GUESS WHO’S COMING TO THEATER
TV veteran Gloria Calderón Kellett writes a funny play
The pillows are fluffed, the cocktails are mixed, the enchiladas are warming in the oven. Ilana and Enrique Gomez have done everything to ready their Pasadena mansion for the arrival of their daughter’s boyfriend. But nothing could prepare them for who the person at their front door turns out to be. In Gloria Calderón Kellett’s new play “One of the Good Ones,” this scenario leads to frank conversation, unfolding in real time, about unconscious biases, intergenerational expectations and who gets to claim Latino and American identity. (Between spit takes, hot flashes and swings at a very full piñata, that is.)
“It’s ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ meets ‘Disgraced,’ ” teased director Kimberly Senior. “And even though it’s a one-act play, the second act is the conversation you’ll probably be having afterward.”
While the play’s title reflects how the onstage parents (Lana Parrilla and Carlos Gómez) view their only daughter (Isabella Gomez), it also echoes how Calderón Kellett, one of the industry’s few Latina showrunners (“One Day at a Time,” “With Love”), says she’s been received during her Hollywood career: with “zoo animal fascination with what it’s like to be a nonwhite man telling stories.” And the world-premiere comedy, running through April 7, is the first Latine commission in the 100-year history of the Tony-winning Pasadena Playhouse — a landmark worth celebrating, though sorely overdue for a Los Angeles theater company.
Ahead of the play’s opening night on Sunday, Calderón Kellett had a candid chat with The Times about writing Latino characters who are thriving, learning about theater from Norman Lear and making even
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena
When: 8 p.m. WednesdaysFridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends April 7.
Tickets: Start at $35 Contact: (626) 356-7529 or pasadenaplayhouse.org
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes