Chicago Theatre Review
Más Dramáticas debuts as part of Destinos 2024 – The 7th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA)
Más Dramáticas, is many things. It’s a Drag cabaret, a love letter, a joyful celebration of camp and telenovelas of the 80s and 90s, and it’s a peek into a culture that loves a good story, with plenty of dramatics. Written and directed by Esteban Pantoja, it is presented by Cabaret Parodia – the only Latine, LGBTQIA+ theater company on Chicago’s south side.
Más Dramáticas is presented as the story of an acting school. The director of the school shares the history of her academy and unveils the talents of five of her most talented students. Each student has an opportunity to present a number, and a scene from a classic telenovela. Each student is chasing her dreams to become a telenovela star, and the most fabulous, most dramatic, actress. What this means practically is that the show is a cabaret of beloved telenovelas from the 80s and 90s, and the cast takes turns acting out their over-the-top theme songs and a few choice, dramatic scenes.
Esteban Pantoja stars as the Director, and acts as the Emcee. The cast is rounded out by three lovely ladies and one dashing man. I’m sorry to say, a cast list was not provided, but happy to report they were all a delight to see onstage. The show is a review of classic novelas, which themselves are a wonderful, campy window into Latin American Culture. Novelas are all larger than life, filled with scandal, love, loss and betrayal. The players of Cabaret Parodia took that tradition and added even more, hence the title: MAS Dramáticas.
The cast embraced their opportunity to emote with extra sequins, enthusiasm and passion. Each theme song and acted out sequence was meticulously, and hilariously recreated, but with a little extra – everything that can be bedazzled, is bedazzled, staring into the middle distance with a woe-is-me posture is required every ten minutes, a make out scene is an over the top tongue-fest and it’s not a real fight till someone’s wig is ripped off. Pantoja is an expert at working a crowd, and the audience ate up every minute, occasionally even participating, or singing along. For the uninitiated, the shows featured are easily found on YouTube:
Rosa Salvaje (Wild Rose)
Dos Mujeres un Camino (Two Women, One Road)
Teresa
María la del Barrio (Maria from the Neighborhood)
Maria Mercedes
La Ursurpafora (The Usurper)
Musical Mentiras (Musical of Lies)
El Extraño Retorno de Adriana Salazar (The Strange Return of Adriana Salazar)
Even if you weren’t lucky enough to catch the show, these campy, hilarious blasts from the past are worth looking up. It’s a testament both to telenovelas and to the cast that the fact that the show was in Spanish wouldn’t stop me from recommending it to an English speaker. The actors all used their bodies, their faces and the music to tell captivating stories, and the physical humor was constant. Drama is a universal language. The only thing this show was missing was a traveling spotlight, so that when the characters entered the audience, they never lost their light for a moment. I’m looking forward to seeing what Cabaret Parodia has to present next.
CLATA produces a citywide, annual festival showcasing local Latine theater artists and companies alongside top artists from the U.S. and Latin America. This year’s festival runs from September 30 through November 17. It features a diverse array of bilingual, Spanish and Latine-themed shows, panels and student performances at marquee venues downtown, at local storefront theaters, and cultural institutions in predominantly Latine neighborhoods throughout Chicago. Be sure to check out what is coming up next at https://clata.org/en/
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia
Presented at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W.19th St. in Pilsen. Two shows only: October 23 and 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets were $35
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
Baby, Let’s Get Good!
Some Like It Hot
After innocently witnessing a Mafia murder, Joe, a saxophone player and his partner, Jerry, a bass player, come up with a risky plan to escape Chicago before they’re rubbed out. The musicians are broke so they need to earn some fast cash to survive. But it’s 1933 and the Depression is on. There are no jobs for instrumentalists— except, perhaps, in an all-girl jazz band that’s about to tour the country, eventually ending up in sunny California. Does this plot sound familiar? Well, as the song says, “Baby, Let’s Get Good!”
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Dear Elizabeth
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Read MoreA Near Miss
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Prolific playwright Lynn Nottage is known for her challenging and often forgotten stories, focusing her works on members of the African-American working class community. She’s also known as the first and only woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. RUINED and SWEAT have earned her that illustrious accolade, followed by such other excellent dramas as INTIMATE APPAREL, MLIMA’S TALE, CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY and the book for MJ THE MUSICAL. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, one of Lynn Nottage’s lesser known plays, is now in an interesting new production by Artistic Home. The production is a rare near miss. And the play itself just doesn’t seem to be in the same league as Ms. Nottage’s other plays.
Read MoreJust in Time for Halloween
Bram Stokers’ Dracula
Bela Lugosi’s name is synonymous with the character of the aristocratic vampire king, Dracula. The actor rose to fame, both on stage and in film, playing this iconic role. The popularity of Dracula and vampires in general is still going strong, even to this day. There are, to date, well over 200 films that feature the Transylvanian Count, as well as many plays, musicals and even operas. Prolific American playwright Steven Dietz’s faithful adaptation of the novel kicks off BrightSide Theatre’s lucky 13th Season, just in time for Halloween.
Read MoreFood, Wine and Relationships
Dinner With Friends
Writer Donald Margulies, a Yale Professor of English and Theatre Performance, has a great many plays to his credit. They include such dramas as THE LOMAN FAMILY PICNIC, SIGHT UNSEEN, COLLECTED STORIES and BROOKLYN BOY. Several of these plays have garnered a variety of accolades and awards, such as Margulies’ 1998 DINNER WITH FRIENDS, the current production by Bluebird Arts. This Pulitzer Prize-winner for Drama in 2000 opens the company’s sixth season of presenting intimate stories about real people and their relationships. In this production, the talented Chicago-based theatre company truly lives up to their artistic goal.
Read MoreOverstuffed and Overwhelming
Becky Nurse of Salem
Distinguished writer, poet, professor and essayist Sarah Ruhl is one of America’s most highly-respected and often-produced playwrights. She’s created some of theatre’s finest plays, such as IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY), THE CLEAN HOUSE, EURYDICE and the soon to open in Chicago, DEAR ELIZABETH. Ms. Ruhl is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, a Tony nomination for Best Play and a two-time nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. In other words, Sarah Ruhl is undeniably a recognized and talented writer. But in her 2019 play, currently having its Midwest Premiere by Shattered Globe Theatre, the gifted playwright overwhelms her audience with far too many ideas.
Read MoreA True Winner
Primary Trust
Have you heard of Eboni Booth? She belongs to an elite group of distinguished playwrights that include Edward Albee, Thornton Wilder and Tennessee Williams, and more recently Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lynn Nottage and August Wilson. Ms. Booth is the greatly deserving recipient of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her glorious one-act, PRIMARY TRUST. And, if that accolade wasn’t enough, consider that this deeply moving 80-minute play, which premiered in New York at the Laura Pels Theatre just last year, also won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. And now the Goodman Theatre is presenting this sparkling theatrical gem in its Chicago Regional Premiere. And this play, particularly this production, is indeed a true winner!
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The Golden Girls Meet the Skooby Gang
They say that timing is everything. Well, just in time for Halloween, Hell in a Handbag is presenting another hilarious original episode of their Golden Girls series. These beloved parodies have always delighted audiences, particularly the LGBTQ+ community, as well as all those Liberal-minded theatergoers who have good taste. So don your masks and head on over to the Chopin Theatre where the fun and frolicking is just beginning.
Read Morethe love object
by Emerging Playwright-in-Residence Justine Gelfman, directed by Northwestern MFA Directing alum Jasmine B. Gunter.
This play explores defamation, also the title given to Ramona’s Roger’s new sold-out stadium tour. Ramona is an oppressive, self-centered bubblegum celebrity in the early 2000s pop music culture. The show depicts all the ridiculousness of scandal, whether that scandal is fabricated or real, in the behind-the-scenes antics of the performers and Ramona’s assistant Paula.
The play explores betrayal and power and runs October 10 – November 3, 2024 on Raven Theatre’s Schwartz Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago.
In the crunch before the performance, Ramona’s supposed best friend and trusted assistant Paula announces she is leaving to pursue her own artistry. Ramona freaks out, fearing the loss of her closest confidante, and reveals that a sex tape she made is about to be released which will taint her image and possibly destroy her reputation and ticket sales. How Paula reacts reveals whether she can escape her oppressive boss Ramona and put herself first. Ultimately this shows questions what it takes to climb the ladder and if there are any regrets from actions taken to get ahead. Although these dilemmas are captured within the music industry, they evoke the distasteful antics in corporate life, politics, etc. What is a lie? What will someone do to get ahead? To win?
The love object also examines the hyper-sexualization of women celebrities, the power struggles of interracial friendship and the tragedies of late-stage capitalism.
Damaging the good reputation of someone, whether through slander or libel, is an everyday occurrence in our society. Our society is obsessed with getting ahead, distractions, and attention.
The story develops a bit slowly, then picks up, with some nice technical effects and dance moves. The Raven Theatre is a real treat for an intimate performance experience.
Recommended
Judy Nathan – Chicago Theatre Review
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