Twice a month on the Token Theatre Friends video series and podcast, theatre critics (and theatre besties) Jose Solís and Diep Tran bring a POC perspective to the performing arts.
This week the Friends celebrate kindness with Sharon Wheatley and Caesar Samayoa of Come From Away. The Tony-winning musical is about to celebrate its 1,000th performance on Broadway, and Sharon and Caesar have been with the show since its debut at California’s La Jolla Playhouse in 2015. They share their experiences playing the same role more than a thousand times, the life-changing stage-door encounters they’ve had with audience members from all over the world, and that time they met Justin Trudeau.
The audio of the interview is also available on the podcast, where the Friends review three shows currently playing in New York City:
Midsummer: A Banquet by William Shakespeare, a production of Third Rail Projects and Food Love Productions through Sept. 7 ($75 – $200). The Bard’s tale of mischievous spirits, doomed lovers, and tempestuous gods gets the site-specific treatment in a production set inside a restaurant.
Mojada by Luis Alfaro, at the Public Theater through Aug. 11 ($20 – $60). Chicano playwright Alfaro continues his interpretations of the Greek classics with a timely take on Medea, set in a Latinx neighborhood in modern-day NYC. Sabina Zúñiga Varela stars as the tragic antiheroine.
The Rolling Stone by Chris Urch, at Lincoln Center Theater through August 25 ($30 – $92). A young Ugandan man must decide between escaping his homophobic society with his Irish lover and staying behind to avoid bringing shame into his Christian family.
Then the Friends review the Cats trailer and talk about sexual awakenings vis-à-vis Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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