“Las Quiero a las Dos”

Spanish Repertory Theater

New York City

By Ricardo Talesnik

Directed by René Buch

Starring Francisco Gattorno, Mimí Lazo, & Jenniffer Díaz

“Las quiero a las dos” (I Love Them Both) by Ricardo Talesnik and directed by Rene Buch is a classic love triangle.  The play centers around a married couple played by Francisco Gattorno and Mimi Lazo, and a mistress played by Jenniffer Diaz. It presents the couple’s struggle and their expectations from the relationship. As the play begins, the husband is packing his bags to leave on a business trip, but in reality it’s to go on a trip with his lover. Unbeknownst to him, the wife knows the truth, and locks them in the apartment. When the mistress arrives looking for her lover, the women fight for the husband.  The wife and mistress end up role-playing as each other leading the husband to lunacy. 

This is a funny, energy-filled farce beautifully directed by Rene Buch.  Mr. Buch knows how to guide his actors into finding those truly special moments.  Francisco Gattorno was charming as the husband; Mimi Lazo was equally engaging as the wife, although she showed some discomfort when playing the sex-kitten; Jenniffer Diaz as the mistress was the weaker of the three actors, but she too was fine. The set, costume and light design was beautifully realized by Robert Weber Federico.

“Las Quiero a las Dos” is a classy, well crafted comedy with good acting, wonderful direction, and first-class production values as one has come to expect from Spanish Repertory Theater.

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"Celia"

presented at New World Stages

New York City

Where to start writing about this show?  One word… catastrophic!  Celia presented at New World Stages and starring Cuban singer Xiomara Laugart Sanchez as Celia was a complete disaster from beginning to end....from Jaime Azpilicueta's disastrous direction to Rafi Maldonado-Lopez's amateur choreography.  The script by Carmen Rivera and Candido Tirado was so terribly conceived that I wanted to scream.  This was not a musical by any stretch of the imagination.  It was more a narration with music badly performed. 

To begin with, the casting department completely failed in their task.  Out of all the talented Latinos in New York City, it is hard to imagine them not being able to cast professionals for this production. Two performers played Celia, one when the character sang and the other actress when the character needed to act.  That in of itself can only lead to disaster, but the problems were more severe.  Ms. Laugart Sanchez has an ok singing voice, but has no acting chops.  She barely knew how to carry herself on stage.  She is better suited to sing in a bar than on a professional stage.  Her entrances were unsure and sloppy, apparently she has never before been on a professional stage, and the lack of direction did not help. The sad thing is that as bad as she was, she was better than Joselin Reyes who played Celia in the acting sequences.  The costumes were fine as far as the original Celia goes, but fit both performers badly. The costume designer Haydee Morales must have only received a stipend, for her work here was half fast.

Modesto Lacen who played Pedro Knight was fine in his performance, although stiff at times.   He also had the tendency of sometimes becoming a caricature.  The biggest problem with his performance was that since he was essentially the narrator, he did not transition well from the narration to the scenes between he and the actresses.

Pedro Capo who played the nurse was so over the top that he became a nuisance.  Apparently, someone in the production thought this show was a good showcase for Mr. Capo, for at the end of the evening when we thought the show had come to its much awaited end, Mr. Capo came out of left field with guitar in hand to sing a song which had no connection whatsoever to what we had painfully experienced throughout the evening.  He made the ending even more dreadful, if that could be possible.

The ensemble entered and exited the stage from only stage right. They walked out of character and devoid of poise.  When dancing, even though all of downstage was empty, they hugged the upstage platforms as though clinging for dear life; they had to, for they were at times so badly off the beat it was terrible to look at. When singing, the harmonies were so out of tune it was excruciating.

The band was under the direction of Isidro Infante. What to say?  Find the clave boys!  Scenic designer Narelle Sissons was on vacation and having many rum and Cokes when she conceived the set.  Greek columns in Cuba?  Orchestra split in half and on opposite sides of the stage?  Enough said!

It is sad to have seen this production.  It is clearly exploitation of the Hispanic community.  It is an insult in fact.  With all the wonderfully talented people in New York and with all the resources available, for David Maldonado to put this on a professional stage is a total crime.  This is not a musical.   It is a badly conceived and executed piece of garbage.  Celia must be rolling in her grave.  She and the Hispanic community would have been better served by putting together a concert with Xiomara Laugart Sanchez called Laugart sings Celia.  The sad thing is that it did not have to have be this way.  There was no attempt to make this a first class production.  The emphasis was to put out a product that would play to the community’s sensibilities in order to make money.  Shame on all involved!

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