The Talented Tenth by Richard Wesley

L - R Nic Few and Ben Guillory - Photos by Josh Estey

 

By Joe Straw

 

Bernard let me down, a man once filled with idealism, caught the wave of the civil right movement, and rode that incredible emotional groundswell to find another view, another perspective. A contradictory way of life against all avenues of someone’s being.   All for the sake of who, or what?

 

The Robey Theatre Company in association with The Los Angeles Theatre Center presents The Talented Tenth written by Richard Wesley, produced, and directed by Ben Guillory, through December 10^th, 2023.

 

Bernard (Nic Few) is just out of Howard University. He stands patiently as his prospective employer Griggs (Ben Guillory) grills him like an army sergeant would and sets him straight about what it means to be employed by his firm, what he needs to do, and how he needs to struggle to provide for himself, his family, and the black community that he needs to elevate. 

 

Bernard, taught well under the banner of a historically black college, has another way of thinking.  He believes attitudes have changed for the black man at this time and racial tension and discrimination are not what they used to be in the civil rights era.  He has learned a lot, wants to relax now, but reluctantly accepts the information that Griggs has presented to him.

 

Bernard gets the job and after many years has secured himself in the firm of black radio stations, married a beautiful light skin woman of means Pam (Tiffany Coy), had four children, and surrounded himself with college friends Rowena (Monte Escalante) her husband Marvin (Julio Hanson) and their acquaintance Ron (Stirling Bradley), and as an extra bonus a mistress Tanya (Jessica Obilom) on the side.   

 

Julio Hanson and Monte Escalante

 

 

Today Bernard and friends are in in Jamaica sans the mistress. All are wanting to end their vacation sitting and sunning, but Bernard’s mind is on the pursuit of an undefined act.  He wants to take the car to another part of the island, a tranquil conscience pursuing loftier goals away from the complacency of wearisome repetition.  It is a move that gets him into trouble, but he moves forward not looking back at the unpleasant reflection of his thoughts.    

 

Richard Wesley’s The Talented Tenth was first produced in 1989 and is just as relevant today. Bernard moves in ways that underlies a deep motivation as he discards his youthful ideals for business pragmatism - and one that establishes himself as a character with unparalleled perfidy.  Carefully, he moves with the precision of a surgeon, discarding his don’t wants, while enveloping his wants. His end game has many obstacles; friends, wife, mistress, and Wesley manages to weave the play to its dramatic conclusion. Each person viewing the play will come away with different ideas as they walk away from the theatre and that’s what makes the play so intriguing, so absorbing, and so right for the times.   

 

Ben Guillory, the director, and producer, places the actors of The Robey Theatre Company into the laps of audience a few feet away. Moments are rarely missed as the action moves in a smooth progression, taking a pause for the character to absorb the moment.  Something you rarely see, actors never leaving character during the scene changes. The Talented Tenth is a wonderful show filled with remarkable talent that, on this night, elicited various dramatic responses from the theatre patrons.  Ben Guillory as the character Griggs is a complex character, a business owner reaping the benefits from his hard-working employees of black radio stations only to discard his thought of uplifting the black community and selling his business to a white conglomerate – getting out while the getting is good.  Guillory excels in the role.  

 

Nic Few is outstanding as Bernard.  He plays Bernard as a man who moves to his own beat to get what he wants.  The road he takes may seem ill advised but he moves in ways that will offer him the best possible business outcome. He appears to discard the message of the talented tenth in favor of the result and that’s what makes this performance remarkable.

 

Jessica Obilom and Tiffany Coty

 

 

Tiffany Coty is excellent as Pam, Bernard’s wife.  She thinks she has got everything going for her only slightly aware that she is having small problems with her husband. Her life is upper-middle class, and she has lived a life of privilege. She could also pass because of the color of her skin and was considered an excellent catch in college.  Pam is aware of that life but doesn’t give it a lot of thought being married with four kids. Coty's riveting performance culminates in a dramatic scene in the second act that is jaw dropping and well worth the price of admission.  

 

Stirling Bradley brings forth an interesting character in Ron.  He is the lone man out, unattached but always hanging around his group of friends, drinking, vacationing, going to university functions. There is a hint of a relationship with Pam, but that relationship may require definition and a stronger physical life when he is near her. Bradley may need to elevate his objective to get what he needs even if he doesn’t get it and we must see the reason he has decided to make the decision to turn his life in another direction.  Still, some very interesting work.

 

Monte Escalante plays Rowena a woman who has not set aside her jealously even at this point in her life.  Rowena seems happy in her nice upper middle-class life, but she wanted more. She is authentically black and wonders what her life would be like if things had turned out differently, gotten the man she wanted, and was able to move through life without being discriminated against. There is a hint that “her man” may have been stolen away from her and that plays to great effect. Escalante’s work is sublime.  

 

Jessica Obilom is Tanya, the girlfriend (mistress).  She is also a woman who gets everything she wants.  She doesn’t mess around and is on the married man every chance she gets about leaving his wife and coming to stay with her. “Be careful what you wish for.”, is a phrase one thinks when thinking about this type of character. Tanya smiles when she finds out she is getting what she came for. But has she been duped? Surely, the Kente Cloth can’t be worth the trouble she is getting herself into. Obilom’s work is exceptional.

 

There is a moment in the cocktail scene when Julio Hanson as Marvin recognizes that he may not be as benign and compliant as his wife thinks he is. It is a moment in which he quailed inwardly and a moment that soared on this night.  It is also the moment that defines that character down to his toenails. Hanson work is excellent.

 

Rogelio Douglas III last seen in Picnic at The Odyssey gives a grand performance as Bernard Jr. late in the second act of this show. It is amazing how, in that scene, history keeps repeating itself but probably will work itself out in another incarnation of his life.  Douglas is excellent.

 

Ed Haynes, Set Designer, has created paintings that hang on the wall of each set, each location.  Those painting are set lines, lines that are ridged, that leave little room to escape beyond the confines of the canvas, trapped in a world of greys and blacks that is only surrounded by colored neon lights that suggests scene changes. It suggests a certain kind of wealth of the character that inhabit that world and may define the limitations of the characters as well.

 

Naila A. Sanders, Costume Designer, and Natalie Shahinyan, Assistant Costume Designer, defines the 1993 time and the place and the work was outstanding.  

 

Other members of this wonderful crew are as follows:

 

J C Cadena – Associate Producer

Crystal Nix – Production Stage Manager

Leilani Scott Young – Assistant Stage Manager

Josh Estey – Production Photographer

Jason Mimms – Graphic Designer

Philip Sokoloff – Publicist

Cydney Wayne Davis – Music Director/Composer/Vocalist

James Manning – Sound engineer/Composer

Ceasar Bijou – Set Builder

Rye Mandel – Prop Master

Melissa Kaye Bontempt – Backstage Assistant

Akosua Hobert – Friends of Robey Volunteer Coordinator

Princess Guillory – Event Planner

Kiara Mariwalla Costarelli – Producer Intern

 

Run! Run! Run!

 

Tickets: 213-489-7402

www.therobeytheatrecompany.org

 

The Robey Theatre Company

514 S. Spring St.

Los Angeles, CA. 90013

 

 

 

Tacos La Brooklyn by Joel Ulloa

 

Alejandra Flores and Sal Lopez, Photos by Grettel Cortes Photography

By Joe Straw

 

Marika, aka Little Triste, (Sayaka Miyatani) and Benjiro (Paul Dateh) have created an image of an idea of Latino culture in East LA complete with cruising cars and they dress to accentuate the image.  They love the look, live for it, and despite their parents’ objections they are the definition of the people they want to represent right down to the details in their cars.   Only there’s a problem, their makeup is spot on for people who have never left Japan.   

 

Is it appreciation, or appropriation?  If you’re living in Japan, it is more likely appreciation but if you’re living in East Los Angeles, it is appropriation.  But, what’s the difference?

 

Latino Theater Company in association with East West Players presents Tacos La Brooklyn written by Joel Ulloa, and directed by Fidel Gomez through November 5, 2023

 

Chino (Gavin K. Lee) is Korean, a large strapping one at that.  Chino operates a street vending stand aptly titled Chino’s Underground Tacos. Next to him are two other stands Monse Dulce run by Monse (Zilah Mendoza) and Cali Meats run by Mike (Xavi Moreno).  They are on the same side of the street and are in a competition of sorts. The winner is the recipient of a six pack of beer.

 

They all use social media to elevate their stand, but Chino seems to have the upper hand, making his product better and a little more expensive.  He is bringing in a better class of people into the neighborhood who are willing to pay the extra money for the best tacos in town. He also does this with his eyes on a storefront he’s been eyeing for some time, from a promise that was made to his adoptive father Don Agapito (Sal Lopez).  

 

Mike is a little peeved that Chino is taking all his business away and he lets it be known on social media that there’s this “Chinese guy” who has the audacity of making and selling authentic Mexican tacos. Mike does it as a joke, but the post gets a little out of hand.

 

Yesenia (Esperanza America), a social media influencer, gets word of Chino and his business and accuses him of blatant appropriation. And her followers chime in making it worse for Chino’s Underground Tacos.

 

Joe Ulloa’s Tacos LA Brooklyn is a remarkable achievement that somehow manages to span the globe, condenses it and, and sets it in a tiny community of East Los Angeles, California.  It is a potpourri, a mixed dispersion of Japanese, Korean, and Mexican people, and he writes it in a variety of languages all in the entire presentation of one single night. The night unfolds from the media circus that takes place in the first act to the divine interaction in the second act of connecting the emotional dots and caressing those feelings.

 

Fidel Gomez, the director, seizes the essence that is social media where everyone projects a strong voice, lightning fast, right, and wrong, that elicits language that is often crude and sometimes nasty.   Developed relationships in the first act are hard to come by as, one on one, communication is advanced in a nether region, a message in the sphere is read and commented on hundreds maybe thousands of times until it rattles down into a meaningless tangent. Gomez finds the humanity in the second act and the play soars.

 

Esperanza América does well Yesenia Tapia a woman with a social media following who has the public’s best interest at heart but in the end is awakened by her short comings.  América has some very surprising moments in this play and is outstanding.

 

Paul Dateh

 

 

Paul Dateh is Benjiro, a Japanese man that appreciates the East LA culture.  The manner and characteristics are spot on, and his singing voice alone is worth the price of admission. One lives for these moments in theatre.  

 

Alejandra Flores is Lencha, the adoptive grandparent. Flores manages to capture the love throughout the play giving when it is needed and supporting when it is necessary. She brings an authenticity to her grandson’s business. The work is wonderful.

 

Ariel Kayoko Labasan plays Whisper and a myriad of other roles including Commenter, a Karen-like woman without an objective in life but is simply there to shut down other people’s way of life. Labasan’s work is excellent.

 

 

L - R Zilah Mendoza, Alejandra Flores, Gavin K. Lee,
Jesus “Chuy” Perez and Xavi Moreno

 

Gavin K. Lee plays Chino and for the most part the work is good but needs work in strengthening his voice for the theatre especially in this venue. There is also another emotional level that may be needed to employ rather than the angry mode in his voice and mannerism. Chino is on the verge of losing everything he has worked for.  As a child he was literally picked up off the streets and he doesn’t want to go back to that again.  There is a divine subtlety of recognition when conflicted moments take a character down a path he doesn’t want to go. Finding those moment are the keys to defining the character.

 

The indefatigable Sal Lopez is Don Agapito and manages to capture the spirit of a man willing to give and to teach.  There is a bit of conflict of giving up to someone that which he has worked so hard to learn and that plays beautifully. Lopez also has several smaller roles for which he excels happily and is a consummate theatre professional.

 

Sayaka Miyatani is also excellent as Mariko aka Little Triste and other roles. Miyatani is fluent in Japanese and English and has a simple manner that translates to the theatrical setting. Her work is superb.

 

Zilah Mendoza is Monse a character who sells sweet thing from her stand. And while the work as natural and efficient this is a character that needs more development specifically finding the conflict that drives the character. That conflict needs to be deep and real.  Now she sells sweet things but what is that thing that drives her to the conclusion of the play. Where does she stand on the issues and why isn’t she going about to change the things around her?

 

Jesus “Chuy” Perez and Xavi Moreno

 

 

Xavi Moreno is excellent as Mike. The work is a tour de force as he mentally and physically accepts the challenges of the character and rides that wave to its conclusion. It is one of the finest performances I’ve seen from this truly gifted actor.

 

One remarkable thing about the play is the music of Jesus “Chuy” Perez who plays El Músico a musician that defines the rest one needs from all that internet noise.  Perez plays it as a simpler time, of getting down to the core of humanity, a song, a guitar warmly played taking us down to our lowest common denominator of pleasure.  The work is inspiring.

 

Richard Azurdia and Andrea Negrete are also in the cast but did not perform the night I attended.

 

Natalie Morales, Scenic Design, is effective and manages to give everyone the space to perform their magic.

 

Maria Catarina-Copelli, Costume Design, gives the audience the time and place of Los Angeles California.

 

Pablo Santiago’s lighting design is an interest mix of elevation and circus like atmosphere. Before the opening, there are these floating rectangles that collide from one to the next.  Later colorful circular lights remind one of a three ring top, and one supposes that is his intention.

 

Hsuan- Kuang Hsieh projection design is very dramatic when it wants to be and simple when the play requires breathing space such the realistic blowing palm trees. It is beautiful and has a nice calming effect when the play needs it.   

 

 

Other members of the fantastic crew are as follows:

 

John Zalewski – Sound Design

Valerie Vega – Assistant Stage Manager

Urbanie Lucero – Movement Director

Nicolas Ruano – Assistant Director

Alexa Wolfe – Stage Manager

Jessica Veronica Rodriguez – Assistant Set Designer

Iliana Carter Cervantes – Casting Director

May Fei (Congxiao Fei) – Production Manager

 

The show closes tomorrow afternoon November 5, 2023

 

Parking is around $8.00 with validation.

 

The Los Angeles Theatre Center

514 S. Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA. 90013

 

To Donate: Latinotheaterco.org/circle-of-friends

 

Tickets: https://www.latinotheaterco.org/

Queen of the Rumba by Josefina Lopez

 

By Joe Straw

 

One has never seen an audience that has been so engaged in a performance of Queen of the Rumba on Saturday September 30, 2023, clapping after every scene, vocal in other scenes, and engaged throughout the night.  Yes, it was a different kind of audience that filled the seats of Casa 0101 on this night.

 

Casa 0101 Theatre presents the world premiere of Queen of the Rumba by Josefina Lopez, directed, and choreographed by Corky Dominguez, and produced by Emmanuel Deleague though October 22, 2023.

 

Age never gives anyone a chance.  You’re bound to be taken by any number of infirmities or accidents if the night doesn’t get you sleeping peacefully. Tonight is not Alicia Parla’s (Paloma Morales) night in this Miami Hospital.  Doctor Sanchez (Sammy Montero) peacefully breaks the news that she has only a short time to live. But Alicia isn’t worried.  She’s 83 years old and takes the news with a peaceful resolve knowing that she has seen and experienced the world.

 

But how much of the world could she have experienced?  

 

Tucked in at night in her hospital bed without medication Alicia hears the cries of a young cancer patient Sofia Manzano (Kenia Romero).  Bothered by her incessant wailing, Alicia promises her that she will tell her the story of her life.  

 

And so, the story begins with the beginning of Young Alicia Parla (Angel Juarez) in school uniform being kicked out of her third Catholic School.  As the family sits down to dinner Alicia’s father Alfonso Parla (Adam Jacobo) contemplates the decision he must make about his daughter’s disruptive actions.  

 

The dinner table is never a good idea to discuss the bad things happening in your life and Carmela Parla (Victoria Tamez) Alicia’s sister can only bow her head to shut off that world and listen to her own private thoughts.

 

 

And Alicia is hardly listening to her father or mother Goretti Parla (Lolita Lazcano) at this point only noticing the servant Rosita Vega (Vivian Marie Lamolli) ladling the contents of her spoon into her bowl in a style and manner that is both mystifying and sensual in manner.

 

Because Alicia has been kicked out of school, her father has decided that she should go to a trade school with her mother to the United States. Later, feeling despondent and wandering behind the house Alicia spies upon Rosita and her friend Moon (Melvin Ward) dancing, rather seductively, before going back into her room to dream about her future endeavors.  

 

 

 

Alicia and her mother Goretti moved to the United States and after finishing a trade school in Miami, moves to New York where Alicia went to try out for the new dancer position as Don Justo (Peter Laboy) watched.  No one liked her moves except Don Justo who felt her talent was raw but manageable.

 

 

 

 

Josefina Lopez wrote Queen of the Rumba as a screenplay as part of her master’s program at UCLA and at times it plays as a screenplay missing the elements that move a play through ambiguity, conflict, and resolution.  That happens mostly in the first act, but the adapted play manages to gather momentum in the second act and takes off making it a delightful undertaking. There may be elements missing in the first act mostly the relationship between the older Alicia and Sofia, the conflict that moves that relationship, and the fairy tale like existence of a tale so unbelievable that it magically transports the parties to important places and times. (One is thinking patterned lights, a swirling bed, and a story, majestically told, transporting her back to her younger self.)

 

Corky Dominguez is a reliable director at Casa 0101 but needs to find a consistent way to move the players from one scene to another without the blackouts and the multiple scene changes. That challenge is to find a creative way to move the play along and to keep the audience engaged. (Audiences are very forgiving of time and place in a theatrical space.) For example, why not have The Prince of Wales (Adam Jacobo) engaged in the ideal setting of his hotel room as his fantasy? Fantasy is an idea that may help move the entire production along, young love, naivety, and the idea that anything can be accomplished through youthful idealism. Details are also critical of a different past, a difference between 1998 and 1932, some actors portraying those characters needed that focus not leaving their 2023 characters.   

 

Paloma Morales is charming as the older Alicia Parla and although the character is dying, she has enough energy to power through her tale throughout the night and into the morning. There is little conflict between the storyteller and the listener and little connection between the young Alicia and the older Alicia. Morales appears to go off in improvisation at times and this is apparent when her voice softens to a barely audible level.  

 

Angel Juarez is impressive as the young Alicia especially in the second act where she dances a rumba dance wearing the Cuban Flag. This role has many elements and levels that can be added to an already terrific performance.  More could be made of her naivete, her willingness to go all out to get what she wants, and the emotional conflict of a promise she made to her mother.  

 

Kenia Romero is the other cancer patient.   This a role that requires someone to listen to a story.  That doesn’t give and actor much to do unless the actor applies a little more creativity and has a stronger objective. She is sick, but that doesn’t mean she is not active and there are multiple opportunities for her to move from her seat. What does she get from the story being told to her? And what is the end result from being in that relationship?  

 

Mauricio Marte plays Marcos, a musician, and has an interesting look. But that look and manner is 2023 and not the year 1936. And his manner is subtle where his desire should be anything but.  There is more room for an emotional commitment, the love factor that tugs on his heartstrings. When everything is playing against the character, the character must play for the things that mean the world to him. Don’t keep everything inside, show us a little something more physically and emotionally. 

 

Lolita Lazcano plays the mother Goretti Parla and is excellent in the role. Goretti wants to live vicariously through her ambitious daughter and gives in to her daughter’s wishes only asking her to make a promise to her and it’s a big one. The relationship between Goretti and her husband may need strengthening in the first act deciding what to do with their daughter. Now, their relationship appears to be a repellent indifference rather than anything resembling love.   Still, Lazcano does a great job.

 

Adam Jacobo plays Alfonso Parla, and obdurate father who runs his family like a ruthless hard-fisted businessman. Everything is for him, and the others work to satisfy his life. Still, we’ve got to see the love element in these relationships! Jacobo also does a nice turn as the Prince of Wales.

 

Peter Laboy plays Don Justo, the bandleader, discovered a new talent who does the Rumba. This character needs a little more authority, in the way he is treated as a bandleader, and in the way he controls his players like the wand he possibly carries. This is another character that should embrace the period and act accordingly.  

 

Vivian Marie Lamolli as Rosita has a very nice presence on stage.  She also has a very engaging dance number on stage as well. She has a significant scene that may be a lesson to Alicia. But, at present, that scene is one that doesn’t teach that lesson and it is a significant moment to contributing to Alicia’s way of thinking.   

 

Melvin Ward has some nice numbers as Moon and the Male Dancer and plays the male orderly, mc, and the club owner. In many ways the dancing reflects the time and is perfect in its execution.

 

Sammy Montero does well as Roberto Nelson, needing a little more conflict in the opening sequence as Dr. Sanchez, and he also plays the producer.

 

Maricella Ibarra is Marina, Mother Superior and the Bald Woman in the cancer ward giving the older Alicia character momentum in the story telling.

 

Victoria Tamez plays Carmela Parla the sister who seems to be browbeaten by her father, quailed inwardly, losing her way into any kind of expressive individuality. There is room for more growth and conflict at the dinner table. She also plays the Choreographer, and the Teenage Boy.

 

Abel Alvarado again does exceptional work at the Costume Designer.

 

There are a few more shows. Run! Run!

 

Other members of the crew are as follows: 

 

Itzel Ocampo – Associate Producer, Casa 0101 Administrator

Rigo Tejeda – Stage Manager

César Retana-Holguín – Set Designer

Alejandro Parra – Lighting Designer

James Alonzo – Co-Sound Designer

Miguel Delgado – Technical Director

Izzy Donenberg – Assistant Stage Manager

Julius Bronola – Wardrobe Assistant

Steve Moyer Public Relations – Press Representative 

Edward Padilla - Casting Director/Youth Educator

 

Street parking is free and parking behind city hall is free. 

 Reservations: 323-263-7684

www.casa0101.org

 

 

 

Birds of North America by Anna Ouyang Moench

 

Arye Gross and Jacqueline Misaye - Photos by Jenny Graham

By Joe Straw

 

Life moves on

this migratory lot

abundant

fall colors

winging forward

rustic flavors

and

seared images

capturing the

bitterest contradictions

forever

and

now

What were the talks?

Pieces

of colored information

just pieces

waiting for the wings

of knowledge

to take flight

or not

coaxing intonations

until

the end of the line

and all there

is now is   

raking

up

the

pieces

with a

satisfied

heart.  

 

Migratory birds in flyway pass by John’s yard in Baltimore County, Maryland in the year of someone’s lord - the mid 2000s to the mid 2010s.   And from his backyard with a pair of binoculars John (Arye Gross) happily takes field notes while birding and regards his notebook to his daughter Caitlyn (Jacqueline Misaye) as his life’s list, guaranteed to last forever and to never smudge.

 

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the Los Angeles premiere of Birds of North America written by Anna Ouyang Moench, directed by Peter Richards, and produced by Beth Hogan through November 19, 2023.  

 

John is a busy man, a doctor working on manufacturing pharmaceuticals, but a man who nevertheless unwinds and spends a few precious moments with his daughter.  

 

Caitlyn, with a clement disposition, appears to enjoy her time with her dad but is not so invested in birding, taking notes, or calling a bird by its rightful name, and not announcing the perching place on its specific location so that her father may take delight in discovery.  

 

Although John is slightly annoyed, it is perhaps the moment where he can impart the wisdom of the ages to his daughter should she desire to accept it.   But how does he let the information go knowing now that she has matured enough and is somewhat willing to accept that information? It must be with sincerity and without too much fanfare and noise. Much like the barn owl who stealthy approaches a kill announced only after it has pounced on its prey.

 

Caitlyn has other things on her mind like her motorcycling boyfriend Blaze who wants to go into the army and off to Iraq. John doesn’t agree with her choice of man, he thinks of a better class of man marrying his daughter.

 

They’ve lived a comfortable life. John is working on a prescription drug and has been for twenty-five years.  It is in phase III of the clinical trials and once that is approved will guarantee the family an income for the rest of their lives.

 

Caitlyn is a copy editor hoping to finish a book she has partially written although her heart is not into it.     

 

When they walk into the house and return to the backyard a year has passed. Today, Blaze is a forgotten memory and Caitlyn has another and now seeks $2,000 for her wedding photos. John says to get a family member to take the photographs, but he grudgingly says if she needs it, he will pay for the photos.

 

Is saving their relationship something that will take time or is it too late?

 

Anna Ouyang Moench has written a beautiful play filled with the colors of life.  There is a picturesque sincerity to it all, a father and daughter relationship that test the boundaries of human migratory movement highlighted by the influx of colors and the outside awakenings of a calling North American bird.  There is discomforting intimacy between these two, hardly physically together in their backyard for two seconds, moments broken up by the incursion of a feathered being rustling through the trees and perching on a limb near their backyard.

 

Peter Richards, the director, has done a fantastic job despite some technical problems on this night with sound and music.  There are additional layers that could be added to the performances and that will come in time with additional performances. There may also be another connection one that may be how the birding connects to the relationship of the father to daughter.  Still, it is a quiet night with subtle emotional outpourings and blended noises that disarms the soul and lifts the production to unimaginable heights.  

 

Ayre Gross as John never lets up as the dad. He moves in a way that lets his daughter have free reign, making her decide her own choices with little objections to the paths she may be undertaking.  Similarly, to the way birds treat their fledglings. With his education and life’s experiences, he is the adult in the backyard, calm, effective, and guiding in ways that are not overbearing. Gross’ physical life and subtle emotional outbursts makes this a master performance and one that should not be missed.

 

L- R Arye Gross (background) and Jacqueline Misaye

 

 

Jacqueline Misaye plays Caitlyn a woman who appears to have her father’s temperament and her reactions are very subtle. Caitlyn places herself in an invidious position with news of her life, her boyfriends, and her medical issues.  It is easy to suggest what her father might want, mostly trips to places where he can observe birds, but is it not clear what she wants from him. One might suggest that it is love mostly but she can’t quite figure out how to do that.  If there is one thing missing it might be that.  He never really comes out and expresses his love, physically or emotionally and that is what she must get. The book at the end may be the key but the emotional expression is something we may need to see. Still, it is a terrific performance.

 

Mark Guirguis, Set Designer, has created a beautiful set.  Wind may be something that elevates the set to another height. Still, it is a gorgeous set for the actors to live and breathe.

 

Constandia J. Daros, Sound Designer, has brought in some wonderful sounds to fill the backyard with native birds of the Baltimore area. The sound has birds moving from one side of the backyard to the other and it is wonderful to hear.

 

Lena Sands is the Costume Designer, and she places them in costume and in the times. The work is excellent and changes each year in a ten-year period that passes by when the characters come back every year to watch the birds in their migratory flight.

 

Other members of the crew are as follows:

 

Scott Bolman – Lighting Designer

Jenine MacDonald – Prop Designer

Beth Mack – Stage Manager

 

Run! Run! Run!

 

Reservations: 310-477-2055 or go the www.OdysseyTheatre.com

 

Parking is free!