Crystal Lizardo – Analog Artist Digital World

UCF Celebrates the Arts presented El Wiz as a staged reading at The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Based on a book by Paul Castañeda, the show was originally conceived by Juan Cantu and Paul Castañeda. Paul sat house right reading stage directions for the staged reading.

The show was based on the Wizard of Oz but set in Puerto Rico just before Hurricane Maria hit the island. The Narrator, (Josh Ceballos) introduced the familiar cast of characters on the island. Chico, the scarecrow (Emile Doles) was a quiet and socially awkward man who had an eye for details no one else would notice. Juanito, the tin man (Eric Parafan) had loved a man but had his heart broken. He felt he could never love again. Eddie, the lion, (Joe Llorens) just wanted some cajones. Dorothy (Crystal Lizardo) fell into a deep sleep before the hurricane hit. She woke or so she thought in a strange new place.

In this new world she was given a very blingy pair of Nike sneakers with red white and blue sequins. Her dog Toto was a puppet who came alive when she held him in her arms. From the start she wanted to return home to her Mami and Papi but she was instructed to go to the Emerald city for advice on how to get back home. The journey was fraught with dangers.

For me the most powerful number in the show was Vas A Ver, or You’ll See in English. Sung by Esperanza, (Paul Padilla) the song was about how the strength of family can overcome any hardship. He performed with just the right amount of resolve and throaty growl. His face grew so red as he sang that I was concerned he might burst a blood vessel. It was an amazing performance.

The joy of this show is that it takes itself lightly. There were many references to Lin Manuel Miranda since the playwrights clearly were inspired by his musicals. The plot moved effortlessly and the actors playfully joked and teased one another. I have only studied Spanish in a cursory fashion on Duolingo, but I was able to follow every bit of the show.

When Dorothy finally got back to her home island it has been destroyed. She took the lessons learned in her dreams to gain strength in the belief that family can endure any difficulty. The cast and creative team deserved a standing ovation.

Under the Rainbow written and composed by Alen Gerber was the one operatic performance at this year’s Fringe. The show began with a young mother holding her infant son in a rainbow colored blanket. Crystal Lizardo, who played the mother was surprisingly petite yet her voice filled the huge Rep Theater. She sang a beautiful song in which she imagined her son’s bright future.

Years later, her son is a grown man and he leads a human rights march for marriage equality. A church group lead by the minister of the mother’s church is out to appose the march. When tempers flair, a member of the human rights group is shoved to the ground. Sarah Purser played Grace, the injured activist and when the minister, Ricardo Dominguez, offers to help her, they sing together about what message, or lack thereof, the bible offers on gay life.

The mother conducts a chorus in church and then laments her son’s sexuality. Being religious, she wants to protect her son from sure hell-fire, but she also wants to see her son to find happiness here on earth. Whereas most parents never accept a child’s homosexuality, she finds solace in a hymns verse, “Where there is charity and love, God is there.” In the end, she accepts her son as he is, and they embrace.

I went into the show with no preconceptions and was pleasantly surprised. The woodwind player unfortunately didn’t check his reeds and thus he kept missing notes. The music as a whole was beautiful but not particularly memorable. The main musical theme of the show was the exact chromatic inversion of the melody of Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow“. The shows message of open minded acceptance transcended any technical issues. There was a well deserved standing ovation.