By: Darryl Reilly
God, are you there? Am I going to be successful? Will I have a collection? I want to have an Oscar. When will the very good things come about?
You are going to be a single female residing in a rental.
So, ponders performer Tanna Frederick at the start out of her beguiling self-composed solo present, Lion Eyes God responds to her existential issues via a wry recorded voice over. The Iowan Ms. Frederick arrived in Hollywood in the late 1990’s, as a youthful woman striving to split into display small business mirth and queasiness abound through this significantly chilling tale. We get an engaging account of her early times of restaurant get the job done, residing with a roommate and auditioning. The darkish twist right here is her intricate intimate connection with an unnamed renowned unbiased movie director he is referred to as Maestro. Just one can search at Frederick’s filmography and discern who he is, if just one does not know.
Immediately after making the most of just one of Maestro’s videos at household, Frederick writes him a enthusiast letter and gets an invitation for an business conference with him. “Want to be in my subsequent motion picture?” he asked her at that face. He subsequently drops his trousers, revealing his penchant for wearing feminine underwear. There is also his pattern of putting on makeup, fondness for donning scarfs, and his offbeat romantic relationship with his mother. As a result, uneasily commences a quite a few several years very long personalized and qualified involvement they each and every won awards at a film festival for a person of his movies. The Ambien popping Maestro inherited terrific prosperity, enabling him to fund his assignments and to gas his celebrity-laden life style although routinely giving hundred-dollar-charges to homeless people. His continued neurotic romance with his ex-spouse is a more harbinger of problems in advance.
Clad in pink tulle, a pink bustier adorned with massive colorful beads, sneakers and striped socks, Frederick is a vison of charming eccentricity. Her limber physique, animated confront, flowing purple hair and melodious voice, are all demonstrative of her glowing stage presence which is exhibited as she delivers her whirling 55-minute confessional. The present was performed on a black accented stage established with a black cube in the heart surrounded by sheets of multi-colored construction paper organized in a circle. This very simple surroundings accompanied by constant muted lights achieves a theatrically eerie dimension. The shrewd creating alternates concerning established recitations, stream of consciousness-design and style reveries and vivid spontaneity. A golden minute was when Frederick unintentionally thudded on the flooring, leading to a couple witty advert libs. Lion Eyes is ultimately a unique addition to the genre of personalized exposes of Tinseltown’s sordidness, where illusions are dropped. Randal Kleiser and Judd Nelson are credited as resourceful administrators of the manufacturing.
Lion Eyes was developed in Los Angeles this New York City premiere was element of an once-a-year festival of one-man or woman exhibits jogging by April 28, 2024. This event is presented by the place-dependent theater enterprise, United Solo “Our target is to present solo items, both of those neighborhood and international learn original scripts provide creators collectively trade perspectives and inspire creativity similar to solo overall performance.”
Lion Eyes (March 29, 2024)
United Solo Competition
Studio Theatre at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Road, in Manhattan
For tickets, pay a visit to www.unitedsolo.org
Managing time: 55 minutes with no intermission