References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot
Written by José Rivera, Directed by Emmi Hilger
August 28–September 7 at the Den Theatre
Poetic and seductive, References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot presents a world in which Gabriela’s best friend is the distant moon, her cat dares to sleep with a dangerous coyote, and the man she loves may have grown distant forever. Gabriela’s memories, hopes, and fears shape her struggle to find meaningful connection— will love always be a risk?
“Committed and passionate interpreters take both the soft and edgy parts of the narrative to task...The sublimely-named Something Incredibly Marvelous Happens tackles the oftentimes airy script with energy and verve... The strong cast is up to maintaining the landscape, and breathes a vitality into the souls of the real and imagined...””
“In José Rivera’s script, metaphors of Gabriela’s turmoil are played out in scenes in which Gabriela’s cat (Arti Ishak) is courted by Coyote (an agile and lascivious Luke Couzens). Calling Cat from her safe domestic life, Coyote seduces her with his dangerous and wild nature. Will he love her? Consume her? Both? Overseeing it all is Moon, lover of love and romance, whose lunar glow creates magic and desire in all it touches. As the guitar-playing, serenading Moon, Glenn Stanton is a stand-out: sexy, seductive, with a voice like velvet and a mesmerizing presence; he is a god of love and a delight to behold.”
Production Team
Director/Producer ....... Emmi Hilger
Production Stage Manager .... Garth Moritz
Assistant Director ........ Charlotte Drover
Casting Assistant .......... Cruz Gonzalez Cadel
Scenic Designer ............ Dustin Pettegrew
Technical Director ....... Jake Puralewski
Lighting Designer ........ John Kelly
Costume Designer ........ Delia Ridenour
Sound Designer ............. Mikey Moran
Props Designer ............. Janelle Boudreau
Violence Designer......... Mark Penzien
Violence Assistant......... Danielle Stahl
Cast
Gabriela......... Allyce Torres
Benito............ Christian Castro
Moon.............. Glenn Stanton
Cat................. Arti Ishak
Coyote........... Luke Couzens
Martín........... Issac Arias
Paul Dederick understudied the Moon.
Night of New Works
Night of New Works 2014: hosted by the festival, featuring short plays and selections from longer works:
- El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom by Matt Barbot
- The Wild Ones by Molly Hagan
- By the Time We Get There, adapted by Laura Nash from a short story by Ray Vukcevich
- The Ladder by Damon Chua
- The Only Thing Wrong is the Sun by David Tortuga
Reading Series
Chicago Dramatists: Daughters of the Moon by Reginald Edmund
Pegasus Players: Hot Sauce Jesus by Joshua Rollins
The Fine Print Theatre Company: The Velvet Tabernacle by Michael Harris
Strawdog Theatre Company: The Marvelous Direct-Off!
Cold Basement Dramatics: The Ballad of Don Q by Jason Lindner
20% Theatre Company: The Creator by J.S. Puller
Poster Image Credit: Mostly Sunny by Paul Bond