BWW Reviews: Beautiful World Premiere Heart Song Heats Up the Fountain

Heart Song/by Stephen Sachs/directed by Shirley Jo Finney/Fountain Theatre/through July 14

In a quite extraordinary way Stephen Sachs' world premiere comedy/drama Heart Song tears down barriers separating life and death across many cultures. There is no finer celebration of the joys and pains of life than performing flamenco dance, which is gut wrenching and intensely theatrical. Boasting top-notch direction from Shirley Jo Finney and a resplendent cast, Heart Song is a life-affirming poem that must be experienced at the Fountain Theatre through July 14.

The style utilized in flamenco is called cante jondo or 'deep song' which reflects the primitive Andalusian folk themes of the gypsies that reverberated throughout Spain in the poetry of genius Federico Garcia Lorca. For the Spaniard, life and death live side by side, and one must connect to both worlds, if one is to live effectively. Flamenco, symbolizing the real and the spiritual, has not only become a very popular international art form over the years but also a therapeutic technique to help release stress from the body, both physical and emotional. It goes deep as 'cante jondo' suggests by allowing one to get in touch with all feelings, to celebrate them and to set free those that weigh too heavily on the flow of life.

Rochelle (Pamela Dunlap), a middle-age NewYork Jewish lady cannot get past the death of her mother, one year previous. She must soon present a memorial to her mother and feels incapable of facing up to her responsibility. So grave is her stress due to deep-seated emotion that masseuse Tina (Tamlyn Tomita) refers her to a flamenco class as a means of therapy, where she meets the lead dancer Katarina (Maria Bermudez) and Daloris (Juanita Jennings) among others. Rochelle is reluctant, being overweight and out of shape, to participate in the dance. But once she permits herself to take a few baby steps and to learn flamenco's true meaning, she is pulled in... yet still resisting it as a healing force. Tina is Japanese and Daloris, African American, and both have touching stories to relate about their mothers. Rochelle cannot connect as her mother was quiet and unwilling to share her past, which suspected by Rochelle, involved her imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp. It is Rochelle's gradual acceptance of what happened to her mother, and all of the unspoken truths in their relationship, that form the core of the play as her two friends and the flamenco class assist her in a joyful transformation.

Sachs has written with great love and respect for all the cultures represented and with tremendous wit. There is a lot of Jewish humor, which works beautifully in the mix. MosT Loving about the script is its message to Jews and to other cultures to reconnect to Spanish history and see the differences and similarities of one's roots, beliefs, sorrows and joys.

Under Finney's expert guidance, the ensemble give electrifying performances. Dunlap is at once hilarious and sympathetic in her self-evaluation and delivers a moment.to.moment, heart-rendering picture of Rochelle. Tomita and Jennings are both exceedingly strong actresses, who, through Sachs wonderfully vivid monologues, give us a true depiction of each culture and their relevance to the community. Bermudez, needless to say, dances and speaks divinely with sheer grace and elegance. Also praiseworthy are Andrea Dantas, Sherrie Lewandowski, Mindy Krasner, and Elissa Kyriacou, who, like a partial Greek chorus, add much flavor and style to the flamenco class presentations. Tom Buderwitz's lovely set design works efficaciously in covering several locales as do Dana Rebecca Woods' costumes, both contemporary and old-world, which help us to pass smoothly between the two seemingly very different worlds.

Heart Song is at once contagiously funny and fiercely dramatic, touching every emotion. It is play about the ordinary ...basic acceptance of oneself and others....yet totally unusual. All the exotic flavors blend together to generate a vibrant and unforgettable sense of community. It is a celebration of life that you cannot afford to miss.

http://www.fountaintheatre.com/perform.html

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