons aren't lost on actor-writer-director Ed Begley Jr., who's resurrected the union founder's spirit and substance in his César And Ruben, ... The musical coincides with Chavez's 76th birthday (March 31); its dramatic devices transcend the calendar that marks the occasion.
Chavez (Roberto Alcaraz) and the late Ruben Salazar (Tony D'Arc), who covered union activities for the Los Angeles Times, are brought together in death, reminiscing on the triumphs and ills of Chavez's birthright and his natural abilities as an organizer. The irony of their reunion manifests itself in a clever plot device: neither of the two can remember much of his own life; as a consequence, one recounts the story of the other.
The action commences with Chavez's Yuma, Arizona boyhood, during which his travels through the Southwest steel him to his fate and generate his resolve. Decades of bigotry and petulance swirl about the charismatic maverick. The father of eight somehow finds time to forge what would become the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). Fair wages, health care and pension plans are the stuff of drama to a man touted by the late Sen. Robert Kennedy as "one of the heroic figures of our time." ...
The public fasts; the incarcerations; the embargos on products deemed unsafe or harvested at laughable wages; Kennedy's assassination; Salazar's murder during a demonstration turned violent: Begley paints them all vividly and with deep respect for one he knew intimately well. Having been a pallbearer at the 1985 funeral for which 35,000 turned out he may be aware that this number approaches many of Southern California's migrant labor populations by county at peak agricultural seasons. In any event, the object of his admiration is in reprieve. This is a good production of an equally good script, one that ... is a solid tribute to a man and his mission.