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| L - R Randy Vasquez, Xavi Moreno, and Ruth Livier |
By Joe Straw
Just when one thinks their political life is over, a small stature of a man rising, from the east, arrives unexpectedly, grows exponentially, and enters the fray to save someone’s political ass.
The Latino Theatre company presented The Little King of Norwalk by Israel López Reyes and directed by Geoffrey Rivas ran from September 25 through November 2nd, 2025.
Juan Perez (Xavi Moreno) is in a whole lot of trouble living vicariously in a section of Norwalk, fighting with his twin sister Wendy Perez (Esperanza América) a grass roots activist about trying to stay ahead of the game, keeping up with the house payments, and taking care of his nephew so they can stay off the streets. Their mother has recently died, and, to that end, they have lost a family member that contributed to childcare so that the supposedly two “adults” could find work and support the house.
Juan, a UCLA graduate, doesn’t take his work life seriously, but promises his sister that he will find work and takes her car to look. But, after the day of job hunting, Juan takes a respite, consumes alcohol, and now inebriated before stepping into his car to drive home. But as events would have it, he is arrested for being under the influence, his car is impounded, and he is beaten senseless by a dispirited law enforcement officer in jail by The Law (Richard Azurdia).
Crawling mindlessly on his cell floor Juan is visited by the apparition of his mother telling him that he is needed for something more important in his life. And as apparitions are want to do, they are not very specific, and it is up to Juan to figure it all out.
L - R Randy Vasquez, Ruth Livier, Richard Azurdia, and J. Ed Araiza
Now, a quartet of government officials, Mayor Alvarado (Randy Vasquez), City Manager Nancy Juarez (Ruth Livier), School Superintendent Alex Ayala (J. Ed Araiza) and Chief of Police Ricky Ortiz (Richard Azurdia) effectively cower behind the long windows of Norwalk’s city hall, afraid to meet their constituents who are protesting a city law of a ban on the homeless. The crowds are growing, and the uproar is getting stronger. But the Mayor, aware, but not that concerned, knows that Governor Newsom or his cronies are going to come down hard on the City of Norwalk and send someone who will report on them.
This band of Norwalk officials don’t know who that someone will be but will probably be someone in a yellow tie and a cheap suit.
Meanwhile a lugubrious Juan, complete with moral imperfections, tells his sister that he will turn his life around, start going to AA meetings, and try to find work. His attire, compliments of the Goodwill store, have him in a cheap suit and a yellow tie, and on his journey to AA he is lost, manages to walk into the mayor’s office, by mistake, and is mistaken for that person that Newsom was going to send.
There are moments of magic in Israel López Reyes play moving from sophisticated dialogue through the course of family relationships, and finally the darkened noir that The Latino Theatre Company is famous for. There is a slight tribute to Nicolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector, the underpinnings and manipulations of an overzealous governmental reach all in the name of wanting more. The beautiful dialogue rings an emphatic truth that strikes chords in today’s everyday political life.
Geoffrey Rivas, director, gives us everything one usually sees in a LATC production, a spiritual life, a lyrical one, a non sensical extravaganza, and familial one but, at times, the production felt like three different plays rather than having the one strong through line, the comprehensive want of every single character that works seamlessly throughout the play to reach the director’s desired conclusion. The political plan lacks focus that does not move the characters in a justifiable direction to reach that goal.
Naytheless, sometimes the movements on stage are like a ballet with actors making transitions of time and place by moving twelve-foot walls at various angles to form a new time and a new space - compliment of Maureen Weiss’ beautiful Scenic Design. And with those movements the Projection Design by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh solidifies the place with a solid presentation.
Claire Fraser Walsh’s work as the Costume Designer was very colorful and made everyone look good for the period. John A. Garofalo, Lighting Design, had the night very noir, and made the night of time and place very accessible.
John Zalewski, Sound Design, gives the place and the night an edge and always works wonders on this stage.
Well into the run, the actors in this production are a bit of a mixed bag with a kaleidoscope of various acting styles contributing to the whole of the production. There is a family drama. There is a political perspective with actors behaving as though they were in a semi-madcap farce. Then there is an actor that performs in a way reminiscent of commedia dell’arte moving away from a structured reality, or a representation the director might have first envisioned.
Xavi Moreno as Juan Perez gets progressively better with each performance at The Latino Theatre Company. He has created a strong character life confused by the elements of his existence trying to understand the events that are thrust upon him. He falls into place guided by the actions of others around him until he can set the tone for himself and that leads him farther down the rabbit hole so far that it’s almost impossible to pull himself up.
Esperanza America does well as Wendy Perez, a twin to Juan Perez, their relationship plays well together. Wendy is a bit righteous in her activist duties but at some point, must recognize that her actions are not helping her, her brother, or her son. Still a performance that rings true.
Randy Vasquez looks the part of small-town Mayor Alvarado with patent leather shoes, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Alvarado, is not too smart, has convinced the voters, that he served his country proudly in the military and therefore deserves to be Mayor of Norwalk. But even in a little community, banning the homeless in Norwalk, California is just bad form. Vasquez gets to sing in this play, and his voice was outstanding. Missing is what the character wants, a bigger political future, the girl, or a bag of money in small, unmarked bills.
Ruth Livier is Nancy Juarez, a character angry about something, needing something, wanting something but one could not grasp this character who didn’t move in a direction of support, personal initiative, or an objective that moves the character forward. Livier has a good voice, a nice look, and has been better in other productions. One just did not get this character or how the character envisioned herself in a year.
J. Ed Ariza is Alex Ayala an idea giver, but not an implementor. He shimmies around city hall hoping to come up with that one big idea that leads this political team to grandeur. Not a bad performance but could have gotten a lot more mileage from the makeup of this character reaching for his objective and never stopping until his goals are implemented or destroyed.
Richard Azurdia as The Law starts the production in the audience seats. Although lit, the voice came from the speakers, and the first part of his performance was lost as eyes were on the stage. It was the voice of a first-person narrative, voice noir, and hardboiled. Azurdia had a tan mic coming down from his hat, (Could that have been painted black?) a slight echo, wearing sunglasses at night that conveyed a darkness, possibly defining the intricacies of a corrupt city government. But this character seemed to come from a different time and place other than a 2024 setting. As Ricky Ortiz he was very expressive, a stylized character with ingratiating affability trying to find a place for himself and his family and in another production. the performance would have made sense, but this night the action was overkill, too broad, and definitively without a clear objective that benefits him and the path he is making for himself. Not all was lost as Azurdia has a very good look. He’s very expressive with huge eyes and maybe this was not the right project for him.
Valerie Rose Vega and Ulysses Montoya were understudies that did not perform on this night.
Other members of the crew are as follows:
Marissa Herrera – Choreographer
Jesus Hurtado – Assistant Scenic Design
Yaesol Jeong – Stage Manager
Alexa Mora - Assistant Stage Manager
Rey Hoffman and Hannah Creighton – Wardrobe Supervisors
May Fei (Congxiao FEI) – Production Manager
The Latino Theater Company is in its 40th year! Happy Anniversary! It is a welcoming theatre company and the service there, from top to bottom, is most remarkable!
