The musical is based during the 1940’s after the end of World War II. With the enactment of the bracero program in 1942 (where Mexico and the US had formed an alliance to send Mexican workers to work the US farmland while US troops were shipped off to fight the war abroad), Mexico City began to flourish.

There was an increase in private land ownership and the Partido Revoluntionario de Mexico changed their name to the Partido Revoluntionario Institutional marking the end of the Mexican revolution. As the new Mexican president, Miguel Valdes, was elected soon after the end of the WWII, however, inflation grew and wages had to be suppressed throughout the country dealing a devastating blow to the working class increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Labor unions and the rural populations in the country were given less and less consideration while government corruption grew rampant. Reports of kickbacks and enrichment of many officials began to circulate, and resentment among the poor continuously grew against the government and the upper class. They couldn’t rely on their politicians or police for help. To them, they were on their own. This was a time ripe for Mexico’s gandland to prosper. Mexican gangsters called Los Pachucos dominated the criminal underworld and enjoyed all the fruits of their labor. One indulgence that all enjoyed was going out to local nightclubs and dance throughout the night late into the early mornings. One notable hot spot was the famed, “Salon Mexico”, where they would gather to drink and dance to musical genres like El Danzón and The Mambo.