Theatrius
  • Now Playing
  • All Reviews
  • Writers
  • Reflections
  • Millennial Notes
  • Join Us
  • About Us
  • Search Icon

Theatrius

Theater Reviews—San Francisco and Beyond

“Gangster of Love”—A Spectacular Family Reunion, at Magic Theatre, S.F.

“Gangster of Love”—A Spectacular Family Reunion, at Magic Theatre, S.F.

April 23, 2018 Evelyn Arevalo

Millennial Notes

Hagedorn, Greco Create Masterful Visual Palette

by Evelyn Arevalo

“The Gangster of Love” by Jessica Hagedorn transports us to the 70s, to follow the outlandish exploits of the newly arrived Filipino Rivera family in San Francisco.

Get ready to be amazed by a live action rock band, a psychedelic LSD trip, and a raucous birthday party. Director Loretta Greco gives us an intimate look into the Rivera family’s troubled assimilation into America. With them, we travel the familiar streets of the Castro, North Beach, and the Haight. We enjoy a 70s poetry workshop at City Lights Bookstore with the sparkling, multi-ethnic cast.

Golda Sargento, Partick Alparone, Jed Parsario, and Lawrence Radecker

“Gangster” tackles mental health, drug addiction, and homelessness in San Francisco. Blunt scenes of cocaine-snorting, spiraling manic-depression, and colorful characters inhabit the City. And some of them become homeless, leaving us surprised and sympathetic.

Hagedorn’s three-hour epic at Magic Theatre keeps us on the edge of our seats. Her funny, heartbreaking tale, introduces inquisitive Rocky (enigmatic Golda Sargento), solemn Voltaire (bright- eyed Jed Parsario), and seductive Milagros (stunning Sarah Nina Hayon). Their comic chemistry sharply displays how dysfunctional families operate.

The cast of “The Gangster Of Love.” Photos by Jennifer Reiley

The diverse cast navigates English, Spanish, and Tagalog, enriching and contrasting the conflicts between the first and second generations immigrants. And Hagedorn uses powerful poetic language to addresses lingering U.S. colonialism.

A beautifully executed dinner scene features a virtuoso Sean San Jose as inimitable Uncle Marlon. With impeccable timing and flair, San Jose ’s Marlon suffers multiple telenovela plot twists. Under Greco’s astute direction, Act One ends with a breath-taking cliff-hanger.

Seamless spectacular set designs dazzle us, including a ship at sea, an inhospitable hospital, and a bizarre bank. Furniture pieces float in to create intimate spaces for a raw glimpse into the Riveras’ homes, hopes, and dreams. We resonate to their moments of joy, heartbreak, and recovery, as each actor listens and responds with palpable emotion.

Lance Gardner (Jimi Hendrix) and Golda Sargento (Rocky)

Memorable moments abound: from a dreamscape interaction between a white-winged Jimi Hendrix in tight jeans, to Rocky’s meeting with writer Declan Wolf. Wolf reveals his collection of ten thousand books in Set Designer Hana S. Kim’s library of wonders.

Whether in the bedroom, or bookstore, or dream world, each setting plunges us into a fabulous fantasy world. Actors stretch our understanding as they move through cascades of spectacular scenes—all the while tugging the tense dramatic rope. Don’t miss “The Gangster of Love.”

Lance Gardner, Golda Sargento, and Patrick Alparone

“The Gangster of Love” by Jessica Hagedorn, directed by Loretta Greco, at Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, through Sunday, May 6, 2018. Info: magictheatre.org

Cast: Golda Sargento, Jed Parsario, Sarah Nina Hayon, Lisa Hori-Garcia, Chuck Lacson, Lance Gardner, Lawrence Radecker, Dezi Soley, Patrick Alparone and Sean San Jose.


Millennial Notes, Plays
Castro, Colonialism, comedy, Dance, family conflicts, Filipino, Haight, Immigrants, Jessica Hagedorn, Loretta Greco, Magic Theatre, music, North Beach, party, San Francisco, the 70s

Post navigation

NEXT
“Head Over Heels” Spews Dazzling Chaos, at Curran, S.F.
PREVIOUS
“American Jornalero” Incarnates Workers’ Woes, at Ubuntu, Oakland
Comments are closed.

Menu

  • Now Playing
  • All Reviews
  • Writers
  • Reflections
  • Millennial Notes
  • Join Us
  • About Us

BLM

Black Lives Matter

Subscribe for upcoming reviews!
Loading

Current Shows

  • “Slow Food”: Three Superb Actors Serve Up Quick Laughs—at Altarena
  • “The Indigo Room” Magically Translates Indigenous Stories—at La MaMa, N.Y.
  • “The Never Too Late Show”: Tales of Hilarious Homeboy in Hollywood—at The Marsh
  • “Poetic Justice” Exalts Passionate Modern Poets—at The Marsh
  • “As You Like It”: Weaves Past & Future in Magical Forest—at SF Playhouse
  • “Beetlejuice, The Musical” Parties Hard and Fast—at BroadwaySF
  • “Hailie!” Celebrates the Queen of Gospel’s Triumphs—at Lorraine Hansberry
  • “Little Shop of Horrors”: Killer Plant Blooms in Chinatown—at TheatreWorks
  • “Ham for the Holidays” Lightens the Heart—at Main Stage West 
  • “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski” Is Unforgettable—at Berkeley Rep
  • “A Year with Frog and Toad”: Episodes of Woodland Friendship—at BACT
  • “Shoshana in December”: A Holiday Musical for Jews & Polyamors—at Custom Made
  • “Wuthering Heights” Takes Us from Darkness to Light—at Berkeley Rep
  • “Natasha, Pierre & Great Comet of 1812”: A Musical Triumph—at Shotgun
  • “Two Trains Running” Celebrates Civil Rights Era Black Bravery—at MTC

About us:

If you want to see the best plays & performances around the San Francisco Bay or beyond, read our reviews. We promise to give you a true report on the best shows.
Bay Area Critics Circle

Barry David Horwitz, Editor of Theatrius, is a Voting Member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle, SFBATCC. Follow us on: facebook.com

© 2023   All Rights Reserved.