Playwright Alexis Scheer Celebrates the Spanglish Side Of Miami at GableStage

GableStage presents the Florida premiere of “Laughs in Spanish,” a play written by Miami native Alexis Scheer, rescheduled to run from May 25 through June 23.  The cast, from left, are: Magali Trench, Marcela Paguaga, Mariana Mondragon, Gaby Tortoledo, and William Guevara. (Photo courtesy of Magnus Stark)

Much has been said about how the Spanish we speak in Miami has affected the native English, and how this has led to the emergence of a new dialect in the bilingual generations. According to several academic studies, this phenomenon occurs when two languages come into close contact. Not to mention the interpersonal relationships of South Florida Latino families. From gestures to tone, Spanglish is here to stay.

 

Celebrating the nuances of the “Miami language” is what GableStage’s “Laughs In Spanish” —a new comedy written by Miami born and made New World School of the Arts grad Alexis Scheer —is all about. Opening on Saturday, May 25, the playful exploration of identity, family and the local art scene will run at the company’s space in the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, through Sunday, June 23.

“It’s interesting and fun to discover in the play how much can be presented on stage while still being accessible to English-speaking audiences,” says Scheer. “It was equally enjoyable to incorporate Spanish to inform the characters without excluding those who don’t speak Spanish. Regardless of language proficiency, viewers will still grasp the essence of the play. I found it crucial to bring this aspect of Miami’s flavor and texture to the stage, as it authentically reflects the city’s linguistic diversity,” she says. 

 The plot begins on the cusp of Art Basel and Mariana, the director of an upscale modern gallery, has a big problem. Her showroom is the scene of a crime. When Mariana’s mother, a movie star, tries to save the exhibition, everything becomes hilariously “complicado.” Performed in English with a dash of Spanish, the fast-paced comedy about art and success—and mothers and daughters—is a lighthearted snapshot of Cuban and Colombian-American culture set in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood arts district. 

[RELATED: Christine Dolen: Alexis Scheer’s Play ‘Our Dear Drug Lord’ At Zoetic Stage]

 “Laughs in Spanish” had its world premiere in 2022 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Scheer talks about how she came up with the idea of writing the peculiar piece with many of the best tricks of vernacular and traditional theater.

“When I was in graduate school in Boston, my professors encouraged me ‘to go home’ with my writing, to introduce audiences to the people and the culture I grew up with, the world I came from. So, I started writing about Miami and the people who populate the city.” Scheer grew up in Miami in a multicultural household, along with her Colombian mother and a Floridian father of European roots. “I wanted to introduce the audience to the rhythm and language of Miami and also introduce a cast of successful and funny Latinx characters,” she says. 

 The idea of a play with the structure of a comedy of entanglements was deeply rooted in the way Scheer finally conceived the text. “I was pulling from a lot of comedy tropes and stock characters, and the stakes were really high. Also, there was a little bit of ‘telenovela’ influence, so everything was just a little amped up and heightened. It felt like the story was dancing off the page. But mostly, I just wanted to have a good time.” 

 For Cuban-American director Victoria Collado, who directed GableStage’s “Native Gardens” last season, the case is similar. “I read the script and . . . I immediately fell in love with the play because I had never seen Miami people portrayed that way. There are characters that have never been seen on the American stage before. I was super excited, and that’s how I got involved with the Miami production.” 

But when it comes to directing this production, the text has not been the only enjoyable challenge for Collado. The staging will also feature the work of prolific visual artist based in Miami, Diana “Didi” Contreras who has  been asked to collaborate with companies such as Converse, Apple, and Warner Brothers; her paintings and murals commissioned by A-listers like Shakira. 

 “I remember when discussing featuring emerging artists and Diana Contreras  —also known as Didi Rock, a Peruvian-American artist born in 1981 with ties to Miami—was suggested. We decided to incorporate her work into the gallery in the theater and on the stage, viewing it as a special addition that contributes to the uniqueness of the production. This inclusion is akin to presenting a gift to Miami, showcasing our love and appreciation for the city,” says Collado. 

With GableStage Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport, the two brainstormed ideas to include Newport’s desire for the stage to become a welcoming space for those unfamiliar with it.

“Recognizing the importance of community engagement, I immediately reached out to Lucy López, a highly regarded figure in Miami’s radio industry, to collaborate on involving the local community . . . leading to the concept of featuring a Miami influencer as a DJ for each performance,” says Collado.

Gaby Tortoledo says she can’t wait to introduce the character of Estella, the over-the-top movie-star mother, to GableStage audiences.

“Estella is a huge character, and I knew from the moment I was asked to read for her that she was the role of a lifetime. During callbacks and before starting rehearsal I worked with my mentor, Michael Leeds, to find the gravitas of this woman; and I learned to feel free and honest inhabiting the world of a woman 20 years my senior,” says the Venezuelan-born actor.

“I also did some research studying Sofia Vergara, especially her character of Griselda in the namesake Netflix series. And (I also referenced) Kris Jenner, who similarly is a global icon, ‘momager’ extraordinaire, and constantly stealing the spotlight from her family. Once rehearsals began, Vicky was wonderful at allowing me to just play with Estella… working out scenes with the freedom to find every color in her spectrum: from a very real and very flawed human being to larger–than–life movie star galore.” 

Also in the cast are Mariana Mondragon, Marcela Paguaga, William Guevara, Magali Trench, and Ernesto Gonzalez. 

Tortoledo says that her character is the epitome of the Miami dream: an immigrant who escaped a dire situation in her country, then managed to build a new life for herself in Miami doing what she loves, which later propelled her onto the global stage. 

“For many of us who come to the United States from South America, Miami is the gateway we use. It’s a city where, like Estella, we can start in this country without judgment, with opportunities. Even if we have an accent or our English isn’t perfect, we can find a taste of home on almost every corner.”  

WHAT: “Laughs in Spanish” by Alexis Scheer 

WHERE: GableStage in the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables 

WHEN:  Opens 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 25;  2 and 7:30 p.m., Wednesday; 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through June 23. Streaming available at regular performance times beginning May 31 through June 23.

COST:  $45, $50, $60, $65, all with additional $10 service fee (discounts for students, teachers, artists, military and groups). $30 for streaming tickets.

INFORMATION:  305-445-1119 or gablestage.org

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com 

 

Review: Zoetic Stage’s ‘Cuban Chicken Soup’ Is Seasoned and Comically Spellbinding

Local actress-comedian-playwright Elena María García in Zoetic Stage’s one-person original play “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café” through Sunday, May 19  at the Carnival Studio Theater inside the Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami. (Photo by Morgan Sophia)

It was 2017 when local actress-comedian-playwright Elena María García introduced us to the character Elena Flores in “¡FUÁCATA! Or a Latina’s Guide to Surviving the Universe” co-written by García and Zoetic Stage Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer.

Ten years later, García and Meltzer have audiences catching up with Elena, sole owner of the event planning company “Elena Plans Big Things,” again at Zoetic Stage, along with the cast of characters that come in and out of her world in the one-person play “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café.”

Their new work plays at the Carnival Studio Theater inside the Adrienne Arsht Center through Sunday, May 19.

Like “¡FUÁCATA!,” the ingredient for “Cuban Chicken Soup” as a theatrical tour de force is García. After 90 intermissionless minutes, García will have you believing that you’ve just watched a show featuring 14 actors – a flirty valet at a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant in Wynwood (laughs will come from many local references), three ornery octogenarians, a gas-station griddle cook named Pipo whose specialty is python fritter nuggets, a “family first” candidate for Congress who believes, among many things, that there should be a community where only women convene and men aren’t allowed, and the flamboyant and gregarious (this is how he is described in the script) salon owner Fausto whose job it is to make every woman feel like an Audrey. “Audrey Hepburn gave me a passion,” he says.

A few characters from “¡FUÁCATA!” reappear but smartly the co-playwrights give them storylines in the current play that don’t rely on what came before – Elena’s office assistant, Sophie, who was single, is now married to Archie, pregnant with a bad case of acid reflux, and planning her own baby shower; Beatrice Goldberg, who had Elena in charge of her 50th wedding anniversary party is kvetching that her running-for-Congress daughter is planning an 80th birthday party and making guests pay to attend a la a political fundraiser, and Elena’s Mami who is now living with her and has been banned from the kitchen after several fires, some originating from aluminum foil inside a microwave.

Like the character Elena, “¡FUÁCATA!” has matured into “Cuban Chicken Soup.” Its originality remains the astonishment factor of García’s comedic gift and feat of acting precision — her seamless switch from one character to the next to introduce an entirely different persona in mere seconds. The sleight of hand in that exercise rather than the characters’ emotional resonance seemed to be what drove “¡FUÁCATA!.”

While the precision and stamina are still present, what comes across more in the new work is an emotional resonance and characters that feel “lived in.” While the script is full of superbly comic moments, it also finds a way to develop the characters more fully to allow García the chance to dip into her dramatic abilities.

[RELATED: Zoetic Stage Evolves Original”¡FUÁCATA!” With “Cuban Chicken Soup”]

In one of the truly comedic highlights of the show, García can show off her shape-shifting ability to improvise on the spot as she sashays into the audience as hairdresser Fausto, going from seat to seat and row to row. At record speed, she interacts by tossing off an unscripted line or bit that attests to the absolute depth of García’s comedic talent.

There’s a subtle choice that may go unnoticed but shows García and Meltzer’s writing mastery – the only character that Elena doesn’t play and who is only present in voiceover is her husband, Javier. In “Cuban Chicken Soup,” Javier is the catalyst for much of what happens in the play for a wake-up call of sorts for Elena.

Like its predecessor, another strength of “Cuban Chicken Soup” is its sincerity and window into the world of a Latina going through mid-life struggles and its universality.

But perhaps a weakness, like its predecessor, might be if either play could have life outside of Miami and does that need to be a consideration? With Miami’s elevated status of late, it certainly may work in another urban city. And other actresses have stepped into Lily Tomlin’s shoes to take on her unprecedented one-woman show so that wouldn’t be unheard of. But it feels like both of these creations come alive in García’s world and one she may only be able to inhabit.

The scenic design by Natasha Hernandez keeps the stage minimal with a living room chair at stage right and a table that doubles for a restaurant, a hair salon and Elena’s house. At right, there’s a simple chair, which is mostly the setting for Elena’s white Honda Civic (a call back to the previous show where the automatic seat belt still is a source of annoyance). In the back, a set of stairs with a landing offers another playing area. A stuffed chicken is placed on a shelf above the landing and “¡FUÁCATA!” is referenced on a back wall written in black paint next to a painting of a palm tree on the back of stage left.

Meltzer also directed García with staging that has her using almost every inch of the playing space, which helps keep up the show’s energy. Becky Montero’s lighting design uses soft blues and other pastel hues and, even in scenes where there needs to be more expressiveness, it’s never harsh.

Sound design by Matt Corey rounds out the portrait of Elena’s life with door slams, restaurant and salon chatter, Everglades atmosphere, and an opening soundtrack that deserves attention.

While the usual routine is to slide into your seat before the show starts, chat with those around you, look at your program, in this case take a minute to listen to the music.

It sets the stage for what’s to come and songs that set the tone – an offbeat, fun-filled riff on all that we know as normal curated by one woman.

There is The Puppini Sisters’ remix of Abba’s “Dancing Queen,” Dayme Arocena’s “Lo Que Fue” (“What Was”), and Brielle Von Hugel and Virginia Cavaliere’s Andrew Sisters-esque “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” among others. I was so taken by the songs I used the Google feature “Identify song by listening.”

Little did I know at the start, but that’s just what the inventiveness of “Cuban Chicken Soup” makes you want to do, look deeper – how did she do that, I want to be part of it, and can I be an Audrey?

WHAT: “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café,” by Elena Maria García and Stuart Meltzer

WHERE: Zoetic Stage production in the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through Sunday, May 19. Additional performances: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18.

 COST: $55 and $60

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Third Horizon Spotlights Bold Films From The Caribbean

The documentary “Calls from Moscow,” which will be screened at this year’s Third Horizon Film Festival, follows a group of queer Cubans trapped in Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The film shows at 6:45 p.m., Saturday, May 11 at the Koubek Center at Miami Dade College. (Photo courtesy of Third Horizon)

Much has changed in Miami’s cinematic landscape since Third Horizon Film Festival held its last edition two years ago. The festival focusing on experimental and nonfiction cinema from the Caribbean and its diaspora had already weathered the loss of its original venue, O Cinema Wynwood, to the COVID-19 pandemic. After virtual editions and an in-person program at the Little Haiti Cultural Center in 2022, the same year the beloved movie house Tower Theater was closed under controversial circumstances, the organizing collective felt they needed a year off to take stock – not least of all because a few of them had films of their own to work on.

“We had to sort of shift our focus into our personal filmmaking careers,” says Monica Sorelle, managing director of Third Horizon 2024. “But I think we also wanted to take a break, because the Miami film landscape was changing as well, and we really wanted to take a step back and figure out what our next steps should be.”

Sorelle has worked with Third Horizon in various capacities since its inception in 2016. She and her colleague Robert Colón used the extra time to complete her feature “Mountains.”

The film, which addresses gentrification in Little Haiti, earned an Independent Spirit Award and the Miami Film Festival’s Made in MIA Feature Film Award. Festival co-founders Keisha Rae Witherspoon and Jason Fitzroy Jeffers also stepped back to work on filmmaking; the duo was recently selected to work on their film “Arc,” another movie deeply enmeshed in local Miami culture, at the Sundance Institute this year.

When it came time to return to Third Horizon, contributing to Miami’s cinematic and cultural fabric was of chief concern.

“I think this past year was a good time to really look at the organization and think about what we want to do here,” says Sorelle. “Are we committing to Miami or not? What is the value of committing to Miami? And how can we make sure we show up for the film community here?”

That support has come in the form of Third Horizon Forward, a fund supporting Caribbean filmmakers working in Miami. Six local filmmakers were chosen for the program in 2023, and the short films they made with the Forward funds will be screened on the festival’s opening night at the Pérez Art Museum Miami on Thursday, May 9.

From there, the festival moves to the MDC’s Koubek Center, where its main slate of films will play from Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12. The films range widely in style, subject matter, and in their approach to the bridge between fact and fiction. Victoria Linares’ film “Ramona,” for instance, follows an actor in the Dominican Republic who interviews pregnant teenagers as she prepares to play one in a movie. The film’s approach recalls similar documentary-fiction hybrids like Abbas Kiarostami’s classic “Close-Up.”

There are also more traditional documentaries, including “Calls from Moscow,” a film about a group of queer Cubans trapped in Russia on the eve of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Third Horizon’s programming director Jonathan Ali says the film emphasizes the liminal nature of its subjects’ plight, stuck in a queerphobic country that doesn’t want them, yet unwilling to return to a country they find equally unbearable.

“They don’t want to be there, but they can’t be in Cuba anymore,” says Ali. “They have nowhere to go, and the filmmaker brings them together into one apartment over the course of a single day and films them in the safety of this apartment, where they have solidarity with each other as queer Cubans.”

Other films include “barrunto,” a haunting experimental film with a non-traditional narrative that journeys across continents by Puerto Rican artist and director Emilia Beatriz; “Doubles,” a fiction feature about a Trinidadian street vendor who journeys to Toronto to confront his estranged father; and several short film programs focusing on marginalized perspectives. The festival is also hosting parties, workshops, filmmaker question and answer sessions, and a pair of programs designed to uplift Caribbean perspectives in cinema and society. The Caribbean Film Academy (CAFA) is a workshop for Caribbean filmmakers, while the inaugural Third Horizon Caribbean Think Tank aims to address development issues in the region.

It may be based in Miami, but Third Horizon’s ambitions are vast.

WHAT: Third Horizon Film Festival

 WHEN: Thursday, May 9 through Sunday, May 12

 WHERE: Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; Miami Dade College Koubek Center, 2705 SW 3rd St., Miami.

 COST: $15 for individual tickets; $50 for day passes; $225 for all access pass (general); $130 for all access pass (students and seniors); filmmaker and supporter passes also available.

 INFORMATION: Click here for the complete Third Horizon Film Festival Film Guide and tickets and information at thirdhorizonfilmfestival.com

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Zoetic Stage evolves original ‘¡Fuácata!’ with ‘Cuban Chicken Soup’

Elena Maria García transforms into 14 different characters in Zoetic Stage’s original one-woman show “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café,” in previews on Thursday, May 2 with an opening Friday, May 3 at the Carnival Studio Theater in the Arsht Center, through Sunday, May 19. (Photo courtesy of Chris Headshots)

When Elena Maria García and Stuart Meltzer took on the challenge to create an original one-woman play about Latina identity, they had no storyline or plot in mind — only endless possibilities.

“We had no expectations other than to get a one-person play together,” says Meltzer, the artistic director of Zoetic Stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

“And we sort of figured out the story as we went,” recalls Meltzer. “In our process of doing this, it gave us a sense of freedom and discovery with the characters and who will help tell the story.”

Meltzer had seen García in her one-woman show “Do You Speak Mexican?” a humorous take on life as a Cuban-American in Florida. He realized she had a “great knack for being on stage by herself.” Zoetic agreed and commissioned the work.

From that came “¡Fuácata! A Latina’s Guide to Surviving the Universe,” which premiered at the Arsht in February 2017 and returned there in 2018. At the time, it was one of Zoetic’s top-selling shows, according to Meltzer. It also played at Coral Gables’ Actors’ Playhouse in the fall of 2021 as audiences were cautiously venturing back into theaters during COVID restrictions.

García and Meltzer – friends, they say, since their early days in theater — co-authored “¡Fuácata! A Latina’s Guide to Surviving the Universe.” Meltzer directed the production and García, gifted with comic timing and a master at rapid-fire improvisation, took on the starring role, where she transformed into more than 20 characters.

The co-writers now hope to engage audiences with a fresh take on the “¡Fuácata!” experience. Their new work titled “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café” gets its world premiere in previews on Thursday, May 2 then opening Friday, May 3, at the Carnival Studio Theater in the Arsht Center, and running through Sunday, May 19.

If “¡Fuácata!” was Cuban coffee on speed, “Cuban Chicken Soup” serves up generous portions of comfort food.

“I think the universal theme in ¡Fuácata! was about female empowerment, that we always find a way to keep moving forward,” says García in a recent phone interview. “In Chicken Soup (the message is) take the time to stop and observe everything around you and appreciate what you have and do not take things for granted.”

“¡Fuácata!” centered around a day in the life of Latina party planner Elena Flores as she navigates Miami traffic and American assimilation – both with the aid of strong Cuban coffee. The play derives its name from Cuban slang for a backhanded slap or, in this context, a wake-up call.

The new play revisits Elena a decade later. Two more original characters are back: zany assistant Sophie, who comes up with a few surprises, and family matriarch “Mami,” who continues to nurture and impart wisdom but now faces challenges that come with aging.

The creators, however, caution against expecting “¡Fuácata!” Part 2. Their new show is a stand-alone play, they say, that intends to make audiences laugh but also take a deeper dive into human relationships.

“When we approached this new work, we said ‘Well, where is Elena now, and where are some of those same characters and how have they evolved? That was such an exciting component for us to figure out together,” says Meltzer.

As the title suggests, chicken soup is a metaphor for healing and bonding. For both writers, it’s also part of family tradition. Meltzer makes his chicken soup with matzo balls, reflecting his Jewish heritage. Elena’s Cuban version comes with malanga and yuca.

“In my home, if someone is sick, the way to heal is for my mother to go into the kitchen and make chicken soup,” says García.

In the play, the main character goes through a crisis. “And Mami is trying to fix it the way mamis do,” García adds.

“Chicken Soup” is also physically more demanding than its predecessor, even though fewer characters show up, according to the writers. Over 90 minutes, García will morph into 14 characters versus more than 20 in “¡Fuácata!.” Without giving anything away, García will be required to be physically more active on stage.

The actor builds up stamina, she says, by taking three-to-four-mile walks several times a week accompanied by 52 pages of dialogue tucked in her exercise pants waistband.

“I need to have my mind in my bone marrow; my body has to regulate itself so that I don’t blow all my energy in the first 15 minutes, which is so easy to do because this show is so much more physical,” she adds.

The new play also presents an opportunity for García, gifted with comedic timing and skills, to showcase her dramatic side as well, says Meltzer.

“People always say that Elena is the Cuban Carol Burnett and that’s all wonderful… But there’s a deeper tone in ‘Cuban Chicken Soup,’ ” he says. While still being funny, “there’s a lot more gravitas.”

García hopes people will see themselves and their loved ones in her new one-woman show and reflect on what really matters in life.

“That’s what theater was meant to be from the very beginning: To bring the mirror up to you and say ‘Are you this person? How do you change? How do you make the world a better place to be in?” she asks. “So, in certain moments, in certain characters, this play brings up the mirror and says ‘Look at yourself.’”

Perhaps, with a hearty serving of chicken soup.

WHAT: “Cuban Chicken Soup: When There’s No More Café,” by Elena Maria García and Stuart Meltzer

WHERE: Zoetic Stage production in the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

WHEN: Previews 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2, opens 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 3; 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through Sunday, May 19. Additional performances: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4 and May 18.

COST: $55 and $60

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

South Florida Filmmakers Shine at OUTshine Festival

Cesar Pichardo plays a genie in “El Reggaetonero” playing  during the 26th annual OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival as part of its South Florida Shorts program on Monday, April 22. (Photo courtesy of Eddy Moon )

If there’s one kind of music that can shake anyone out of a funk it’s reggaeton.

This Latin-languaged cousin of reggae, with its hard to ignore beats and infectious rhythms, was exactly the kind of pick me up that Eddy Moon needed.

It was during the pandemic, and he, like so many others, was struggling.

“It was a dark time for me as an artist,” said Moon, a director and creative producer.

“Ever since I was like 12 or 13 All I’ve ever wanted to do with my life was to make movies. I’m 35 now so I’ve been pursuing the same goal for 20 something years. And with everything being shut down, I was like, am I ever going to make one again?”

Day after day he pondered this, while he found himself moored to his couch, awash in a sea of emotions.

But ultimately it was music that offered a lyrical life raft that helped him dance his way back to shore.

It was as if each and every one of his favorite Reggaeton artists:

Bad Bunny, Residente, El Alfa, Daddy Yankee and Don Omar reached through his headphones, shook him by the shoulders and pushed him over the hump.

“I found solace in Reggaeton music, just because it was the complete opposite of everything that I was going through. I was feeling depressed and down and anxious. And when I put on music, it was lively, fun and exciting. Everybody was positive and joyful. And it brought me the kind of joy that I needed at the time.”

Eventually, he was able to pull himself together and channel their energy.

And then right there on his couch a new film was formed, a creative child born of the pandemic. And Its name was “El Reggaetonero.”

Produced by Kevin Ondarza, Camila Marcano and Olivia Timmons and made with authentic reggaeton by  DEMBOWYZ and Mago Music, this fun, over the top musical features a genie who offers a barrage of unwanted relationship advice to an anxious Lily who is set to go out on a first date with a recent love interest.

The film will be shown during the 26th annual OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival as part of its South Florida Shorts program.

Attendees will be able to meet Moon and other local filmmakers when they will be given center stage during the Cocktails & Cinema South Florida Filmmakers Showcase on Monday, April 22  at Silverspot Cinema Miami. A question and answer with the movie makers and a reception will immediately follow the screening.

Films in the South Florida Shorts series will also be available for virtual screening through Sunday, May 5.

In addition, the festival includes a variety of activities that will be held at different sites. Attendees will have a choice of more than 50 features and shorts, panel discussions, parties, and a Latin Spotlight highlighting films from Latin America.

For those looking for insight into the local moviemaker scene, a filmmaker panel will be held on Saturday, April 27 at Regal South Beach. The event is part of an effort to encourage local filmmakers to tell their stories.

Joe Bilancio, the festival’s director of programming, said that as a bonus, participants will be offered discounted parking as well as free Uber rides to a select number of films.

“It’s just a way to help people navigate what they perceive to be the difficulties of getting to and from a venue,” says Bilancio.

“What we try and do is think about what are potential difficulties and then cut them out.”

Showcasing a variety of films and offering events with a broad range of topics, is an additional part of their overall strategy in encouraging attendees to come. He hopes that festival goers will consider topics that they have not previously explored.

“I think people do trust that we’re going to have a good quality, well-rounded program, but they don’t necessarily step outside their box,” says Bilancio.

He knows that this year’s lineup is a good way to test the waters.

“Everything’s a good movie, Go see something. Maybe it’s outside of your comfort zone but we have a couple of, what I call out of the box, horror films that are also very good. Take a chance and see something that wouldn’t normally be on your radar. And I think you’ll really be a better person for it.”

“Frag,” also showing on Monday, April 22, by Christopher Frentzel is one such example.

All hell breaks loose in this true crime drama based on a war vet that strolls into a gay bar with a grenade.

Frentzel hopes that “Frag,” and films like it, will help to expand the genre of films that can be viewed by the community.

“Most of my stories that I tend to tell are always about facets within the LGBTQ community that I feel are underrepresented a lot in film,” says Frentzel.

“When I was growing up trying to watch gay media, it was mostly stories about coming out and stories on non-accepting parents or overly accepting parents. That’s all I saw. And I mean, nowadays, you see a much brighter, wider variety and you also see a lot of queer stories in which the characters’ queerness isn’t a center plot point. But regardless, I feel like I tried to present facets of the queer community that aren’t touched upon, such as mental illness, or certain trauma or sexual assault.”

Bilancio says that OUTshine is more than a film festival.

“It’s not like you’re just going to a movie, you’re actually going to an event. It supports the community  . . and it is such a social environment.”

WHAT:  OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival

WHEN:  Thursday, April 18 through Sunday, May 5

 WHERE: Film screenings at Silverspot Cinema Miami, 300 Southeast 3rd St. from Thursday, April 18 to Friday, April 24 and at Regal South Beach,1120 Lincoln Road Mall, Miami Beach from Saturday, April 25 to Tuesday, April 28.  Additional festival activities, including virtual screenings, are available through Sunday, May 5.

 COST: Tickets vary in price. Membership packages available. $15 for tickets to view films online in the Shorts Program. Log on to outshinefilm.com/ticket-information for detailed pricing information. For a full list of virtual screenings, go to  watch.eventive.org/outshinespring2024. Tickets to view movies in the Shorts Program available at outshinespring2024.eventive.org/schedule/65f775ce9ea7cb008134faf0

 INFORMATION:  outshinefilm.com.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Review: Drink In M Ensemble’s Riveting ‘Bourbon at the Border’

Jean Hyppolite, Carey Brianna Hart, Charles Reuben, and Dina Lewis in M Ensemble’s production of Pearl Cleage’s “Bourbon at the Border” at the Sandrell Rivers Theater, Miami, through Sunday, April 28. (Photo courtesy of Chasity Hart)

In “Bourbon at the Border,” Atlanta-based playwright Pearl Cleage, the daughter of civil rights activists, brings a piece of history into her 1997 play now being performed at Miami’s M Ensemble through Sunday, April 28.

Her fictional characters were part of the 1964 Freedom Summer project, launched as a voter registration drive in Mississippi, a place where segregation laws and fear tactics were being used to disenfranchise Black voters.  A week after the first group of volunteers arrived, three civil rights workers, one Black and the other two white, were reported missing.

In Cleage’s play, the two main characters, May Thompson (Carey Brianna Hart) and Charles “Charlie” Thompson (Jean Hyppolite) were there, too. May tells her neighbor Rosa St. John (Dina Lewis) that she met Charlie, now her husband, while she was at Howard University, and he was rallying volunteers to go to Mississippi. “Every day at noon, he’d be standing down there on the steps of Douglas Hall talking about how we’d be the sorriest people on this earth if we let a bunch of white kids go down there to register all those Black folks to vote.”

Now it’s 1995, the couple is living in Detroit and May is plumping pillows and pacing waiting for Charlie to return home after months at a mental rehabilitation hospital. She tells Rosa’s boyfriend Tyrone (Charles Reuben) that Charlie is returning home from the hospital for rehab on his leg that “got hurt in Mississippi a long time ago . . .in Freedom Summer. You ever heard of it?” She doesn’t want Tyrone to think Charlie is crazy. (Charlie tells him that himself.)

The scars from the couple’s Freedom Summer trip run deep. They dream of moving to Canada to get away from America’s past, that summer that has forever changed each of them. Mitchell Ost’s set design beautifully employs a projection at the upper rear of stage that uses the Ambassador Bridge (which connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada) that can be seen from the couple’s apartment window. It shows the passage of time in the course of the play – daylight at the bridge then lit at night – but also represents the couple’s yearning to escape to a place where they can start fresh. They’ll be desperados, says May, drinking bourbon at the border. It also serves as a  metaphor for May – a bridge of hope that Charlie will crossover from insanity to stability.

Artistic Director André L. Gainey brings out the best in his tightly knit, talented ensemble. While there is plenty of comedy in the first act with Lewis having the lion’s share of the fun and grabbing every juicy moment, Cleage’s play is complicated and needs to be paced just right throughout. It’s how May’s emotionally climatic monologue in the second act can be the most effective.

Gainey moves the action along allowing it to unfold just right and Hart’s portrayal of May is so deeply genuine throughout that when it comes time for her to let the emotions pour out from years of keeping them locked up, there’s visceral and gut-wrenching anguish. The actress, who has performed on stage, as a director, and in so many capacities in South Florida theater, shows here how much she’s grown as she gives an incredibly vulnerable and raw performance – it is riveting.

Hyppolite convincingly makes us feel for his physically and mentally disabled Charlie and how he has forever been changed from the horrific casualties of the Freedom Summer trip. (It would be a spoiler to say more about the atrocities the couple faced.)

Charlie tells his wife how “they” tried to separate his head from his heart and soul and says “the only way they win is to make me too crazy to be with you.” Hyppolite makes you, like May, want the freedom fighter to overcome the odds, yet you fear for him that he won’t.

Rueben’s Tyrone, a wounded Vietnam vet, is charming as Rosa’s love interest, but uses depth of character to convey that his Tyrone understands Charlie – the two have much in common although they fought different “wars.” It’s an undercurrent that plays beautifully.

And Lewis as May’s best friend is so rightly cast as the comic relief, especially when she recreates her audition as a sex phone worker. Yet, the actress also knows when she needs to stay in the moment. Watching Lewis during Hart’s monologue, as Rosa, she never takes her eyes off of May for a minute and you feel as if she is hearing the story for the first time. It just adds to the intensity and another fine moment of the investment needed to make these characters so real.

The soundtrack for the show has familiar pop hits from the era and Gainey makes the choice in some scenes to have music play in the background. It helps to break up Cleage’s scenes with so many two-person dialogues and keeps them from seeming repetitive. Whether it was a mistaken sound cue or a purposeful placement, music immediately comes in at the end of the play, which lessens the impact of the final emotional moment.

Given that voters in certain states in the 2024 presidential election will encounter stricter ID requirements when they head to the polls as part of a wave of in-person voter ID laws enacted across the country during the last four years — laws that will probably work to disenfranchise many minority voters  — this play recalling the Freedom Summer struggle for voting rights is, unfortunately in this day and age, timely.

With a powerful script and a director and his actors who show an understanding of the stakes that Cleage wants to get across to her audience, M Ensemble’s “Bourbon at the Border” will give you pause to think about the ills of the past, a divided America in the present, and what’s in store for the future.

WHAT: “Bourbon at the Border” by Pearl Cleage

WHERE: M Ensemble at the Sandrell Rivers Theater, 6103 NW 7^th Ave., Miami.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Through April 28.

COST: $36 plus $4.25 fee. 2 for 1 tickets, $18 plus $3.05 fee each through April 19 (must purchase 2)

INFORMATION: 305-705-3210 or themensemble.com

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com

‘On Your Feet’ Musical Arrives At Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood

With director Luis Salgado’s ’80’s-inspired choreography, there was hit after hit in the show “On Your Feet” that played four performances at The Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. (Photo courtesy of Obislet Cardozo for Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood)

Usually a venue for rock bands like ZZ Top and Def Leppard, country superstars like Kenny Chesney and blasts from the past like Donny Osmond and Diana Ross, The Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood ventured into a Broadway theatrical performance for four shows with opening night of “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan” on Thursday, April 11 and running through Saturday, April 13.

In 2017, the national touring production stopped by Miami, where it ran for an unbelievable 10 days and Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables did their own version with the Estefans showing up on opening night in 2022.

The Estefans didn’t show up at the Hard Rock but, on opening night, the crowd did and there were plenty of fans in the crowd that knew the words to songs and applauded when backdrop projections referenced 1980s Miami including signs projected of clubs the band got their start in: Casanovas in Hialeah and Honey for the Bears in Miami.

Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, as part of a $1.5 billion property wide expansion, redid its former stadium venue, which opened in 2005. Now it’s a plush 7,000-seat theater, more intimate than the previous arena-like setting. The jukebox musical “On Your Feet” fit in just fine.

There’s a South Florida connection to the show. Seth Greenleaf from Boca Raton is the CEO and President of GFOUR Productions, the producers of the show. And another local connection, the non Equity tour with the same cast had its first run Nov. 15, 2022 in West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center. And more local connections. Adela Romero (Consuelo) who steals hearts through the show as Gloria’s biggest fan and abuela is from Miami. Madelin Marchant who is the understudy to Consuelo and who is in the ensemble is also from Miami.

Gaby Albo plays Gloria Estefan and Samuel Garnica is Emilio Estefan, who have been the leads since the national tour opened. Albo and Garnica starred in a Spanish language version of “On Your Feet” at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C., too.

The show starts off with a bang with the opening “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” and then we’re taken back in time as a young Gloria is strumming a guitar while a voice on a tape of her father is cheering her on while fighting in Vietnam.

Quickly the musical gives us the story we’re waiting for – how she met Emilio and her rise with Miami Sound Machine.

Kristen Tarragó, as Gloria Fajardo, the bitter mother who objects to Emilio from the start and show biz, is a showstopper in the flashback to Cuba’s Tropicana where we learn she was a singer and had a career of her own.

There aren’t lavish sets – most of that is done with projections — and the costumes for the concert scenes fail to capture the essence of the era, but this was the right choice for an audience that came to hear Gloria Estefan’s songs, not see fancy sets. With director Luis Salgado’s ’80’s-inspired choreography, there was hit after hit: “Conga,”“Dr. Beat,” “Turn the Beat Around,” “1, 2, 3,” and, of course, “On Your Feet.”

This was mostly a concert crowd. At intermission, some people in the audience were confused asking the ushers if the show was over. Live music shows usually don’t have an intermission. But they came back for the second half.

Who knows, maybe an introduction to a Broadway touring show in a venue like this playing to an audience that isn’t your usual theater crowd will get some of those folks buying tickets to the Arsht or the Broward Center.

Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood is located at 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. For a calendar of upcoming events, click here.

Review: Miami New Drama’s ‘Dangerous Days’ Loses Its Focus

Krystal Millie Valdes, left, as Anna and Caitlin Clouthier as Edna Buchanan in Nicholas Griffin’s “Dangerous Days,” a world premiere play at Miami New Drama in the Colony Theatre, Miami Beach, through Sunday, April 28. (Photo courtesy of Morgan Sophia Photography)

Miami New Drama’s newest world premiere, “Dangerous Days,” is drawn from part of a dense, 33-chapter, almost 250-page book with a title that suggests its scope: “The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees and Cocaine in Miami 1980.”

Author Nicholas Griffin begins his 2020 non-fiction bestseller by stating in the prologue “this is a book based on interviews and public records.” He focused on Miami in 1980 because it was a pivotal year for the young city – as Michel Hausmann, artistic director of Miami New Drama points out in program notes, “Our city is merely 127 years young . . . compared to the centuries-old stories of New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles.”

Griffin’s book dissects a year where a mashup of social change was converging so fast that it was hard to keep up:  More than 100,000 Cubans arrived in the Mariel boatlift;  Colombian drug traffickers were shooting and killing each other in broad daylight; and the death of Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance salesman who police claimed was horrifically injured when his motorcycle crashed at the end of a chase on Dec. 17, 1979, left the city reeling.

What happened in the aftermath of that fateful chase weaves in and out of the book along with stories of Miami Herald crime reporter Edna Buchanan. She was the journalist who doggedly dug into inconsistencies in the cops recounting of what happened to McDuffie. Her reporting and an investigation landed some of the officers on trial. They were acquitted, a final domino that led to three days of rioting in Miami.

[RELATED: See Christine Dolen’s Preview of “Dangerous Days”]

Griffin’s book dives feet-first into how all of these factors led to a tinderbox. But the play culled from the book that Griffin worked on with Miami New Drama has trouble finding its footing – it just never lands on solid ground as a piece of theater.

Developing new plays is courageous and significant. Griffin, a first-time playwright who envisioned his book as a movie has ended up with a somewhat flawed play. The fatal flaw? It suffers from an identity crisis.

“Dangerous Days” contains two character studies jockeying for attention.  There’s the no-holds-barred reporter Buchanan (played by New York-based actress Caitlin Clouthier), whose lively personality has been amped up for theatricality’s sake. Here she comes across like a zany Rosalind Russell in the 1940s newspaper movie gem “His Girl Friday” rather than a future Pulitzer Prize-winning, self-taught journalist who worked the police beat for 18 years and conveyed so much of Miami’s essence in her stories.

The other major character study is of McDuffie (Roderick Randle), who narrates his own death and afterlife in “Dangerous Days.”

Another flaw is the play’s double standard. Granted, in the newsrooms of the early ‘80s, not an eye was batted when an editor referred to a female reporter as “Sweet Cheeks,” exactly the phrase that the play’s fictional editor Larry (Stephen Trovillion) tosses around in reference to Buchanan. But things get cringeworthy at the end of Act II when that same editor tells the audience that he thought of asking Buchanan out on a date when she first arrived in the newsroom, then shares that he was warned by a colleague that “if her pager went off during a hand job, you’d be on your own. . . .”

The comic interludes, meant to add levity, only dilute the seriousness of what’s happening. In a play that deals with racial justice, sexism seems sorely out of place.

Anna the intern (Krystal Mille Valdes) is introduced early on – she’s a plot device for Buchanan to have someone to share dialogue with. But the reveal in Act III adds another layer to the question: Is this Buchanan’s story or McDuffie’s? And how can so much be told in just a little more than 90 minutes?

“Dangerous Days” needs some work; not unusual for a new play. In the places where “Dangerous Days” is at its best is when Griffin’s attention to detail comes through – the knowledge he shows from the research he’s done on the McDuffie incident and the way he has Buchanan describe how she approaches a story.

The captivating actors and director Jen Wineman are topnotch, as is the standard for Miami New Drama.

All of the actors except for Clouthier as Buchanan and Randle as McDuffie play multiple roles.

Scott shows the most range of those playing several roles going from a drunk, fried-chicken demanding bully to police captain to prosecutor. Jovon Jacobs as McDuffie’s friend Bobby wears his heart on his sleeve, while Rene Granado plays Vivic, the first police officer to come forward, as tough as nails. Trovillion as Dr. Ron, the medical examiner who smokes a pipe shaped like a skull, is engaging as well as when he’s the Miami Beach curmudgeon with a Burdine’s bag who gives Buchanan a piece of his mind. Valdes brings to Anna a wide-eyed innocence and wisdom to boot, then in another scene becomes unrecognizable as a bespectacled defense attorney hellbent on getting her way.

The Miami Herald newsroom, which doubles as police headquarters, is wonderfully executed for the time period by set designer Tim Mackabee enhanced by the throwback era prop design by Ana Maria Morales. Kudos to costume designer Celeste Jennings for capturing Buchanan’s love for pantsuits along with wig designer Carol Raskin whose different styles help create individuality for the multiple cast of supporting characters. Lighting designer Marie Yokoyama casts Miami 1980 in a blue haze, then ignites menacing red fire outside the building when the city is under siege. Co-sound design by Bailey Trierweiler, Daniela Hart, and Noel Nichols of Uptown Sound captures the era.

Miami New Drama had much success when it focused on 1980s Miami with 2019’s “Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy,” working then with Billy Corben who created the 2006 documentary “Cocaine Cowboys,” and pairing him with playwright Aurin Squire.

“Cocaine Cowboys” was serious and dangerous. That’s something that the translation of “Dangerous Days” from page to stage lost along the way.

WHAT: “Dangerous Days” by Nicholas Griffin

WHERE: Miami New Drama production at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, through April 28

COST: $46.50, $66.50, $69.50, $76.50, $83.50 

INFORMATION:  305-674-1040 or miaminewdrama.org

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com

Films Shot In Miami Or About Miami Take on Different Subjects at This Year’s Festival

The orca Lolita in the Miami Seaquarium in a still shot from the film “Resident Orca” that will have two screenings at the Miami Film Festival. The festival’s 41st edition begins on Friday, April 5 and will have films screening at various locations throughout Miami. (Photo courtesy of Miami Dade College’s 41st Miami Film Festival)

“Miami has great filmmakers living here,” says James Woolley, Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival’s new executive director who came on board in late 2023. “And the films in our lineup reflect the wider community around us,” says Woolley. 

Of the more than 180 feature films, documentaries, and short films from over 31 countries at this year’s Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival (MFF), the festival’s lineup boasts 10 world premieres of films crafted by local filmmakers with ties to Miami or connections to Miami-Dade College (MDC).

The festival’s 41st edition begins on Friday, April 5 with films screening at various locations throughout Miami’s. The festival closes on Sunday, April 14.

Highlighted among the local films and documentaries this year are “Resident Orca,” “Puffing Iron,” and “Mumble: Fate of a Lost Icon.”

“Resident Orca,” the documentary by Sarah Sharkey Pearce and Simon Schneider, is about a conjugated effort between multiple actors to free the orca Lolita (also known as Tokitae) from more than 50 years of captivity (in Miami’s Seaquarium) and return her to the sea. The film narrative asks questions about where Lolita belongs and to whom and follows an unlikely partnership between indigenous matriarchs, a billionaire philanthropist, and orca experts as they take on the impossible task of freeing the killer whale.

In 2019, Pearce and Schneider decided to make a film about the southern resident killer whales, a distinct group of orca from the Pacific Northwest on the brink of extinction. They discovered that only 75 of these whales are left in the wild.

“During our research,” says Pearce, “we learned that in the 1960s and 70s, nearly 50 of these whales were captured and sold to aquariums for profit and only one was still alive. Her name was Lolita and she had been living in Miami since 1970. We were shocked and she quickly became the focus of our film.”

The process of making this film was very organic and fluid, adds Pearce. The movie co-directors met with all types of people connected to Lolita through their life or work. “It became clear to us that Lolita was at the center of a web of human characters whose lives were profoundly impacted by this one whale. Of all the people we met, (it was) Indigenous Lummi elders Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris and Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley who had a connection to the whale like no others. In their culture, the whales were their direct relatives and bringing her home was a sacred obligation that deeply inspired us to pay attention and amplify their message where we could.”

The endeavor to release the orca into the wild encountered significant obstacles and came to an end when Lolita sadly passed away in 2023 at the Seaquarium.

“Advocates in this story faced the challenge of working with the captive industry but also the challenge of time. Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (Lolita/Tokitae)’s health had declined after poor treatment at Miami Seaquarium under multiple owners, according to findings by the USDA,” says Schneider.

Miami Seaquarium has recently been ordered shut by Miami-Dade County, partly due to Lolita’s passing. But for Lolita, says Pearce, “there is no justice, there is only her legacy.”

“Resident Orca” will be screened at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 6 at Silverspot Cinema and 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 9 at Regal South Beach.

Far from the documentary realm of “Orca” comes “Puffing Iron,” a made-in-Miami film, which will be shown at the Koubek Center at Miami Dade College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10.

Directed by Chris Rodriguez and Grant Rosado, the 98-minute film follows the story of two roommates living in Little Havana who spend their relaxing, smoking pot, and watching movies. However, when they receive an eviction notice, they realize their only chance of overcoming their predicament is by winning a powerlifting competition. The only issue is that they lack the necessary strength to succeed.

The inspiration for this movie, explains Rosado, a filmmaker of Cuban-Bosnian descent, was the “never give up” attitude of classic heroes such as Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” and Arnold Schwarzenegger who was featured in “Pumping Iron,” the 1977 docudrama about the world of professional bodybuilding.

“There’s an interview with Sylvester Stallone . . . that speaks to the power of storytelling and seeing yourself in a character on the movie screen. The idea for our film came from that interview as we wanted to show other people that their struggles don’t have to seem so daunting,” says Rosado.

 “Puffing Iron” explores themes of transformation and change, focusing first on two friends who must undergo a physical transformation. The film then focuses on the evolving landscape of Little Havana, serving as a backdrop for the narrative. For Rodriguez, capturing this neighborhood on film was crucial “before it’s completely unrecognizable.”

“I grew up in Miami and I started to witness how quickly (and drastically) the city was changing after 2020,” says Rodriguez. “I was working in Brickell for a bit and would go right down the street into Little Havana and I saw such a massive divide in economy, in culture, in people, in language . . . These two neighborhoods were so incredibly different and both changing so quickly. One embodies a cultural Miami and the other embodies an Americanized Miami.”

Made-in-Miami film “Mumble: Fate of a Lost Icon” spotlights a fictitious rapper, Young Guttah Nutz, and the people around him as they recount his creation of the mumble rap style and image. 

Directed by Frankie Midnight, this mockumentary combines documentary and narrative while the subjects are completely fictional.

“We are paying homage to the Mumble rap genre by using it as a focus in our film which validates the genre as a pop culture success; there’s no value in a character being omitted from something that made no impact,” says the director.

This film, continues Midnight, could in many ways keep mumble rap relevant as the genre was at its peak six years ago. Mumble rap is a style of hip-hop music where artists mumble or slur their words over hard beats. “We aren’t aiming to disrespect the genre and its stars with the depiction of Young Guttah Nutz as this is only a fake character that found himself in his unfortunate situation, but the humor is showcased primarily through Young Guttah Nutz as he is a parody of himself.”

 “Mumble: Fate of a Lost Icon” has been likened to iconic mockumentaries such as Rob Reiner’s 1984 “This is Spinal Tap” and “CB4,” which Midnight says inspired him 100%. “They were able to accurately depict the essence of the topics they were parodying  . . .  and I thought it would be interesting to do a take of this style with the Mumble rap genre.”

“Mumble: Fate of a Lost Icon” will be screened at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8 at Silverspot Cinema.

Woolley also urges attendees to explore compelling local documentaries such as “Stories From The Lighthouse” (Regal South Beach), “Antihero,” which delves into the life of local theater legend Jose Manuel Dominguez (Koubek Center), and “The Miami Bull Project,” chronicling the creation of the sculpture now gracing MDC’s Wolfson Campus (Silverspot Cinema). 

WHAT: Miami Film Festival 

WHEN: Friday, April 5 to Sunday, April 14. Screening times vary. See full schedule.

WHERE: The Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami; Silverspot Cinema, 300 SE 3rd St #100, Miami; Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; Koubek Center at Miami Dade College, 2705 SW 3rd St., Miami; Regal South Beach, 1120 Lincoln Road Mall, Miami Beach; O Cinema South Beach, 1130 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.

COST: Most films are $15.50, general admission; $14.50, students, military, seniors (62 and older) 

INFORMATION: miamifilmfestival.com

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com

Miami New Drama explores the ‘Dangerous Days’ and aftermath of Arthur McDuffie’s death

Reporters and editors watch as television coverage of the Miami riots begins in the Miami New Drama world premiere of “Dangerous Days” at the Colony Theatre, Miami Beach, which begins in previews on Thursday, April 8. (Photo courtesy of FURIOSA Productions)

Do you remember the name Arthur McDuffie?

Maybe you recall Edna Buchanan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald newspaper’s crime reporter.

Her tenacious journalism helped lead to the revelation of a horrifying truth:  More than 44 years ago, the Black insurance salesman and ex-Marine did not, as Miami and Dade County police claimed, become gravely injured when his motorcycle wiped out at the end of a high-speed chase through city streets near 2 a.m. on Dec. 17, 1979.  In fact, McDuffie was surrounded by officers who beat him within an inch of his life, fracturing his skull in multiple places, leading to his death on Dec. 21.

The worst of those fractures, assistant Dade County Medical Examiner Ronald Wright would later testify, cracked McDuffie’s skull almost in half vertically and was the equivalent of what would have happened if the victim had fallen from a four-story building and landed between his eyes – on concrete.

The story of McDuffie, the acquittal of four officers by an all-white male jury after their trial was moved to Tampa, and riots in Miami that lasted for three days after the verdict was announced the morning of May 17, 1980, are a key component of Nicholas Griffin’s book “The Year of Dangerous Days.”

The 2020 nonfiction bestseller and National Book Award finalist paints an intricately detailed portrait of a chaotically violent year, with intertwined threads about the Mariel boatlift, the sharp rise in murders related to Colombian drug trafficking and the attempts of the city’s first Hispanic mayor Maurice Ferré to establish Miami as a banking gateway to Central and South America.

Now, the McDuffie-Buchanan story is resurfacing in a completely different way.

After previews at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 4, and Friday, April 5, the Miami New Drama world premiere of “Dangerous Days” will open at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 6, in the company’s home at the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach, where it will run through Sunday, April 28.

The London-born Griffin, his Venezuelan-born wife Adriana and their two children moved to Miami 11 years ago so that he could research and then write “The Year of Dangerous Days,” which was published by Simon and Schuster.  The journalist, novelist, screenwriter and nonfiction author had sold the television and screen rights to his book, so when Miami New Drama’s co-founder and artistic director Michel Hausmann approached Griffin about writing a play based on it, the author said no.

“Then I found out my agent had carved out the stage rights, so the first thing I did then was say yes,” remembers Griffin. “I didn’t know how to get into it. If you follow one story, you have to go to Bogota, Cali and Miami. Or you have to go to Havana, Washington and Mariel.  But if you follow the Edna story, you can stay in the newsroom and riff against those other things.”

Griffin turned to “Elián” playwright and play-writing teacher Rogelio Martinez, whose 2022 play about the protracted battle over returning Elián González to Cuba was another Miami New Drama world premiere drawn from history, for advice on writing his first-ever play.

But when he turned in his first draft to Hausmann, Griffin says, “he said, ‘Thank you so much. You’ve given me a screenplay.  You are thinking of theater in terms of its limitations. Think of it as emotional truth, release, imagination.  Whose story is this? Edna always wanted to try to give the victim a voice – he has that now.’”

“He” being Arthur McDuffie.

“Dangerous Days” is likely not the play people with first-hand memories of McDuffie’s murder, the riots that claimed an additional 18 lives (and caused hundreds of injuries as well as $100 million in property damage) or Buchanan’s stream of vital stories written in the Herald’s now-demolished landmark building on Biscayne Bay might be expecting.

Though the play is grounded in events that happened long ago, the script has become more imaginatively and audaciously theatrical.

In collaborating with New York-based director-choreographer Jen Wineman, the cast (all South Florida actors except for Caitlin Clouthier, who plays Buchanan), designers and Hausmann, Griffin creatively speculates on everything from the cost to Buchanan of her nonstop coverage of gruesome crimes to what the 5’10”, 147-pound McDuffie might have said about his fate and the officers’ acquittal.

Centered in the Herald newsroom, “Dangerous Days” travels to multiple locations through the magic of theater.  It contains humor – often in the exchanges between Buchanan (who famously turned in stories at the last minute so that editors didn’t have time to “improve” her copy) and her beleaguered editor “Larry” (played by Stephen Trovillion and based on several editors) – but Hausmann says those moments don’t take away from the “gravity and importance” of the story.

“Arthur McDuffie became a symbol. It’s powerful to see him as a human being,” says Hausmann. “If we are going to unearth the story of Edna and McDuffie, they both need to have a powerful presence and point of view – ultimately, you have to get into the minds of the characters. Edna was professional, cutthroat, precise, meticulous, nonstop. A dog with a bone who wouldn’t let go…there’s something profoundly heroic about her.”

Director-choreographer Wineman, who staged Kristoffer Diaz’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” for Miami New Drama in 2018 and now has “Five: A Parody Musical” (a show about Donald Trump and the women in his life) running Off-Broadway, focuses on new work.  What interests her are plays involving comedy, magic and politics – all of which are components of “Dangerous Days.”

“The way Nick has written this is very magical in its form…When I first read the play in June, I found it very compelling,” says Wineman. “But we needed to keep it moving, make it more theatrical. It needed to be about the characters and the human connections, how the characters evolve or don’t. We’ve been playing with rhythm and pacing, thinking about what information we get and when.”

Wineman and Clouthier both earned master’s degrees at the Yale School of Drama and have worked together multiple times.  The director calls the actor “a comedic genius” and hopes that people who know Buchanan won’t watch Clouthier’s performance and say, “That’s a good impersonation.”

“Edna is a dynamic, incredible, flawed person in the play,” says Wineman.

Clouthier, who describes herself as “a closet introvert,” hadn’t heard of Buchanan before she auditioned – nor did she know the name and story of Arthur McDuffie. In that, she wasn’t alone: Made up of people who were very young or not yet born in 1979-80, most of the locally based cast didn’t know about McDuffie’s case either.

To take on the role of Buchanan, the actor read the reporter’s 1987 memoir “The Corpse Had a Familiar Face.”  Though she has never been a journalist nor covered thousands of murders as Buchanan did on the crime beat, Clouthier says the book provided a window into the Pulitzer winner’s thought process.

“I resonated with her drive and her joyful disregard for what other people thought she ought to be doing,” says Clouthier, who will conceal her long, curly red hair beneath a blonde wig to play Buchanan.

“Generally, I’m a character actress who doesn’t play a lot of real people. This is a woman who is very well-known and still alive…Any woman who has ever had a dream can relate. She lives her dream loudly and a bit recklessly for her emotional well-being.”

Clouthier and Roderick Randle, who portrays McDuffie, are the only two actors who play a single role in “Dangerous Days.”  Jovon Jacobs, Caleb Scott, Krystal Millie Valdes, Rene Granado and Trovillion play multiple roles, allowing for a more sweeping telling of the story. Except for Scott’s role as Marshall Frank, the detective who was captain of Dade County’s homicide division, the names of characters have been changed, though most are modeled on people who lived the story.

Randle, praised by director Wineman as bringing “so much warmth to the character of Arthur – you fall in love with him the first time you see him,” didn’t know of McDuffie, Buchanan or the riots when he was cast but has found multiple points of connection in the role.

“We’re giving him the voice he never had, telling the story from his perspective. It’s cathartic to have the victim express his feelings,” Randle says.  “It’s important to keep the awareness of this happening. To feel and see it happen in a different way.  It’s heartbreaking . . . The more we go through the text and the show, I realize he’s not too far off from who I am, in the way he loved his family, in the music he listened to.”

Jacobs, who appeared with Randle in Miami New Drama’s 2018 production of “One Night in Miami,” plays Bobby, an officer inspired by a cop who was a high school classmate and longtime friend of McDuffie. It is Jacobs who makes the audience “see” and feel the fires burning through Black neighborhoods during the riots.  And he’s also a conduit for McDuffie to have his say.

“I absolutely think Bobby is summoning Arthur’s spirit; that’s exactly the angle we’ve taken with this piece,” says Jacobs.  “Whenever he shows up, it’s because Bobby is thinking about something in reference to him, whether he’s questioning something about the case or doubting decisions he made. Arthur pretty much acts as his inner voice, which gets spoken through Bobby, his very close friend.”

Krystal Millie Valdes, who was just highlighted in American Theatre Magazine as one of six Miami theater workers to watch, plays the mysterious Anna and other roles in “Dangerous Days.”  No spoilers, but we can say that the younger Anna is an aspiring journalist who attaches herself to Buchanan in the newsroom and on assignment.

“I play music for kids at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, and I have to pass by the place where this happened.  Every time I go, I cry,” says Valdes, who was born in Miami, grew up in a Cuban American family and made a decision to remain in her hometown to build her career.

She praises Griffin’s willingness to rewrite and revise, and the window he provides into other characters: “Before, the script was full of monologues. Now, the characters work through trauma with people they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.”

Born in Spain, Rene Granado also grew up in a Cuban American family in Miami.  In “Dangerous Days,” he plays a racist cop called Vivec, one of the officers who beat McDuffie; the operator of the tow yard where McDuffie’s motorcycle – mangled by the police to try to make their claim of an accident credible – was taken, and others.

“This play is about giving a version of Arthur McDuffie a voice,” says Granado. “This is still happening today in Miami and throughout the United States, even though a lot has changed.  This did happen. Life moves forward, and we tend to forget….You have to stay vigilant and hold people accountable.”

Trovillion notes that Wineman is giving the play “a ‘Front Page’ type of energy – fast and furious” (he references a play and several movies that are among the all-time great examples of comedies about newspapers) and that the humor in it is necessary “in a story as dark as this.”

Scott, a playwright as well as an actor, emphasizes that “Dangerous Days” is more than a “retelling of horrors of the moment.”  Secrets revealed, the psychological toll on Buchanan, McDuffie’s friend trying to find his way back to humanity – many threads converge in the play.

“There’s a lot of today in this moment.  A lot of wounds that haven’t healed. And a lot of truths that persist,” says Scott.

Hausmann notes that, among its many themes, “Dangerous Days” is about the power of local journalism and calls journalists “the last line of defense of our civilization.”

As writers in a vastly altered 21st-century media landscape fight to keep readers informed, Hausmann believes it’s also critical to remind Miamians of their history.

He adds: “People don’t remember Elián, and that was 24 years ago.  They don’t remember Arthur McDuffie, and that was 44 years ago.  They don’t remember that the Colony Theatre was segregated until 1964.  A lot of Miami history is hidden. It feels like it’s our responsibility to change that.”

A final note about Arthur McDuffie and memory.

A historical marker stands at 3800 N. Miami Ave., near the spot where McDuffie was savagely beaten on Dec.17, 1979.

With two of his adult children present, the marker was unveiled on Feb. 24, 2024.

WHAT: World premiere of “Dangerous Days” by Nicholas Griffin

WHERE: Miami New Drama production at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach

WHEN: Previews 8 p.m. Thursday, April 4, and Friday, April 5; opens at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 6, with limited tickets remaining; regular performances 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, through April 28

COST: $46.50, $66.50, $69.50, $76.50, $83.50 ($101.50,  $141.50, $181.50 for some opening night tickets)

INFORMATION:  305-674-1040 or miaminewdrama.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com. 

Review: ‘Caroline, or Change’ At Actors’ Playhouse Is Glorious, Challenging

Toddra Brunson as Washing Machine, Kareema Khouri as Caroline and Asher Makeba, Gabrielle Graham and Whitney Renee as Radio in Actors’ Playhouse’s “Caroline, or Change” through Sunday, April 14 at the Miracle Theater, Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. (Photo courtesy of Alberto Romeu)

Change takes on many meanings in “Caroline, or Change,” now playing on the mainstage of Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables. There’s pocket change. Political change. A desire to change circumstances into a better present, and the present into a better future.

What “Caroline, or Change” asks of its audience, too, is to change its expectations surrounding the typical Broadway musical. Typical “Caroline, or Change” is not.

The story is partially based on playwright Tony Kushner’s childhood, growing up Jewish in small-town Louisiana in the 1960s.

It’s important to note the gestation of Kusher’s semi-autobiographical musical, which made its Broadway debut in 2004. First asked by San Francisco Opera to produce a libretto (the text or book, with a composer writing the music), his idea for “Caroline” came to mind. The roots of what might have become that opera remain part of the musical’s foundation, but don’t turn away. The musical is not an opera, although it’s a story told through music. There isn’t a bit of traditional dialogue — every word is sung, which makes it a sung-through musical (“Hamilton” is one, “Next to Normal” another, for instance).

What director David Arisco has adeptly done, utilizing his ability to bring out the best in actors, is fill his “Caroline” cast with performers who are up to the task of building this multi-layered, must-see work to its intricate glory.

A seven-piece orchestra helmed by conductor Antoine Khouri lusciously dives into Jeanine Tesori’s score, which borrows from Motown and doo-wop, samples the blues and jazz, revels in the roots of gospel, spirituals and even klezmer.

The year is 1963. The location is Lake Charles, Louisiana, where playwright Kushner grew up.  It’s the unhappy home of the Gellmans: eight-year-old Noah (Franco Kiglies); his recently widowed father, Stuart (Brian Golub), who is more in tune with his clarinet than with his son or new wife; and Rose Stopnick Gellman (Jeni Hacker), who calls her father in New York to proclaim herself “your brand-new Southern daughter,” only to ask, “How’s the Hudson River?”

[RELATED: See Christine Dolen’s Preview Story About The Production]

Brandon M. Newton’s set design captures the characters’ different worlds: at the very top of a revolving stage is Noah’s bedroom, while at the bottom is the basement laundry room where Caroline Thibodeaux (the astounding Kareema Khouri), the family’s 39-year-old Black maid, toils daily.

“Sixteen feet below sea level!/Torn tween the Devil and the muddy brown sea,” sings Caroline. Her conversations are shared with a heaven and hell she’s created – the divine Island-esque inspired Washing Machine (Toddra Brunson) and the devilishly sinister Dryer (Don Seward, who digs deep into his richly resonant bass-baritone, and has another role as Bus).

A Supremes-inspired Greek chorus serves as Radio (Asher Makeba, Whitney Renee and Gabrielle Graham), which pops in and out of various locations in the basement and also makes it to the front porch of the Thibodeaux home.

The Josephine Baker-esque Moon (Tyler Symone) appears in certain moments to calm things and provide assurance that change may come, as she floats in like Glinda the Good Witch.

The loose change that Noah leaves in his pants pockets ultimately becomes a sad commentary on the haves and the have-nots.

Stepmother Rose, who wants to teach him a lesson about taking better care of his money, tells Caroline that whatever change she finds she can keep. What’s meant to be a generous offer comes off as pandering and eventually leads to a racist war of words between Noah and Caroline and one of the most painful exchanges in the musical  – Kushner’s text doesn’t sugarcoat. The same goes for the Chanukah celebration as Mr. Stopnick (Howard Elson), a 1930s radical activist from New York, and Caroline’s teen daughter, Emmie (Cassidy Joseph), interrupt the festivities with their culture clash.

Others in the Gellman and Thibodeaux families are Stuart’s parents, Grandma and Grandpa Gellman (Patti Gardner and Peter Tedeschi), and Caroline’s other two children, Jackie (Liam X. Williams) and Joe (London Khouri, the adorably charming son of Kareema and Antoine). Caroline’s best friend, Dotty Moffett (Annaya Charlicia), is trying to make something of herself and shed her maid’s uniform for good by going to night school, but her push to get Caroline to do the same ends up splintering their friendship.

What is consistent throughout the show is the actors’ command of the characters.

Khouri as Caroline is angry, feeling like she can’t provide for her family, and has been the victim of domestic abuse. But in Khouri’s achingly human take and soaring vocals, she avoids all cliches — there’s no room in her portrayal for the stereotypical Black maid. Her power ballad performance in the 11 o’clock number “Lots’ Wife” is more than enough reason to see “Caroline, or Change” as she sings, “Murder me, God, down in that basement, Murder my dreams, so I stop wantin.’ ”

The ensemble cast is a tightly knit group, exactly what is needed to bring together this complicated story.

Brunson has a ball with the cheery and effervescent Washing Machine, as does Seward with his slithering Dryer. Hacker brings Rose, who feigns goodwill, to vivid life, especially in the number “Long Distance” (the comic timing in her asides is impeccable).

Joseph is vibrant as the rabble-rousing Emmie (standing out with Williams and London Khouri in the story song about a character named Roosevelt Petrucius Coleslaw “the ugliest child you ever saw”); Joseph imbues her character with the moxie necessary to be the representation of a generation willing to fight for a better future.

Charlicia brings to Dotty hope and courage, too. Makeba, Graham and Renee are a Marvelette dream team while Symone’s soprano brings a lovely looming presence to the moon. At 11 years old, Kiglies’ Noah is wise beyond his years, and the young actor is consistently on point.

One criticism: Somehow the gravity of what’s happening on a larger scale, outside of Lake Charles, doesn’t seem to penetrate the trials and tribulations within the families. Yet, there are messages throughout that the strife within these relationships is part and parcel of the larger picture – we’re in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, President John F. Kennedy has been shot, and it’s a difficult time to be Jewish in the South.

Almost a foreshadowing of sorts, the subplot of a Confederate statute being dismantled by “hooligans” seems plucked from recent news, yet the show made its premiere two decades ago. Many times mentioned and given such a vivid description, it’s a bit of a miss that there wasn’t a glimpse of the statue built within the stage design.

Ellis Tillman’s costumes reflect the class structures of the characters and capture the era, lighting designer Eric Nelson puts the singers in the spotlight, literally, for some of their most dramatically revealing songs, and Reidar Sorensen’s sound design couldn’t be crisper. Jodi Dellaventura’s knack for the perfect prop design — don’t miss the vintage Pyrex blue cornflower baking dish — adds much to ensuring the era.

This is an ambitious production, one that will change the way you look at theater, at history, and if the message of the play has its way, the view of the world around you.

WHAT: “Caroline, or Change” by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori

WHERE: Actors Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday (additional matinee at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 3), through Sunday, April 14

COST: $55, $65, $75, $80, $85, $100. Seniors 65 and over get 10 percent off weekdays only, students with valid student ID pay $15 for a rush ticket available 15 minutes before a weekday performance.

INFORMATION: 305-444-9293 or actorsplayhouse.org

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.