San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
Tamara Dhia (center) gets a Mexican makeover.
- Photo by Ken Jaques
Wide-eyed, stammering and TMI-ing Hanan (Tamara Dhia) becomes a puppet in the hands of record-company beyotch Mary O’Malley (Faeren Adams), who also wears a sock puppet on her hand named Calcetina that “speaks” fluent and scolding Spanish. Mary’s assisted by the secretive but solicitous trio of Bill, Will and Jill (Dangerfield G. Moore, Steve Smith and Amanda Cooley Davis), whose own agendas range from the voyeuristic to the masturbatory. This is not your father’s record label.
Despite her outrage at being linked to terrorism because she’s of Lebanese descent (this is done with some hilarious physical comedy and equally un-PC series of PowerPoint slides), Hanan goes along with overbearing Mary’s plan to make her over as a Latina diva in the sizzling manner of Shakira. Hanan’s at-first-reluctant transformation is complicated by a bubbling sexual attraction to Blanche (Olivia Espinosa), who’s referred to by all at the wacky record label as “Office Bitch.” She’s nothing of the kind, of course. She’s Lebanese lesbian Hanan’s—and the play’s—conscience.
Leato be Latina works hard at being outrageous in its smashing of ethnic, racial and sexual sensitivities. Like so many of those well-intentioned but excessive sketches familiar to viewers of latter-day Saturday Night Live episodes, Leato be Latina doesn’t know when to let its cast, or its audience, catch a breath. Little wonder that the cleverest sequence in the show is its opening, with the robotically choreographed Bill, Will and Jill interviewing Hanan when she first arrives at her appointment with destiny. The locomotive, or merely loco, comedy comes close to slipping the track many times afterward.
While much of the relentless raunch is entertaining, it’s also wearying. The hand puppet, an obvious metaphor to begin with, begins to annoy. One wants to sock the talking sock.
Leato be Latina runs through Dec.18 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $20-$33. diversionary.org
Opening
Ragnarok: The theater workshop Circle Circle Dot Dot stages a show co-written (with Katherine Harroff) by members of San Diego’s live-action role-playing community. Opens Nov. 23 at 10th Avenue Theater, Downtown. $10-$20. circle2dot2.com
Now Playing
Gypsy: A Musical Fable: Credit ambitious Ion Theatre for pulling off a staging of the sprawling musical by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents in a black-box theater. Not everything comes up roses, but enough does. Through Nov. 27 at BLK BOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. $10-$34. iontheatre.com
Lydia the Play: Set in El Paso, this play explores Texas-Mexico border relations while blending fantasy and reality. Through Dec. 3 at SDSU Experimental Theatre. $10-$16. theatre.sdsu.edu
The Storm: The UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance presents a drama by playwright Alexander Ostrovsky about a town in the throes of a storm. Through Dec. 3 at the Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre. $10-$20. theatre.ucsd.edu
The Diary of Anne Frank: Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the story of a courageous girl in hiding during the horror of World War II. Through Dec. 4 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. $14-$16. onstageplayhouse.org
The Drowsy Chaperone: This show-within-a-show salute to the Jazz Age won the Tony for best musical in 2006. Through Dec. 4 at Coronado Playhouse. $20-$25. coronadoplayhouse.com
The Great American Trailer Park Musical: The San Diego Rep’s Sam Woodhouse directs this one-act spoof of trailer-park “culture” that also includes a rather predictable love triangle story. The prevailing everything-goes raucousness bogs down in a heapin’ helpin’ of double takes and double entendre. Through Dec. 11 at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Downtown. $33-$57. sdrep.org
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Ion Theatre stages both parts (Millennium Approaches and Perestroika) of the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning work by Tony Kushner. Through Dec. 11 at the Lyceum Theatre, Downtown. $30- $50. iontheatre.com
Leato be Latina: Ethnic and sexual labeling collide with raucous hijinks in this play by Enrique Urueta. Through Dec. 11 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $20-$33. diversionary.org
Late Nite Catechism: Audience members find themselves in a Catholic nun’s class in this one-woman comedy that will celebrate its 20th-anniversary year in 2012. Fridays through Dec. 16 at Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. $10-$30. welktheatersandiego.com
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown: The “Peanuts” characters come alive in the Broadway revival version of a musical by Clark Gesner based on Charles Schulz’s gang. Through Dec. 17 at Scripps Ranch Theatre. $10- $25. scrippsranchtheatre.org
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: An Old Globe Theatre holiday tradition returns, directed by James Vasquez. Through Dec. 31 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. $24-$57. oldglobe.org
Jesus Christ Superstar: The landmark rock opera written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by Des McAnuff. Next stop after La Jolla: Broadway. Through Dec. 31 at La Jolla Playhouse. $58 and up. lajollaplayhouse.org
Jingle Bell Rock: The Alley Cats usher in the holidays with a cappella classics and comedy. Through Dec. 31 at Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. $48-$73. welktheatersandiego.com
Shotgun Wedding Anniversary: How else can a miserable 25-year marriage end but in murder? Presented by Mystery Cafe, it’s ongoing at Imperial House restaurant in Bankers Hill. $59.50, including dinner. mysterycafe.net
