Arts & Literature

Hurricane Hilary couldn’t keep a good plant down! Dive into the revived, raucous production featuring local talent, ingenious puppetry, and unforgettable performances.

BY MARTINA DOBESH

The curtain goes up! The play is on at the La Misión Performing Arts Center.  We sit in our seats thrilled to be present for the encore of The Little Shop of Horrors. It seems that Hurricane Hilary, which made its way this far north, closed down the show a few years ago. This time from the wings three women dressed like street kids moved across the stage singing the opening song. Derek Wille along with drummer Randy Seol, played brilliantly the great music by Alan Menken. Today’s performance was directed by David Cattanio. It took a village to recreate our own Baja-style of this famous story. Actors with very impressive bios of creative excellence graced the stage.  We watched as the play began to unfold and were delighted at each new scene. 

The lead characters carried the play, yet all the cast enacted great cameo sketches, like Rudy Alexander’s delightful wino. The down and out Seymor, played by lead Danny Ingersol, was convincing as he struggled with the decision to feed his hungry little plant which had mysteriously come with the total eclipse of the sun. His love interest played by New York actress, Ginevra Altomara, as Audrey was pure talent. She knew how to work the stage and gave powerful performances even with a black eye and a broken arm given to her by the abusive boyfriend, Matthew Noakes, who played Orin the “sadistic” dentist. Orin liked to inhale his own laughing gas before causing pain to his patients. Matthew’s hysterical laughing and death scene had us all joining in the fun. Lisa Rath as Mrs. Mushnik portrayed the conniving owner of the flower shop which displayed Seymor’s unusual plant. She began to count the cash flow and got greedy. Lisa’s performance and her songs were central to the story line which created the nemesis until it was revealed who the real evildoer was. A plant called Audrey ll. 

Audrey ll grows up on this live stage, from a baby to a humongous meat-eating plant. The plant is central to the whole production. It had to be created without the benefit of a movie set and its special effects. How was it done? The design team for four of the Audrey ll puppets were made here in Mexico. It took four weeks of diligent work and was nearly $3000 of the play’s total budget. Master guitarist Miguel de Hoyos and KayAnne de Hoyos took on the project management with a long list of helping hands. And if you have puppets, you need a puppeteer which was filled by a masterful young man, Rafael Mares, who was unfortunately never seen, because he has the good looks for a starring role for which he is well prepared. This all came together so well that we began to forget the murderous plant was a puppet. Karla “Olorato” Henderson was the voice of Audrey ll from the cute little baby plant stage to the fiercely demanding gigantic plant, yelling, “Feed me Seymour, feed me now!”

Director David Cattanio said, “I hope the audience can sit back, enjoy the infectious music, and revel in the delightful silliness of this production. The cast and crew and production team have poured their heart into mastering lines, music, and the intricacies of working with four different puppets. In an effort to enhance what was already a stellar production.” David goes on to thank everyone for their support and calling for continued support in the future for La Misión Performing Arts Center.

Don’t miss the final three performances May 3, 4, 5 at 2:00. You can purchase your tickets at the door.

Editor’s Note: Martina Dobesh is a freelance writer, a frequent contributor to the Gringo Gazette, columnist for Baja Bound, and author of Dust In My Sandals, Tales of a Baja Traveler. 

Every year the organization committee of the Resistance International Film Festival (RIFF) questions and explores different aspects of social responsibility and adds new categories to the competition program. This year its definition is expanded to include dealing with the invisible threats such as viruses. A new section called  “Health Defenders” is added to the festival’s program to document and show health workers fighting the COVID-19 and thus sacrificing their lives on the path of protecting society’s health.

This festival for now is the only cinema event dedicating the biggest part of its program to this pandemic, and the organizers hope that it would help to gather different experiences in one place, and also to promote a further documentation of the recent events as it would become crucial evidence for the future generations.

Organizers of the festival announced that filmmakers from the United States, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Britain, France, India, Turkey, Iraq, Germany, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Malaysia, Mexico have already submitted more than 300 films to compete in this section of the festival and thus to express their gratitude to the health defenders from all around the world.

Mexican short film “Gratitude” directed by Jorge Salgado Ponce submitted for this section has been nominated for the festival’s prize and received favorable reviews from the festival’s jury.

The 3 minute film, that is based on real events, movingly portrays the dedication and passion that health workers in Mexico put into their work, but also the ignorance that they sometimes have to fight against in the streets.

You can view the movie online, right here:

RIFF’s carefully curated program as well has earned this festival recognition from viewers and industry professionals alike. American filmmakers such as Michael Moore, Oliver Stone as well as many other artists from more than 100 different countries have participated with their documentaries and films in this festival. Also, many renowned international guests and exceptional filmmakers have come directly to present their films and interact with viewers, including, David Barsamian, Scott Frank, Rafael Lara, Darnell Stephen Summers, Yvonne Anne Ridley, Jasmin Durakovic, Robert Hofferer, Diana Kamal-al Din, Rashed Radwan, Yousef Wehbi, Ahmed Boulane, Basil al-Khatib, Saddam Wahidi Melika, Zairi Alper Akdeniz, Thomas Hayes, Daz Chandler and many others.

Resistance International Film Festival is divided in two parts that will be held on separate dates. The first part that includes “Health Defenders” section and is currently underway in Tehran has started on September 21st and the second part dedicated for the “Main Competition” is scheduled for November 21st-27th.

This year the event will go online due to a spike in the coronavirus cases in the country.