Stage Takes

Falling Up by Aaron Pang at The Broadwater

Possibly one of my personal favorites! Aaron Pang takes the concept of inspiration-porn, as commonly referenced in stories of people with disabilities, and smashes it out the window to create a whole new approach. A truly genuine, authentic experience that had me tearful as I walked out by the way he playfully punches us in the gut. Aaron is such a charismatic storyteller, taking us on the wild ride of his life, and have you thinking about it after for days. This is a “love story” like no other; it is about finding love within, and gives us a new concept of what it means to be a hero. This rewrites the common story of disability, the hero’s journey; instead of coming out of a low point, as most stories of disability are structured, we learn to make life whole at the present moment. Aaron made us laugh, and even better, he would laugh with us. I liked his interactions with the audience, too, and how the play can change with each audience.

The American Dream at Zephyr Theater

I met the writer at Office Hours and was excited to see political theater making a comeback. A series of vignettes to portray the current state of the political times we are in. This has good moments, good acting, and the touching message at the end had me tearing up. Some of the concepts worked very well. I was particularly interested in the sketch of the AI police officer who struggles to connect with his mission, and also the teaching assistant, for the special needs student, who loses his job. I would really like to see these developed and I think the production was a nice experimental piece. Some of these scenes felt like I was watching the Saturday Night Live skits that are exact transcripts of what happened in the news or the latest thing Trump/Musk did. Perhaps it is just a sign of our times that we can no longer tell the difference. I did not like the characterizations that actors ended up chose to do; not that I was offended, it just feels like that has been done before, too often.

Slay Me at The Hobgoblin Playhouse

A show that evolves throughout, shows different sides to anxiety. Tremendous performance by Veronica Rosas, who also writes the production. What appears to be a fun getting ready for date night turns much darker. Great writing, but felt longer than it needed to be.

One Up at The Actor’s Company

An underdog story of a young intern trying to make her creative dreams come true; I’m sure many can relate. Super fun musical with great songs and a strong storyline. This is the second musical I have seen at the space, and I’m not sure if there is an issue with the venue, but the music was too loud. It is campy, if you are into that. Wow, Alanna Hernandez can sing and gave a very solid performance! Great performances all around, with strong and silly characters.