Theater Review: 57 Chevy

                                        57 Chevy 

We’ve all heard immigration stories. Many of us even have our own. But I’ll wager you’ve never heard one as jaw-droppingly funny, startling, touching and just plain wonderful as “57 Chevy,” Cris Franco’s one-man play streaming through Aug. 15 from San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Actor Ricardo Salinas performs the magic, providing all of the above elements while playing all the parts, occasionally in a rat-a-tat style you won’t believe.

Franco’s dad, Cristóbal Sr., grew up in Mexico “dirt poor,” but grew up to become a fine car mechanic. He wanted to move his family (three girls and the baby Cris at the time) to the U.S. One day he stopped on the road to help a woman named Mimi Barnes, whose car had broken down. Mimi was extremely thankful, and since she worked for the U.S. embassy, her connections got him papers and a job with an American mechanic in Los Angeles who needed help.

He bought the 57 Chevy and drove to Mexico to get the family and start their own American dream. On the way up, Dad entertained them by singing along with the radio ads of the day, and a popular song of the time: “Qué Será, Será.”

They settled in L.A.’s South Central. It was the perfect place: it was ethnically diverse and easy to fit in. 

But a few years later, the Watts riots leveled South Central, and the family moved closer to the elder Franco’s shop in the San Fernando Valley, where everybody looked the same (Cris called it the “Same Fernando Valley”) and the kids were enrolled in the local Catholic school, “Our Lady of Perpetual Chastity.”

Cris’ dad wants him to be “a doctor, a lawyer or at least an engineer,” to make plenty of money for that other local deity, “Our Lady of Perpetual Tuition,” but Cris has other ideas: he wants to be a writer. How will they work this out?

The story is charming and funny on its own, but what makes the show tick is Salinas’ masterful ability to become dozens of different people, changing genders, ages, speaking styles and hats along the way. It’s a wonder to see.

But the most impressive feat is his story about becoming an altar boy. He decided to serve the first mass, because he would be the only altar boy at that service, and “Jesus didn’t move much, so I was the center of attention.” One morning the priest was in a hurry to get to a golf game. You won’t believe the speed with which Salinas gets through that mass. It’s astonishing.

Technically, this show is great too. Mextly Couzin’s amazingly jam-packed set is a wonder in itself, not to mention Carmen Amon’s wondrous costumes. Matt Lescault-Wood’s sound design, Fred Lanuza’s music, Elizabeth Barrett’s projections and Tim Powell’s cinematography all add depth and humor to the show.

But Salinas is really the show: a magician with a funny, affecting and charming tale to tell. Don’t miss this show.

“57 Chevy” streams through August 15 from San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Tickets at sdrep.org.

Play Review: Beauty and the Beast

                       Beauty and the Beast

Remember the old story about the princess who turned a handsome prince into a horrible, ugly beast because he was so mean and nasty to others?

Neither do I, but there were actually four versions of that story before Disney got hold of it and turned it into one of the world’s most famous (and most popular) animated films of all time: “Beauty and the Beast.”

“Beauty” is back – live and onstage – through August 7 at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre, in a spectacular, colorful and delightful version directed by Jamie Toricelli.

That mean old Beast (Michael Deni) has lost hope of ever being a prince again. So he glowers around his lovely castle, yelling at the servants and wishing things could change.

Meanwhile, Beauty (Jenna Lee Rosen) meets her dad Maurice (Johnny Fletcher), a sweet guy but a failed inventor, who shows Belle his latest invention and tells her he’s on the way to enter it in the local fair, which he hopes to win.

But he gets lost and ends up in the Beast’s castle, where the Beast makes him a prisoner.

The next time she sees Maurice, he’s in the Beast’s jail, and the Beast (who thinks she’s pretty cute) tells her the only way he can get out is if she takes his place.

Miracle of miracles, she agrees – and then the musical really starts.

Mostly, this is a show of volume and action. The cast lists 24 people, the program lists 22 songs excluding orchestral introductions, and Conductor Elan McMahon has her usual boffo orchestra, this time consisting of 11 musicians.

And the cast! This is where the Disney version shines. There’s Gaston, the musclebound jerk who not only thinks he owns the world because he’s strong, but also that Belle (yeah, he thinks she’s cute too) will be thrilled to walk down the aisle with him. As it happens, she’s a bookworm, more interested in brain than brawn. 

Rosen has a special relationship to this show: she was born while her parents were in a road show of “Beauty.” She’s also terrific in the part.

There’s Lefou (Zane Camacho), Gaston’s sidekick who mostly really gets kicked by Gaston. And Lumiere (Michael Paternoster), the candlestick, and Cogsworth (Jerald Vincent) the clock, and Mrs. Potts (Bets Malone), the teapot. And Mrs. Potts’ adorable son Chip (Abraham German), who walks around inside the tea service all night. 

The songs are familiar, the dancing often frenetic and wondrous, the actors terrific and obviously having a wonderful time. What more could you ask?

There’s only one drawback: the show is really long, running at least 2-1/2 hours. That might be a bit much for the kids, but they may be so entranced by the goings-on that they don’t notice how tired they are. 

“Beauty and the Beast” runs Wednesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through August 7, with two added Tuesday shows on July 27 and August 3.  

For tickets: https://www.moonlightstage.com/shows-tickets

Play Review: Dr. Glas

                            Dr. Glas

                        David Gerroll as "Dr. Glas"

The human animal is capable of wonderful and dreadful things, as anyone who’s seen a recent newscast can attest.

That fact is put into starker (but way more amusing) relief in Jeffrey Hatcher’s “Dr. Glas,” the latest filmed play from North Coast Repertory Theatre. David Ellenstein directs.

Based on a 1905 Swedish novel, Broadway veteran Daniel Gerroll plays Dr. Glas, who is treating both a humorless Protestant pastor and his wife (who is having an extramarital affair). To further complicate things, Dr. Glas (who treats the spouses separately) falls in love with the wife. Playwright Hatcher had his work cut out for him – and succeeded admirably.

The play, like the novel, is in journal form, and the audience gets to watch as Dr. Glas goes through his own twists and turns in treating these two patients while trying to connect sexually with the wife on the side. The not-so-good doctor’s contempt for social conventions like marriage, religion and fidelity (he regards them as evidence of repression) make this possible and set up a fascinating, amusing and timely – if cynical – story.

Gerroll is excellent as the chameleon-like doctor, who tries to tailor his prescriptions to fit both his patient’s needs and his own desires. It requires quick thinking and imagination, with which both Gerroll and his character seem abundantly endowed, and the piece’s sixty minutes seem to fly by.

Kudos to Aaron Rumley, who gets quite a workout, taking care of cinematography and editing as well as projections and lighting. He’s also the stage manager and a camera operator (along with Phil Korth and Chris Williams).

Props to Marty Burnett, the theater’s set designer extraordinaire, and to costume designer Elisa Benzoni. 

North Coast Rep has made a habit of streaming filmed plays during the pandemic, and Ellenstein is quite proficient at it. “Dr. Glas” is the eighth such production, and in fact this is the first worldwide streaming of the play. Congratulations to all.

“Dr. Glas” streams through August 15 at northcoastrep.org.

Film Review: Settlers

                         Settlers

The idea of escape has sounded really good to most of us, especially in the past few pandemic years when the concept was impossible to accomplish safely.

Writer/director Wyatt Rockefeller picks up this theme in his debut film “Settlers,” relocating a family trio of earthlings to Mars, where they hope to find “more.”

Mom Ilsa (Sofia Boutella) and dad Reza (Jonny Lee Miller) don’t specify more what, nor why Mars might be thought to provide it, but when we meet them Reza is pointing out to young daughter Remmy (Brooklynn Prince) the constellations in the night sky – including earth.

Somebody seems to have been to this part of Mars before, because an enclosed garden of the type seen in the 2020 “Spaceship Earth” documentary – in which a group of latter-day hippies built, then sealed themselves into an Arizona dome called Biosphere 2 to see how long they could last – is on this Mars site as well, along with a few other desolate-looking buildings which fit in well with the bleakness of the parched Martian terrain. (This film was made in South Africa’s Namaqualand Desert.)

Remmy befriends two piglets she sees – no, they don’t talk but they are cute, warm and friendly, unlike the huge threatening “LEAVE” that one day shows up scrawled on one of the windows where the family is living. Clearly, Mars is no more welcoming than Earth was. Some of these unpleasant neighbors are also fortified with deadly weapons, and apparently willing to use them.

So what is Remmy to do? With no other kids around, and parents who seem increasingly unhappy with each other, she does what they all do: she invents her own world. 

But this environment seems to require a kill-or-be-killed mentality, and soon Reza is replaced by Jerry (Ismael Cruz Córdova), heavily armed, ambitious and interested in Ilsa. He claims to be a native and says he knows “how to get it back to where it was.” Where can Remmy go now?

Give Rockefeller credit for daring: Here’s an outer-space story without interplanetary war with neither little nor giant green creatures. “Settlers” is an art house film in which there is very little observable action. What happens is mostly interior, and requires audience participation. We watch each character deal with the unfolding situations in his or her own way and try to figure out what they’re going to do next.

It’s bleak, grim and thought-provoking, buoyed by a fine cast and simple but effective visuals. Boutella’s Ilsa plays determined mama bear to Prince’s why-are-we-here Remmy and Miller’s disappointed Reza. The most interesting characters are Córdova’s I-can-fix-this Jerry and Steve, a metal robot who becomes Remmy’s only playmate.

“Settlers” is an odd, difficult but impressive film. I look forward to Rockefeller’s next effort.

“Settlers” opens Friday, July 23 in select theaters and on demand

Film Review: Luca

It’s summertime and the swimmin’ is easy, especially if you’re a cute little green sea monster like Luca and live in the waters of the lovely Italian Riviera with your parents and other sea monsters.

Luca finds a new buddy in Alberto, another sea monster who has decided to cast his lot with the humans aboveground. He’s athletic and has taught himself to dive off a home-built ramp back into the sea. Luca’s mom would be horrified if she knew. Even Luca, a bit fearful, wonders at his friend’s bravery. Alberto’s answer: “You’ve got a Bruno in your head, so tell him, “Silenzio, Bruno!”

It’s exciting beyond belief – except for one thing: when they venture out of the water onto land, they turn into little human versions of themselves. Fun perhaps, but when they get into town, it’s embarrassing – not to mention confusing to local observers. 

One such observer is a girl – Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), a gutsy and determined chick who seems to have no fear. She dreams of owning a Vespa, and intends to win it by placing first in the upcoming pasta-eating triathlon.

Pixar brings us Jacob Tremblay as Luca and Jack Dylan Grazer as Alberto in “Luca,” its latest animated release from Disney. 

“Luca” follows the Pixar mold in charm, humor and positive messages of being yourself and finding likeminded folks. It differs in one obvious respect – much of it is in subtitled Italian, which I for one loved. It also boasts a charming score by Dan Romer.

This may not be top-drawer Pixar – it’s much simpler of plot and more direct of approach – but it is beautiful, delightful and most welcome.

“Luca” streams on Disney+.

Film Review: Summer of Soul: or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised

Everybody knows about that wild 1969 hippie fest at Woodstock. But how many have heard of the Harlem Culture Festival, which took place 100 miles south of Woodstock and in part contemporaneously with that event?

This Festival was no hippie happening, but a series of concerts attracting some 300,000 African Americans and featuring the likes of Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Moms Mabley, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone and bands like The 5th Dimension and Gladys Knight & the Pips. It took place in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) for six weeks between June 29 and August 24, 1969. Woodstock took place 100 miles north, from August 15-19 of that year.

The Harlem festival was taped, but the footage sat in a basement for 50 years, never seen publicly until the release of the film “Summer of Soul,” which opens on July 2.

Director Amir “Questlove” Thompson took the footage and made a fascinating film that’s part music video, part history and still very relevant.

Backers were hard to find because they thought they might not be paid. Fortunately, Maxwell House Coffee and General Foods stepped up.

These concertgoers weren’t just looking for an excuse to party. They were there to celebrate black culture, but were also in search of something bigger than that: call it progress, even freedom.

One participant notes, “We want our freedom now.” It’s been a long struggle, starting in the 17th century, and it’s not over yet.

The film is a fascinating blast from the musical past, with performances and 20-some songs from many of the best-known singers of the time.

One of the most familiar groups is the 5th Dimension, with their crazy clothes and wild colors, singing their #1 hit combining “Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In” from the hippie musical “Hair.”

Enjoy the high falsetto notes of David Ruffin, lead singer of The Temptations, singing the Motown hit “My Girl.” And the music of Ray Barretto, percussionist and bandleader born in New York of Puerto Rican ancestry, who is said to have “put the Afro-Puerto Rican soul in pop music.”

There’s plenty of gospel music to be heard. Journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault probably speaks for the group when she says, “Gospel is deep in my DNA. It helped us march on and confront the most violent acts.” The Edwin Hawkins Singers offer “Oh, Happy Day” and Mavis Staples is shown singing “Precious Lord” after Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Watch Nina Simone, with huge double-hooped silver earrings, as she sits at the piano, singing and playing “Backlash Blues.”

Sly & the Family Stone offer “Everyday People,” the band’s first #1 hit.

It’s history, it’s celebration, it’s music, it’s joy and it’s a reminder that real freedom hasn’t been attained yet. “Summer of Soul” (complete title: “Summer of Soul ….or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised”) is a piece of history that is hidden no longer. Perhaps this cynical comment will not be true much longer either: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that black history will be erased.”

Opens July 2 at Angelika, Hillcrest and AMC La Jolla cinemas; also streams on Hulu.

Film Review: Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation

 

Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams – both literary giants from the American South – are profiled, interviewed and quoted in the fascinating documentary “Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation,” opening June 25 at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinema.

Williams is primarily known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning plays “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” which shocked the Broadway world in the 1950s with their frank portrayals of previously taboo topics like rape, alcoholism, adultery and mental illness.

Capote is perhaps best loved for the film version of his 1958 novella “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which starred Audrey Hepburn (much to Capote’s annoyance; he wanted Marilyn Monroe).

But he is mainly remembered for creating the nonfiction novel with his shocking “In Cold Blood” – detailing the murder of a Kansas farm family – which became an Oscar-nominated film in 1967.

Both were gay and not shy about it. Both were engaging conversationalists; both had inner demons they wrestled with throughout life.

Williams grew up with a mostly-absent traveling salesman father. He was greatly saddened by the fate of his sister Rose, who suffered from mental illness and was subjected to the then-common “cures” of a lobotomy and 65 electroshock treatments.

Williams was not a social butterfly like Capote, who attended all the fancy parties. “In New York,” he says, “you play a game of importance and start to believe it and so do others. It is all an artificial aura created by New York.”

Capote wanted to be noticed. He succeeded, and once said “I’m famous for being famous.”

Yet this pair became great friends, traveled to Europe together (with their respective boyfriends) and genuinely liked each other. They even came to similar ends, dying within 18 months of each other, of overdoses (Williams of Seconol; Capote of drugs and alcohol).

Director Lisa Immordino Vreeland has assembled an amazing amount of information, quotes and footage from interviews with reporters, notably Dick Cavett and David Frost. In addition, actors Jim Parsons (as Capote) and Zachary Quinto (as Williams) do a very credible job of reading some of the lines from the writings. Major kudos to editor Bernadine Colish for making the whole so very watchable.