"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" is an Orange County premiere presented by The Chance Theater, written by Kristoffer Diaz; directed by Jeremy Aluma..
After a two year enorced hiatus, the Chance Theatre in Anaheim has rallied to construct a full sized wrestling ring in their La Palma space and on we go with a bizarre and energetic take on the world of professional wrestling, moral ethics and a huge dose of silliness.
Full disclosure. My friend, Hank Garrett, an actor I've known for many years, was a body builder and professional wrestler in the long ago days when the 'tour' took the show around the country. Therefore, my take on this play will be colored by the wonderful stories that Hank has told me. For reference, he's the Postman in Three Days of The Condor who broke Robert Redford's nose in the big fight in Faye Dunaway's apartment. .
Name dropping aside, Chad Deity is a fascinating story of how fall guy, aka "jobber" Macedonio Guerra (Ruby Solis III) finds his way in the morass of politics and racism, to have a life in the ring. Together with Vigneshwar Paduar (RJ Navarra Balde II) their rise to the "top" unfolds. These actors rock the show!
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| RJ Navarra Balde II and Rudy Solis III Photo by Scott York |
Thanks to director Jeremy Aluma's beautiful stage pictures, the production values are top notch and the sleazy grandeur of the world of "professional" wrestling unfolds .. An appreciative audience seemed to 'get' the story better than I did. Solis amazing ability to memorize and deliver the very long narrations in his casual and meaningful way is pretty amazing. Director Aluma has created beautiful stage pictures and Kara Ramlow 's impressive lighting design almost becomes another character in the show.
Of course, it's all about the 'show' and promoter EKO (over the top James Michael McHale) manipulates his crew to make a million bucks a month all on the backs of the actual workers. Londale Theus Jr. as Chad Deity rocks and one bit using a machine gun device to shoot money into the audience is worth the price of admission alone.
All presentational and essentially two dimensional, a tribute to how most of us have always perceived professional wrestling. We know it's staged. We know it's fake. We know it's a performance with a script and blood and costumes and hype, that, evidently, is the appeal. The polemic of how Mace, the guy who grew up loving the spectacle of good guys and bad guy wrestlers on TV and finds his way, after a goodly amount of nonsense with including his pal, over the top with energy and rap, RJ Navarra Balde II as Vigneshwar Paduar, THE FUNDAMENTALIST, the guys have an epiphany and the rest is silence. Admittedly, there may be a nuanced message here, but I can't find it. The sheer blatant blather by all concerned, highly theatrical, really beautifully played and staged by all concerned, is so contrived that even the epiphany for Mace to quit the game and VP's departure to hustle cuties over in Brooklyn in several different languages remains a mystery to me. Though the spectacle works.. it left me wondering if this is an important piece of theatre with its two dimensional characters presented not unlike the wrestling shows that I grew up with years ago and continues to make millions as 'entertainment' today? I asked a young man several years ago why he was such a huge fan of Wrestlemania? Without dropping a stitch, he said, "It's entertainment."
Indeed..
Creative Team:
Scenic Designer Fred Kinney
Fight director Martin Noyes
Projection designer Nick Santiago
Lighting designer Kara Ramlow
Costume designer Bradley Allen Lock
Sound designer Marc Antonio Pritchett
Stage manager Kaylee Mesa
Dramaturg Joseph Galizia
Cast:
Rudy Solis III as Macedonio Guerra
Londale Theus Jr. as Chad Deity,
James Michael McHale as Everett K. Olson
RJ Navarra Balde II as Vigneshwar Paduar Aaron McGee as The Bad Guy
Matt Takahashi as the Referee.
THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY by Kristoffer Diaz
Directed by Jeremy Aluma
The Chance Theatre
Bette Aitken Theater Arts Center on the Cripe Stage
5522 E. La Palma Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92807
October 1 -October 23, 2022
Fridays at 8 p.m.,
Saturdays at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m.,
Sundays at 3 p.m.
TICKETS: $20-$39
(888) 455-4212
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