Honesty makes ‘Casa Valentina’ work
Las Vegas Little Theatre continues its 38th season with “Casa Valentina” by Harvey Fierstein. At first blush it’s a comedy about cross-dressing men who meet at a Catskills safe haven resort in the early 1960s. You may think Fierstein has gone here before, but delve deeper and you’ll find some surprising insight, not into the transvestite community but humanity.
Nothing makes a production thrust disbelief into oblivion more than paying attention to detail in every single facet of the vision on stage. Director Walter Niejadlik has done just that.
Yes, Ron Lindblom’s Catskills bungalow is perfectly envisioned, from the rustic exterior to period dressings of the two-story interior, and as the stage apron transforms into a glittering performance area. Kim Glover’s elegant costumes and makeup by Lee Meyers both help to complete the visual transformations. But Niejadlik and his cast deliver the needed heart and soul.
There is nothing false or overdone. There’s no octaveraising vocal trickery, no lisping, nor exaggerated swaying of hips. The mixture of masculine and feminine is finely wrought, and natural.
The head of the household is brought by Glenn Heath in the way of George, indecisive and unsure. We’re treated to his transformation into Valentina, the leader of the band of Ladies, as Heath dons wardrobe, wig, then makeup, while his wife, Rita (Gillen Brey), entertains a very nervous Jonathan/Miranda (Michael Blair) in the kitchen. But when Heath comes down the staircase as Valentina, every step, every gesture is so absolute there is no doubt a woman stands before us, poised and confident. As the play unfolds uncertainty and questioning slowly work their way through to the surface.
Blair has an extended scene on the porch, without dialogue, while chaos reigns inside, yet he never drops character, staying in shared moments of quiet conversation. Blair’s ability to go from nervous to joyous to giddy and all the way to frightened is organic. He reaches down into his toes to find the inner turmoil, which is always in evidence.
Michael Sullivan as Michael/ Gloria, E. Wayne Worley as Theodore/Terry and Troy Tinker as The Judge/Amy all bring a sense of quiet pride and ease yet telegraph an underlying edge of fear in being discovered by the outside world when Isadore/Charlotte, played with exquisitely balanced care and villainy by Rob Kastil, enters the picture with threats of exposure. These four actors give fully realized portrayals of real people rather than societydriven caricatures.
Albert/Bessie, played by Brian Scott, is the comic relief. Scott’s sense of comedic timing and his ability to deliver it without being forced is incredible. Yet, in Act 2, he portrays heartache and confusion with equal skill. With quavering voice, fidgeting fingers and a cavalcade of expressions, he reveals the underlying reality of a hidden existence.
But the moment of truth in all of this is captured by Brey in the final fading of the stage lights. Every bit of uncertainty versus the absolute knowledge that she genuinely loves her husband is conveyed. Without uttering a single word, she poignantly dispenses the fact that the answers of life and its relationships are far from simple.
Donning full female regalia and finding the delicate equilibrium required to bring the reality of the cross-dressing life to bear, keep it real and keep it honest without cartoonish ploys is what makes this production work. If ever a cast deserved a standing ovation, it’s this one.