Theater Review -- Tom Titus
When you’re an Army wife stuck in the Barstow desert while your
husband’s off on military maneuvers, your biggest challenge is fighting
the interminable boredom that’s as dangerous to your mental health as the
howling coyotes outside are to your pets’ physical well-being.
With a little imagination, you can dream up a romantic fantasy, such
as Jose Rivera has done in his play “References to Salvador Dali Make Me
Hot,” first glimpsed at South Coast Repertory and now being showcased at
Orange Coast College in a sensually exciting production from student
director Laura Viramontes.
The piece is divided into four scenes -- the first and last being
heroine Gabriela’s fantasy world, the middle two representing the harsh
reality she endures when her husband arrives home from the field. These
sequences play in stark contrast and offer conflicting views of
Gabriela’s personality, and of the aching loneliness she struggles to put
into words.
She and her husband, Benito, occupy the same emotional planes as
Blanche and Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the irrevocable
struggle between fantasy and reality. Benito’s Army life and Gabriela’s
dances with the desert moon are worlds apart. Both live unfulfilled
lives, from which neither is willing to escape.
At OCC, Gabriela is beautifully interpreted by Angela Lopez, whose
character has limited education but is wise enough to realize she yearns
for something more meaningful. Lopez brings both dimensions of Gabriela’s
existence to life with an urgency born of frustration in a marvelous
performance.
As her soldier husband, equally exasperated with his wife’s growing
disenchantment, Andrew L. Vonderschmitt doesn’t quite project the
dimension his role demands. He chooses to explore only the surface facets
of his character. Doubling as the fiddle-playing man in the moon,
Vonderschmitt casts a more romantic shadow in the fantasy sequences.
The animals that occupy Gabriela’s fantasy world, the cat and the
coyote, are beautifully interpreted by Nancy Troia and Josh Lash,
respectively -- they alternate with Jessica Teter and Chris Meditz. Troia
brings a splendid feline sensuality to her performance, while Lash exudes
passionate carnal energy as he pursues his domesticated companion.
Vincent Torres Jr. completes the cast as the 14-year-old neighbor with
raging hormones and sexual designs on the much older (and married)
Gabriela. Torres successfully projects a younger image and a virginal
curiosity as he tempts his unhappy neighbor.
Viramontes has fashioned an exceptional production in the limited
dimensions of OCC’s Drama Lab Studio, where scenic backdrops (nicely
designed by Martina McCrea) must be hauled in and out of the theater to
establish the play’s particular mood. One nice touch is Vonderschmitt’s
Salvador Dali mustache, flared up in his first scene, but drooping
downward as daylight nears in the second, which may be credited to
costume and makeup designer Jennifer Rogers.
“References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot” is a labor of love for
director Viramontes, who was on staff at South Coast Repertory when the
play premiered a few seasons ago and spearheaded its production at OCC.
She has created a sensual and dramatically involving production.
* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews
appear Thursdays and Saturdays.
FYI
* What: “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot”
* Where: Orange Coast College Studio Theater, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa
* When: Final performances at 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday
* Cost: $6
* Call: (714) 432-5640
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