Ghetto Klown at the Lyceum Theatre
May 6th, 2011 by Mr. C
Johnny “legs” Leguizamo was large and in charge once again on broadway with his latest one man show dubbed, GHETTO KLOWN! Leguizamo was definitely in his comfort zone of live theatre by showcasing his great storytelling abilities all meshed together with his comedic, class clown undertones often adding a bit of physical comedy which he executes flawlessly with plenty of street swagger flavor in a new york minute! Besides the obvious over the top urban comedy that I love about Leguizamo, he seems to genuinely express himself with tremendous emotion when conjuring up stories from his past especially with his family. When he re-enacts the characters of his parents and his grandfather, you truly get a feel of who they are which influenced who he is. You also get a sense that Leguizamo uses Broadway as a vehicle for therapy for himself when he comes to grips with different stages of realities in his life. Ghetto Klown fills us in on the rest of John’s story in decades from the 1960’s onwards where his other one man broadway shows like FREAK left us off. He focuses more on his acting career while also driving home the personalites of his parents, grandfather, & his wife. Stage props included a movie screen with a mini stage-boardwalk like platform that John would jump up & down on to act out a few scenes with projected images & film being played in the background. The show opened with James Brown’s “Sex Machine” being played while John Leguizamo busted a nut or two with some funky dance moves! He briefly explains his parents’ pilgrimage from Colombia (South America) to Queens, NY which would promptly jump the decade to the 1970’s with the song “It’s just begun” by Jimmy Castor being played on the loudspeaker while Leguizamo busted a B-boy breakdancing artery in his best B-Boy NY Mets stance! Funny, funny stuff! John-L would mention two acting teacher influences which ignited his passion in the arts. One was a lady who he called “Tweety” & the other was the venerable, Lee Strasberg. Other colorful characters that Leguizamo brought to light was his best friend “ray-ray” the ghetto genious, his jewish girlfriend Kat, his LES NuYorican poet society ex wife-activist, Lisette who loved to dance the “hustle”, his malignant manager Irving, & his current wife, “teeny”! His first acting role included beating out Benicio Del Toro (John dubbed mumble king), Benjamin Bratt, & Esai Morales in the auditions for a spot in the TV Show Miami Vice starring Mr. Smooth, Don Johnson! John Legs then morphed into his grandfather who often told him to stay white in terms of skin color & be the latin vampire that saw no sun! Darker skinned latin guys would get typecasted in thug like acting roles so the grandpa suggested to stay pale skinned & just to be safe, don’t even eat dark colored food! Leguizamo would leave no stone unturned as he told funny on the set tales of Sean Penn(Casualties of War), Don Johnson(Miami Vice), Kurt Russell + Steven Seagal from Executive Decision, & Al Pacino in Carlito’s Way! Johnny Legs also told the story of Project Ho aka “To Wong Foo” with funny stories about Patrick Swayze & Wesley “the darkest black man alive” Snipes! Another funny scene included showing clips from his latin variety show called “House of Buggin” when they played a skit with the Bloods & the Crypts vs the Latin West Side Story! There were many, many stories & experiences told by Leguizamo that just had me on the floor coughing up a lung! There were also some very touching & emotional moments in Ghetto Klown amongst the silly slapstick that almost lead me to shed a tear. They included his confrontation with his father, his last words with his grandfather (Disney disease & etch a sketch), his run in with “ray ray”, & the epiphany he had on the subway train at the end! John made it clear onstage that whenever he seems to lose himself, lose his soul in hollywood, he gathers his spirit by writing & performing in these plays! Mambo Mouth, Spic-o-Rama, Freak, Sex-a-Holic, & this latest reincarnation are all therapeutic gems for him & the audience for that matter! If you haven’t seen Johnny “legs” Leguizamo perform in any of his one man shows, I strongly urge you to check him out! You’ll soon see why! Leguizamo bleeds thick Nueva York blood, & his story will resonate to all regardless of color, creed, sex, & greed! In my opinion, he encompasses the true new york state of mind! I loved how Leguizamo still pronounced Manhattan as ‘Manhatty’ just like they did in “Hangin’ with the Homeboys“! John Leguizamo/Ghetto Klown has extended their act till July at the Lyceum Theatre so get your ragged ghetto fab ass out to Broadway!
I’ll leave you with a few quotes from the show below!
“You can’t make somebody love you”
“Be yourself, you clown” (Al Pacino to John Leguizamo on Carlito’s Way set)
“Everyone else says that you’re just one girl, but to me you’re the world!” (From John to his wife)
“Dad, George Lopez is funnier.”
“Madonna stole freestyle from Safire & Sweet Sensation”
“Career jealousy & infidelity” (John describing his breakup with Kat)
“You have the Disney Disease” (Grandfather to John Leguizamo)
“But there are no spics in space, John” (Irving to John, regarding a role on Apollo 13)
Via playbillvideo
Tags: broadway, ghetto klown, john leguizamo, lyceum theatre
Posted in mr. c, theatre | Comments (0)
