Pride Films & Plays Presents CASA VALENTINA Review – Drag Life Circa ‘62, RECOMMENDED Best Play Pick, Thru September 29, 2019
The first thing we heard to set the tone was Doris Day crooning Que Sera Sera. It’s 1962, and it’s likely that those lyrics were somewhere swimming in young Jonathon’s head when he first discovered his lust to be Miranda (Jonathon/Miranda played by Micah Kronlokken). He is a newbie at Casa Valentina, a Catskills resort where men can be the girls they long to be. In his real life, he’s a young newlywed. But in his realer life he’s a Miranda wannabee who will be tickled pink—not blue, of course—at getting a makeover from his fellow girls.
Lovers of drag shows or other dramas from Harvey Fierstein’s pen about the world of drag queens (La Cage Aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy, Kinky Boots, etc.) will likely immediately latch on to Casa Valentina, and especially the rotund character Bessie (played by Michael Hagedorn) who gets most of Fierstein’s trademark one-liners that elicit belly laughs. In Casa Valentina though, Fierstein explores the true life story of this resort and how the transvestite community, such as it was, was wracked with controversy as to whether to embrace full frontal homophobia to save their own skin, or embrace their brothers in arms in a shared battle to be themselves.
Sure, there’s the fun of watching men be better at being women than women generally are, but this is a way meatier tale. We meet well-drawn characters who are probably unlike anyone many of us know, such as Rita (played by Nicholia Q. Aguirre)--the loving wife of Casa Valentina’s proprietor George/Valentina (played by Patrick Byrnes) --who is a den mother of sorts for the hotel guests and on the short list of nominees for Poster Girl of Unconditional Love.
In this writer’s view, these actors are generally convincing—and each with a compelling moment or more-- but perhaps the production as a whole doesn’t attempt to raise the bar much beyond that standard. It felt like the action is bogged down more than a little in the first act, with a slower pacing than the script might require. But it’s certainly worth the wait for the second act, when the gloves come off – in all senses—and all comes quickly to a head. It’s hard to imagine how most won’t walk away thinking about this play and finding it quite the interesting story.
Pride Films & Plays Stages an Intriguing and Little Told Story
If you are looking for a night of escapism this is not really your show. Instead, if you want to see a good thought provoking exploration of homophobia in a place you might not have imagined it flourished- at least for this cis-straight woman- this is a top pick for your time. That J. Edgar Hoover is somewhere in the background of this story sporting his signature red dress just adds to the pain of considering how cannibalism ruled the day - - and perhaps still does.
RECOMMENDED
Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read — Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.
CASA VALENTINA
by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Michael D. Graham
Cast:
Patrick Byrnes, Nicholia Q. Aguirre, Danne W. Taylor, Michael Hagedorn, Robert Koon, Micah Kronlokken, Josh Marshall, BethAnn Smukowski.
WHEN:
Thru September 29, 2019
WHERE:
Pride Arts Center – the Broadway,
4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
TICKETS:
$25+
Check for Half-Price Deals from Hot Tix:
For full-priced tickets and ticket availability information visit the Pride Films & Plays website
Photos: Cody Jolly Photography
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
Amy hopes the magazine’s click-a-picture-to-read-a-vivid-account format will nourish those ever hunting for under-discovered cultural treasures. She especially loves writing articles about travel finds, showcasing works by cultural warriors of a progressive bent, and shining a light on bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.
