Left to right, Josiah Frampton, Wyatt Bernard, Adam Stanton and Ariel Buck let it rip in ‘Escaping Queens.’ (Photo by Jana Marcus)
Capitola playwright Joe Ortiz’s latest work, Escaping Queens, is a heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting operetta inspired by his troubled childhood in Queens, New York. This is Ortiz’s fourth musical collaboration with director Greg Frisch, and their seamless partnership is clear in his translation of the material into movement.
In a 1950s working class neighborhood, the Ortiz family’s financial and emotional difficulties are exacerbated by the head of household’s character flaws as he gambles, drinks and womanizes his way through what little his family has in funds and patience. The characters communicate through almost continuous song, frequently singing over each other and harmonizing in a sonorous cacophony that perfectly reflects the characters’ dissonant relationships. Cabrillo Stage Artistic Director Jon Nordgren’s and Ortiz’s musical compositions incorporate jazz, Latin, doo-wop and melodies reminiscent of Old World Italia and Sicilia that flow through and tie the story together like a ribbon.
Darin Dailey perfectly toes the line as Herman Ortiz, a man who takes the love of his family for granted and squanders it as quickly as he flicks dice from his palm. The character Mama, played by Lori Rivera, is the rock on which the household stands. She’s quick to soothe, reprimand or fill a body with Italian home cooking—often at the same time. But it’s clear from songs like “A Few Moments Of Magic” and “Another Woman (In My House)” that she struggles to reconcile the harsh present with the dreams of her past. The numbers “Freddie’s Theme (Sicilia)” and “You Bring the Table and I’ll Get the Chairs,” sung with ensemble, are rife with suspense and risk.
The transition of the teenage daughter Laura, played by Ariel Buck, from daydreaming childhood to gimlet-eyed adulthood is captivating, most notably her confrontation with her father’s mistress in “Woman in the Dark (Noir)” and “The Ballad of Johnny and Laura.”
The intimate setting of the small Black Box Theater in the Cabrillo Performing Arts Center blurs the lines between players and audience, making it perfectly suited to the rawness of the material. Yet for every moment of sorrow there is a burst of hilarity that reminds the audience of the characters’ humanity and optimism in the face of strife. The story Ortiz presents is painfully, refreshingly honest and vivid and gripping in its retelling.
ESCAPING QUEENS
Daily through Sunday, Aug. 19
Tickets $20–$36 at cabrillostage.com
