By Joe Straw
O, beware, my
lord, of jealousy.
It is the
green-eyed monster, which doth mock
The meat it
feeds on. – Iago – Shakespeare’s Othello
This is
possibly a perfect fit for this venue (Casa 0101) but moving it to a larger
house will require additional work, especially where the actors are concerned.
– Narrator on Aladdin January 22, 2017
Walking to the stages of the Los Angeles Theatre Center is
always a treat. It’s a pleasure to see actors, chat with them, and find out how
their careers are going – not to mention catching a glimpse of what is going on
in the other theatres. LATC, home of the
Latino Theatre Company, is a thriving and bustling place.
One ventured out on this night to LATC to see what changes
had been made to Aladdin, specifically the production seen at Casa 0101 back in
January (see write up on Aladdin on this blog) and how this show had made the
transition from a 99-seat theatre to a theatre that seats approximately three
hundred patrons.
I noticed the “kids” got tap shoes and that made a wonderful
difference. Also, the crowd scene in the marketplace was remarkably better in
their social interactions.
One expects that moving up in increments of three, there
would be that same increments in actors, sets, and the costumes. But, with a few exceptions, the costumes and
set appeared similar in the original production. They got rid of the puppet bird, and now Iago
(Luis Fernandez-Gil) had his face painted in character, bird like fashion, and on
rolling shoes. (More on this later.)
This is a show for kids, not really for adults, so load them
up in vans and bring them on down. They
will have a wonderful time.
Let’s talk about what works well and give credit where
credit is due. Councilmember Gil Cedillo
and TNH Productions along with El Centro Del Pueblo and CASA 0101 Theater gives
Latino actors the opportunity to work at their craft, creating characters, and
filling roles. This is a consortium of like-minded
individuals providing opportunity where little existed before. Acting classes aside, one doesn’t learn the
craft without experience in front of a live audience. All of that is good for
growth and should be praised.
An examination of Aladdin by Jim Luigs and Jose Cruz
Gonzales, one finds the book is clearly told from the perspective of Jafar
(Omar Mata) whether it is intended or not. This dual language show could easily be called
Jafar.
Jafar is the character that sets the rules and pulls the
strings for which the other characters must work around in order to get what
they want. For example, the Princess has to overcome Jafar’s language barrier
to get the love of her life, Aladdin. The same holds true for Aladdin. The Sultán (Henry Madrid) cowers under Jafar’s
rules and everyone must work around Jafar’s lifestyle.
As the story goes, Jafar and Iago, his pesky bird, had
previously found the lamp, made one wish, and that wish was to have the royals
speak another language so that they could not communicate to the peasantries,
keep the peasants uneducated and hungry.
Then, somehow, Jafar loses the lamp.
In the meantime, the Sultán wants to marry off his petulant daughter,
Jazmin (Valeria Maldonado) to a host of princes, all wonderfully played by Andrew
Cano, Jesse Maldonado, and Alejandro Lechuga.
Lechuga is actually dressed like the artist known as Prince, complete with
a Purple Rain jacket.
But Jafar has other ideas about the princess, the lamp, the
kingdom, and the world!
Don’t read any further if you want to go because I’m going
to speak about the craft. I write with no animosity. Theatre is a craft, a
connection between audience and thespian.
And ideally, when the craft is working, both benefit from that
connection.
Rigo Tejeda, director, might focus more on story, more on
the dreams of the characters, and providing meaningful direction as to the
plight of Aladdin. Aladdin appears to be
a secondary character in a show that has his name as the title. More needs to
be made of Aladdin’s poverty and his ingenuity.
The cave scene didn’t work in the previous production and
doesn’t work now. The situation is not
dangerous enough for all of the characters and requires a major reworking
leading to the escape with Abu’s help.
Iago is a major antagonist but flutters about the stage in
an unfocused manner, without an objective, and without specific character
traits to guide him.
Also, Tejeda must find a way to make the relationship
between Jazmin and Aladdin work. The stakes now are too low and the bar is set even
lower. Jazmin must fall deeply in love, must be deeply miserable at losing him,
and then must be terrifically excited at finding him again.
The Sultán and Jafar’s relationship must work as well. Jafar
works for the Sultán and must appear as an underling while scheming to get what
he wants.
Also, there must be more to the relationship between Jazmin
and the Sultán, as father and daughter, and a relationship that moves the story
along.
In a show, such as this, each main character needs a grand
introduction and Tejeda must be the eyes for those characters to make that
happen. As one example, the Magic Carpet (Danielle Espinoza) suddenly appears
out of nowhere to play a significant part of the story but really has no
purpose in this telling.
The beautiful Royal Translators, Blanca Espinoza, Beatriz
Tasha Magaña, and Shanara Sanders must work in another way. For example, they must work in a way that
gathers the information as a service, one supposes from the king, and then
translates the messages to the peasantry (us). They must be unique in their own right and convincingly
convey the message in their own unique manner.
The dance number that highlights the travel, first class by
the way, out of the cave is wonderfully Choreographed by Tania Possick but
mysteriously discards the Genie, Aladdin, Abu, and Magic Carpet as their guests
traveling out of the cave.
The sound by Vincent A. Sanchez is spotty at best. Each person
is miked up to be heard over the music. Iago, with Gilbert Gottfried like voice,
was screeching and overpowering. Iago works best with a strong character and a
clear objective. (All future actors should drop the Gottfried voice.) Jazmin’s mic was coming in and out all night.
Jafar, who has the best voice, was so low at times that it did not highlight
his magnificent voice. Levels on the lead singers blended into the ensemble and
for about half of the show one couldn’t understand the words of the musical
lyrics.
If this is a show that only wants to work for kids, that’s
fine. But, if it is a show that wants to
work for everyone, then it would also work for the kids as well.
Daniel Sugimoto
has beautiful clarity in his speaking voice and his singing voice and is fine
as Aladdin. But, this Aladdin doesn’t
act upon the conflict presented in this show; also he does not have a clear objective,
which is to win the girl at all costs. Aladdin
is not too smart, lives on the street, is the luckiest man on the planet, and
we must see all of that and more.
Valeria Maldonado
plays Jazmin. She is judiciously aware
and has her moments. These moments worked well at Casa 0101 but they do not
translate well to the bigger venue. That
aside, she has some terrific moments when she is alongside Aladdin.
Finley Polynice
did well as the Genie when he was heard over the ensemble. Genie’s overall
objective is to rid himself of the lamp forever and he must be working with
that thought in mind the moment he comes out of the lamp or the actions on
stage are trite.
Omar Mata is
amazing as Jafar but really needs to work with the bird to get the relationship
just right for this production and venue. Mata needs to recognize the conflict surrounding
Jafar, find the answers to overcome the conflict, and act on the solution. Mata’s
voice should be used as a voice for evil.
His melodic tones are a knife that twists with his pleasure. He uses the singsong voice in dialogue but
doesn’t go far enough to make it a point. The long note works well when it has an evil
purpose. (He has this note almost
offstage left and that accomplishes little.)
Sebastian Gonzales
requires the right characterization as Abu, the monkey who always comes to the
rescue. The voice, and in particular the “screech” works terrifically. Abu is
the sidekick who figures out things that Aladdin cannot. And, Abu is smarter
than Aladdin.
Luis Fernandez-Gil
has a wonderful smile and a great presence on stage, but he requires an
objective to smooth out the actions of his performance. He is all over the
stage without being specific to his character and his place in the performance.
It is unfortunate the sound was not working in his favor on this night. Iago is the whisperer of bad thoughts; he
should be perched all over Jafar, his arms, his shoulder, and his head to
convey his message, celebrate when he wins, and throw fits when he loses. Think of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello.
Henry Madrid as
the Sultán needs a moment in the beginning where we understand his power, his commanding
presence as a ruler, and his command over Jafar. And then we need to see that he has no
control over his subjects, who speak another language, and is desponded and
confused by his inability to rule effectively.
Other members of the cast who were not mentioned or did not
perform the night I was there are as follows:
Monica Beld – Ensemble
Evan Garcia – Razú
Sarah Kennedy – Jazmin
Luis Marquez – Jafar
Bryant Melton – Ensemble
Rosa Navarrete – Rajah
Lewis Powell III – Genie
Jocelyn Sanchez – Ensemble
Abigail “Abey” Somera – Ensemble
Andrea Somera – Ensemble
Members of the crew are as follows:
Music Adapted, Arranged and Orchestrated by Bryan Louiselle
Musically Directed by Caroline Benzon
Costumes by Abel Alvarado
Sets by Marco De Leon
Lights by Sohail J. Najafi
Projections by Yee Eun Nam
Production Stage Managed by Jerry Blackburn
Produced by Felipe Agredano
Artistic Direction by Abel Alvarado
Steve Moyer Public Relations
Steve Moyer Public Relations
Run! And take a
vanload of young kids. You’ll have a great time watching them smile.
Tickets On Sale NowSept 8 to Sept 17
Los Angeles Theater Center
514 S. Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Thursdays & Fridays
11am & 8pm
Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 5pm
$39-$79
FOR GROUP SALES
$25 each for groups of 10 or more and for matinees only $20 each for groups of 10 or more:
Conrado Terrazas
213-200-6161
conradoterrazas@gmail.com
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