By James V. Ruocco
What is "Kiss My Aztec!?"
"Esa es la pregunta."
To understand and fully appreciate the size and scope of John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone's monumental, topical, decidedly wicked lampoon of Spanish history past, present and future, a quick trip down memory lane - Aztec style - is mandatory.
As the musical opens - circa, 1540 or something like that - a conspiracy of sorts is brewing. The Aztec's of the show's title - a merry, colorful, sexy band of men and women - suddenly find themselves battling a group of Spaniards who show up and try to steal the Aztec land for their own selfish purposes.
Mixing jokes about battle, codpieces, male penal endowment, gay sex, straight sex, colonialism, racism, prejudice, oppression, color, guilt, ancestry, astrology, feminism, nymphomania and 101 other people's problems, human history - fact, fiction, hellbent or imagined - is musicalized in wide screen TECHNICOLOR and played straight (no pun intended) with the accent on laughter, laughter and more laughter.
Willingly, one must go along for the ride (no hesitation here) to fully appreciate "Kiss My Aztec!"
And once you do just that, the laughter, the songs, the lunacy and the spirit of this cheeky celebration of historical happenings, will not only win your approval but make you rise to your feet applauding its dizzying creativity, craftsmanship and originality.
One of this season's major theatrical events, "Kiss My Aztec" is not to be missed.
It's so much fun, you'll no doubt want to call the box-office the next morning and book a return visit.
Outrageous.
Intoxicating.
Intentionally offensive.
Magical.
Emotional.
Gleeful.
Down and dirty.
This mashup of Aztec culture, Spanish colonialism, stand up comedy, traditional musical theatre and "Monty Python/Lin-Manuel Miranda" homage, is a smashing spectacle of open form storytelling, explosively colorful shading and hot fun delirium.
As written by Leguizamo and Taccone, "Kiss My Aztec!" bends, riffs, distorts and skewers the Aztec empire, the customs and traditions of its people, the laws and hierarchies, the religious and ritualistic practices and the tribe's ancient prophecies and sacrifices. The humor, mostly rooted and derived from the comedy of today, is peppered with one-liners, situations, dialogue, pop culture references and story arcs that not only prompt immediate laughter but also acknowledge the imperfect life of contemporary society, its struggles, its foundations, its politics and its uncertainty. Nothing preachy - just tangy and ripe fodder - designed to evoke empathy, humility, understanding and concern through giggles, kicks in the ass, slaps in the face and 360-developmental, character turns you never once saw coming.
And therein, lies the musical's enjoyment.
At Hartford Stage, the show's potential is spotted, diced and sliced with lively, celebratory calling by director Tony Taccone ("Latin History for Morons," "Wishful Drinking," "Bridge & Tunnel") whose influence and treatment of the "Kiss My Aztec!" material is launched with jockeying position, terrific detail, groomed silliness and revolutionary encouragement. As storyteller and directorial referee, he fuels the two-act musical with thrilling force and style, crafting an unmissable musical comedy of haze, neon and glow, punctuated by a landscape of brilliantly tailored partnering, necessity, exploration and palpable information.
With entertainment as the key component, he also brings fresh energy, curiosity and adventure to the musical, thus, producing applied merriment, modish trickery, candor and collective spasms chock full of gooey thrum, fuck-me sarcasm and anything goes calamity of the highest order. Of particular note is his use of placement, timing and pacing. Scene by scene, "Kiss My Aztec!" delivers its comic wallop with a sauntering bang that's enormously helped by Taccone's cleverly orchestrated staging, engineering and arresting focus. In turn, all the information at hand finds both verse and purpose as does his employment of grabs, thrusts and tangles that switch back and forth between surprise, "Oh, my God" and "What the fuck?" without ever once missing a comic beat, snap, tilt, curve or tilt.
And then, there's the music.
Merging groove and zing with pulsating blends of salsa, gospel, hip hop, reggae, pop, funk and Afro-Latino arrangements, the musical score for "Kiss My Aztec" (music by Benjamin Velez; lyrics by David Kamp, John Leguizamo and Benjamin Velez) flourishes afresh with nineteen well-placed, well-timed and fully positioned, entertaining musical numbers. They are "White People on Boats," "Punk-Ass Geek-A," "No One Compareth to the Spanish," "The Inquisition," "Make the Impossible Possible," "What I Can Be," "Tango in the Closet," "Cave Rap," "Everybody Needeth a Fixer," "Happy Amigos," "Where the Bloody Moon At?" "Spooneth Me," "Pilar's Lament," "New Girl, New World," "Puppetry Slam," "Plan B," "Chained Melody," "Reymundo's Requiem," "Throwdown Showdown" and "Dia de los Vivos."
Inked with playful dimension and captured musicality by Roberto Sinha (music director), Simon Hale (orchestrator) and David Gardos (music supervision & co-incidental musical arrangements), its " música para los oídos," shaped with melody, assurance, irony, realization and sting. More importantly, every song - dramatic, silly, romantic, queer or slap-bang-ding - is played and orchestrated with just the right touches of wit, layering, wink and expression. The opening "White People on Boats" unfolds with playful, in-your-face sarcasm while "Tango in the Closet" brings LGBTQ gayness and flamboyance to an entirely new level as does a showstopping ditty that barks loudly and hilariously about the possibility of God being gay. What? Can it be? Is the Man above, actually a friend of Dorothy's? The song itself says yes, oh, yes, He is.
"Kiss My Aztec" stars Krystina Alabado, Joel Perez, Z Infante, Matt Saldivar, Marie-Christina Oliveras, Richard Ruiz Henry, Desiree Rodriguez, Eddie Cooper, Chad Carstarphen, Angelica Beliard, KC Dela Cruz, Geena Quintos and Nicholas Caycedo. As actors, they willingly succumb to the glow of the musical's blood-red moon, its frenzied sense of comic giddyap, its bedeviled plotting, its gay and heterosexual conquests, its tricks and gags, its musical highlights, its dances, its sounds and its atmospheric, picaresque colors of the rainbow. Everyone is right for their particular roles, their positioning in the story, the songs they are asked to sing and their recitation of Leguizamo and Taccone's verbiage.
They also bring a certain honesty, intimacy, commitment and whoop to the proceedings that makes the material they are given fly with leaping inventiveness, importance and punctuation. And finally, as singers, soloists and members of the ensemble, they address the Kamp/Velez/Leguizamo musical score with breakout harmony, oomph and confidence completely in sync with the music-forward thrust of the actual story, its mix of styles, its rhythms, its beats and its drenched-in-comedy conceit, mindset and cool sounding vibes, shouts and proclamations.
Choreography by Mayte Natalio is delivered with power, sweep and silliness.
Working alongside the show's creators and musicians, she conveys the emotions, the personality, the history, the time and the culture of the central characters with a modern activism, abstractness and emotional connection that celebrates and reflects the immediacy of the "Aztec!" story in a very big, wide and devoted way.
Technically, "Kiss My Aztec!" abounds with seamless energy, brilliance, atmosphere, soundscape and creativity. The collaborative efforts of the production's first-class design team - Clint Ramos (scenic and costume design), Alexander V. Nichols (lighting design), Jessica Paz and Beth Lake (sound design), James Ortiz (puppet design) and Charles G. Lapointe (wig and hair design) - are both artistic and appropriate, framed by invigorating choices of color and flourish that heighten the story's richness, its political surface, its history, its collateral, its navigation, its humor and its TECHNICOLOR genius.
Jam packed with silliness, frenzy, gayness and acknowledged, in-your-face brashness, "Kiss My Aztec!" is a stunning, fierce new musical that pretty much succeeds on every level. It sings. It dances, It cajoles. It surprises. It fucks you up. It brings a smile to your face.
Everyone involved - cast, director, design team, musicians, runners, backstage crew - basks in its craziness, its over-the-top storytelling and its splashy, demented vibe. It is glorious nonsense from start to finish and one that celebrates the jewel-toned pulse and professionalism of Hartford Stage's stellar 2021-2022 season of productions that include "Lost in Yonkers" and "Ah, Wilderness! "
A thrilling draw for every person of color, gender and sexuality seeking lively musical fare, "Kiss My Aztec!" is amped to perfection with equal-opportunity dalliance.
"Hazte con un boleto y disfruta!"
No comments:
Post a Comment