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John Leguizamo is Amazing in One-Man Broadway Show—
If you want to have an amazing time at the theater and are ready for a completely adult experience, then you need to go and see “Ghetto Klown”, the one man show written by and starring John Leguizamo at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Fisher Stevens directs Leguizamo as he bares all the issues he has faced in his life and takes the audience on a poignant journey through his
childhood growing up poor and in the ghetto. Leguizamo is also quick to share the experiences he had growing up with a father he could never please and a mother who used to do and say some wild things.
During this journey that the audience is taken on Leguizamo talks about his past stage productions, which included “Mambo Mouth”, “Spic-O-Rama”, Sexaholic.a Love Story” and “Freak.” He explains how his mother was the inspiration for one production and his father was inspiration for another. His mother was furious with him and asked how he could portray her on stage? His father actually sued him for doing a play about him.
Leguizamo lets the audience know that his father never played ball with him, and never really tried to talk or listen to him. The one lesson that he taught him is not to cry. You have to be a man. When he would whip him and Leguizamo wanted to cry, he would make him sing a song. The only person who showed him love and tried to guide him was his grandfather.
It is quite amusing watching Leguizamo talk about all the big time movie roles he’s had and the famous leading actors he’s played opposite-Al Pacino, Patrick Swayze, Shawn Penn, and Wesley Snipes to name a few. What’s funny is he shares without hesitate that he was a troublemaker on these sets. He did not like sticking to the script. He liked to add in hilarious adlibs. What Leguizamo bares is the fact that he was actually a very difficult person to work with.
He definitely has the audience cracking up when he described his romances. Leguizamo’s morals when he was younger left a lot to be desired. But the consequences of his actions are hilarious.
This is a play that will have you laughing one minute and reflecting on some of the harsh things that have happened to him in his life, the next minute. “Ghetto Klown” is definitely a new installment in the sequence of plays that Leguizamo has decided to do about his career and it is something very much worth seeing and enjoying. Leguizamo has an energy and a flexibility that is marvelous to watch.
Chris Rock on Broadway is For Adults Only
Chris Rock is on Broadway and making his stage debut in a funny, but also vividly candid play by Stephen Adly Guirgis called, “The Mother…With The Hat”, that’s as much of the name as I dare give. This is also a play strictly for an adult audience. The play is showing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on W 45th St.
Rock plays a former alcoholic named Ralph, who is a sponsor to another Alcoholic Anonymous member, Jackie (played by Bobby Cannavale). Jackie is trying to give up alcohol, but has a lot more problems then that. His girlfriend Veronica (played by Elizabeth Rodriguez, also making her Broadway debut) is a drug addict and she seems to be having an affair. Ralph is married to Victoria (played by Annabella Sciorra, also making her Broadway debut), who is a former drug addict.
These characters definitely have their share of serious issues. Jackie, besides Ralph, has another male on his side, trying to help him stay sober, his cousin Julio (played by Yul Vazquez, again, he is making his Broadway debut), a person that Jackie treats very badly and takes for granted.
From the opening of the first scene this play hits the ground running. There is a lot of explosive, profane dialog between the characters. There are issues that each character reveals and you are taken on a roller coaster ride that has more twists, turns and drops then the cyclone, but it’s a ride you will enjoy. These people have real problems and are fighting the demons of their addictions.
The power of the performances of these cast members is something to be experienced and remembered. Each of these actors was clearly ready to make their Broadway debuts. They have
a marvelous chemistry, that you can’t help put acknowledge. For tickets call 212-239-6200 or go to Telecharge.com.