Month: July 2026

‘Extreme’ measures test family in need

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By John Lyle Belden

In the wake of tragedy, we often have the wish that we could start over, have a new life, even a new house. For a select few, at least the latter happened, aired on national television. A desperate Texas family seeks to join that number in the drama, “Extreme Home Makeover,” by Makasha Copeland, presented by American Lives Theatre at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.

The title references the ABC television show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (using its common nickname to avoid trademark issues). The process of being chosen, among hundreds of applicants, involved making a video recording to audition by showing both the necessary home renovations and the worthiness of the homeowning family. Scenes here are frequently played to an unseen camera, putting the audience in the position of the mysterious producers who could decide the family’s fate.

Three generations are crowded into this Kingsville, Texas, home: Valentina (Sofia Salgada), her mother Guadalupe (Caroline Lee Sanchez), teen son Marco (Diego Sanchez-Galvan), and 10-year-old daughter Lupe (Laila Matuk). Valentina’s husband, David, recently died, leaving her struggling to keep the house and unable to afford its upkeep, including a broken toilet.

Guadalupe is not thrilled at all about this bid for televised fame. She sees it as yet another insult to the honor of a family who lived on the land since it was part of Mexico two centuries ago, since then being made to work it for the benefit of non-Latino owners. Valentina, however, is practically blinded by hope, insisting on getting the audition just right so that a new home can help rectify their tenuous situation. The children, eager to please both Mom and Abuela, try hard to do their part in the scheme. Marco applies for his first job, while Lupe – who talks to “Aybeecee” like a friend she’s trying to impress – seeks to prove she’s not as useless as she feels.

Local actor Carlos Medina Maldonado directs. He saw the play in development while a student at Texas Tech, noting it reminded him of his own family, with aspects we can all relate to. Intertwined with the themes of hard times and holding on to one’s culture is the universal experience of grief, made more intense when it is the family patriarch who is suddenly gone. Aside from some clothes and possessions, their principal reminder of David is a video of him at Lupe’s last birthday – his singing to her embarrassing then, but treasured now.

The cast’s familial chemistry, combining personalities that are distinct and natural, draw us into their world, feeling both their loving bonds and growing need. Even when they clash, each acts from their perspective of love. Salgada’s Valentina is driven, barely hiding her growing desperation while feeling it is up to her to make everything right. Sanchez’s Guadelupe is a bit of a curmudgeon but adopts a softer touch to help mend their growing crisis, coming through as only a loving grandma can. Sanchez-Galvan’s Marco feels the weight of man-of-the-house expectations, though he’s not feeling quite ready to grow up yet. Matuk, who is over twice the age of the girl she plays, maintains Lupe’s sweetness and innocence, along with a naïve grit of one who doesn’t know what she allegedly can’t do – showing that where there’s a will, there’s Google.

The stage, brilliantly designed and built by Carlos Teeters, has no visible walls and audience seating on two sides, showing the fishbowl environment brought about by private spaces being exposed to judging strangers. We see the floor plan, while the people upon it show what makes a house a home.

Note the dialogue is a Spanglish mixture that would be genuinely heard in a home like this, yet not too hard to follow for non-Spanish speakers.

An emotionally engaging and inspiring story of a family needing to make some changes, “Extreme Home Makeover” runs through Aug. 2 in the Basile black-box stage at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get tickets at phoenixtheatre.org, and information at americanlivestheatre.org.

The District calls on ‘Genêt’

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By John Lyle Belden

Indianapolis native Janet Flanner was a unique personality, one of the most famous Hoosiers you likely have not heard of. This was likely in part because her writing focused on those around her as she faithfully avoided writing in the first person.

The spotlight gets overdue placement upon this literary icon in the world premiere of “They Call Me Genêt” by D. Paul Thomas, performed by Jen Johansen at The District Theatre. Writing her “Letters from Paris” for the newly established New Yorker magazine from 1925 to 1975, she received her nom de plume from New Yorker editor and co-founder Harold Ross, who mistakenly assumed it was a French variant of “Janet” (the word actually refers to a broom plant with yellow flowers, or a cat-like animal native to Europe and Africa).

We meet Flanner at the end of her time as an ex-pat in Paris, preparing to depart for New York, where she would live with her long-time lover, publisher Natalia Danesi Murray. She packs while struggling to write her final “Letter” for the magazine, and reflects on her various life experiences and the famous (and infamous) people she knew along the way.

Johansen delivers a flawless performance as the woman who would apparently mock the self-indulgent nature of a one-woman show. Aided by an appropriate wig (design by Andrew Elliot), she bears a close resemblance to photos of Flanner, who was fully aware of her plain features, remarking here that she has “the face of an old Pope.” Director Chris Saunders gives us not just a fascinating first-person biography, but also, as he notes, a thoughtful meditation on where the observer fits in among the celebrities she observes.

Among the historical figures she encountered, Flanner wrote about Hitler during his rise to power (a bitter I-told-you-so years later for those who dismissed her prescient profile) and had more pleasant relationships with luminaries including Hemingway, Picasso, and Gertrude Stein. Past notables of art and letters, she remarked, included “the most interesting Paris-ites.”

As for her personal life, Janet is unapologetic while employing her gift of creative language to apply appropriate euphemisms, such as her preference for “the sorority side.” There is a little trepidation at rejoining American society, returning to the post-Vietnam/Watergate country she sees churning towards a sort of “self-betrayal.”

The look and atmosphere are completed with costumes by Guy Clark, set by Josh Morrow, and props sourced by Jan White – including a charming compact typewriter. Rick Northam is stage manager, and Georgeanna Smith Wade is the understudy.

A bit of a wildcat, a shining golden flower, and ever intriguing – get to know Ms. Flanner in “They Call Me Genêt” in performances Thursday through Sunday, July 23-26, at 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, presented in partnership with Indy Pride.

There will also be a benefit event, A Parisian Dinner and Garden Party, following the 4 p.m. Saturday performance. For details and tickets to all shows, see indydistricttheatre.org.

What a ‘Ride’!

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By John Lyle Belden

For those in search of the next “Rocky Horror” phenomenon, or who feel that the stakes in “Spelling Bee” weren’t high enough, we invite you to “Ride the Cyclone”!

First developed in Canada in 2008 by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, then appearing Off-Broadway the next year, “Ride the Cyclone: The Musical” has more recently taken on cult status with a large Tik-Tok community of fan art, theories, and costumes. The Phoenix Theatre now gives this experience a whirl, directed by K.T. Peterson.

In a storage building for a traveling carnival, a ghostly lament is heard, and the Amazing Karnak (Ben Asaykwee) awakens. Not a boast, he says, just the name on the side of his box. Unknown carny magic allows him to read the future, but only of one’s time and manner of death. This being too much of a downer, he’s been adjusted to be more cryptic. As he knows his own demise is imminent, he uses his remaining power to find those he couldn’t properly warn. Six teens, members of a school choir from Uranium City in far north Saskatchewan, died when The Cyclone roller coaster went off its rails. Their spirits are summoned to give one of them the opportunity to resume the life they had lost.

Enter overachiever Ocean (Mia Stewart); sassy only-gay-in-town Noel (Parker Taylor); surly adoptee from Ukraine, Mischa (Seth Jacobsen); comics-obsessed dreamer Ricky (Noah Lee), who had been struck mute from an earlier trauma; and plain and shy Constance (Marachey Fowler), most notable for being Ocean’s best friend and whose catchphrase is a very Canadian “So-rry!”

They are soon joined by Jane Doe (Olivia Broadwater), who had not been identified after the accident as no one could find her head. She replaces it with one from a doll. Having no identity of her own, she looks, acts, and speaks like an animated toy.

They each sing their case for going back through the light (like “Cats,” but more relatable) in a show that is at turns funny, moving, and surreal.

Asaykwee brings a bit of magic to all his roles. Here he gives wide expression to his wooden face, taking charge of the entire stage though he never leaves his box. He also shares this space with some of the best young talent we have seen around Indy.

Taylor once again makes us love a quirky character, even if his life’s dream is to die elsewhere. His Noel is comfortable in his queerness, while frustrated at missing the opportunity to be where he better fits in.

In fact, they all wanted to escape life in their dying former mining town (in our present day, home to under 100 residents). Perhaps it is more frustrating for Ocean, who Stewart plays as a controlling Alpha whose youth shows in her lack of tact. Or for Constance, who feared becoming resigned to living her whole life in Uranium (which, sadly, happened). Fowler takes on her pain of being overlooked and taken advantage of, converting it to inner strength.  

Ricky surprises them all, having regained his voice, and he has a lot to say. Ironically upbeat, Lee shares his sad origin and the cool sci-fi fantasy synthesized from his unconventional upbringing, complete with sexy catgirls.

Mischa is a little older than the others but was mostly denied a regular childhood. Jacobson handles his angst well. Feeling culturally mixed-up, he channels his feelings into hip-hop rhymes, and longs for the girl who liked him on YouTube.

Broadwater shows immense talent in working within the limits of her character in both movement and personality, taking her from creepy to heartbreaking with apparent ease.

Note the production is for teens and up, complete with a few F-bombs and a giant rat (Kristin Wentz). Appropriately cluttered yet versatile stage design is by David B. Vogel, complimented by lighting design by Michael Moffatt and sound and video projections by Ben Dobler.

Like the best carnival rides, The Cyclone is fun, wild, exhilarating, and affecting – and makes me want to get in line for another ticket.

Get yours at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, where “Ride the Cyclone: The Musical” runs through Aug. 2 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. See phoenixtheatre.org.

Cops are up to something (very) funny at Center Stage

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By John Lyle Belden

Lebanon’s Center Stage Community Theatre presents a wild episode of law and disorder with “Unnecessary Farce,” a comedy by Broadway actor Paul Slade Smith, directed by Nicole Amsler.

In a motel at the edge of town, Eric (Hunter Nuzzie), a young police officer needing to prove himself, and partner Billie (Lauren Lotzow), who somehow got a badge despite failing nearly every academy test, are setting up an undercover sting. In the room next door, the new city accountant, Karen (Lisa Anderson) is to meet Mayor Meekly (Ron Pittman) and get him to admit to embezzling millions in public funds. However, while preparing for this, Eric and Karen have developed feelings for one another. To complicate things further, the Mayor has a devoted chief of security, Agent Frank (Matt Anderson), who notices (almost) every detail in the room.  

With hijinks aplenty, mad misunderstandings, and doors to slam, we get a raucous comedy with a smidge of thriller as the workings of the local Scottish mafia – “the Clan, with a ‘C’” – are revealed, bringing on the feared Highland Hitman, a killer known as (dramatic pause) Todd! (Kevin Shadle). Then eventually, the Mayor’s wife, Mary (Julia Wallyn), comes looking for her husband.

Amsler has the good fortune of a great cast for this kind of show. Lotzow has been excellent in various roles over the last two years and definitely has a knack for comedy. Lisa Anderson gets to cleverly upstage her more practiced husband, Matt, both being masters of going with the madness (even if it means losing one’s pants) without being too over-the-top.

While most characters appear to understand the seriousness of the goings-on (no matter how absurd they’re becoming), Pittman effectively plays the Mayor as blithely oblivious, even though he was the one who proposed this suspicious event in the first place. Shadle, a treasure of Central Indiana community theatre, boldly presents another memorable character – bagpipes, thick accent, and all. Wallyn brings her own sort of disarming charm

To our surprise, this is Nuzzi’s first theatre role. His handling of scenes ranging from slapstick to romantic to standoff at gunpoint shows a natural feel for the material and solid comic chops.

As always, credit is due to the all-volunteer crew. Assistant director is Heather McKee and Stage Manager is Ava McKee. Amsler takes on many other tasks, including excellent set design and decoration with Christy Summersett – two connected hotel rooms with eight doors and good sightlines. Amsler also did costumes (including a kilt) with Heather McKee, as well as props.

A hilarious escape from the heat of summer, indulge in “Unnecessary Farce,” Friday through Sunday, through July 26, at 604 Powell Street in Lebanon. Get info and tickets at centerstagecommunitytheatre.com.

IBTC’s ‘Museum’ has much to show us

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By John Lyle Belden

Don’t be confused; “The Colored Museum” is not a static exhibit, but a theatrical work, a series of scenes that move with the rhythm of continuing centuries-old struggle.

Most surprising is that the show could be considered a museum piece itself: This play by George C. Wolfe hit Broadway in 1986. Forty years ago, yet it still feels so current, so “woke,” so “Black Lives Matter” – and as relevant as ever. It works as a companion piece to last year’s equally irreverent production of “Ain’t No Mo’” by the Indianapolis Black Theater Company. This year’s IBTC production of “Museum” is directed by local cultural icon Deborah Asante, leading an outstanding cast of local Black talent.

Performers include Empressnikia, Empress Marlena, Clarissa Michelle, PsyWrn Simone, Alicia “The UnCuT Diamond” Sims, John Singleton, Edward Strickling Jr., Tre’Vaughn, and young Anya C. Carlton as “The Future,” with audio contributions by Reno Moore and Rick Drumm, and on-stage percussion by Komoyaka King.

From the beginning, as the flight attendant of Celebrity Slaveship advises us that “shackles must be worn at all times,” we are in for one hell of a ride. Wolfe’s satire through the play’s 11 scenes is both sharp and hilarious. Examinations of Black life and culture employ sufficient absurdity to confront the surreal experience of being African American. We encounter archetypes including a Mammy, a disturbed soldier, a gay “Snap Queen,” and a singer who found fame and respect in France but must face what she left behind. Nothing is sacred, including the too-perfect models of Ebony magazine, and the award-bait Black roles in “The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play.”

The look is completed with a neat set design by Antonio Burks that suggests an exhibit hall, complete with a turntable to display the next piece in the collection. Burks also contributed designs in the excellent projected visual elements.

Stunning both as comedy and thought-provoking theatre, “The Colored Museum” opens for four more performances, Thursday through Sunday, July 9-11, at The District Theatre, 627 Massachusetts Ave., downtown Indianapolis. Get tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.