Kevin Vavasseur

JOHN LEGUIZAMO’S THE OTHER AMERICANS IS RIFE WITH POTENTIAL THAT’S NOT ALWAYS REALIZED — MUCH LIKE THE AMERICAN DREAM ITSELF There are many kinds of Americans. Some were born here. Some emigrated here. Some were forcibly brought here. But whatever the mode of initial arrival, in time, we all eventually become Americans — enamored of…

SMART SELLS IT Jean Smart is a phenomenal stage actress of great depth and specificity. Not exactly news but since she’s possibly best known as the warm-hearted and slightly naïve “Charlene Stillfield” on the iconic television sitcom Designing Women, it might bear repeating. Currently starring at Studio 54 in the riveting new play Call Me…

COLORISM, CRUISE SHIPS, AND COSMIC RECKONING Black myth meets modern identity in Aishah Rahman’s last work. The glossary page of Britain’s National Gallery website describes the concept chiaroscuro as, “…an Italian term which literally means ‘light-dark’. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling…

GRACE, GRIOTS AND GOODIE BAGS The Baobab tree is an imposing, if unconventional, tree that grows in Africa along the Zambesi River. Also known as The Tree of Life, it seems to rise from the ground upside down, with root-like branches facing the sky. Legend has it that the once magnificent tree grew arrogant and…

YOU MAY NEVER LOOK AT YOUR LAPTOP THE SAME WAY AGAIN Is Artificial Intelligence, more commonly known as AI, our friend? Does this ubiquitous development make our lives easier, cleaner, more efficient? Or, like Frankenstein’s monster, will this carefully crafted design eventually turn on its creators, causing havoc and terror for human society? This is…

Learning another language is like becoming another person. — Haruki Murakami In 2008 Iran, four very different people struggle to learn a new language—a language that promises new opportunities, both personal and professional. It may not flow as naturally or sound as pleasing as their native Farsi, but that hardly matters. English holds a global…

EVERYTHING KREYÒL IS NEW AGAIN Seemingly caught between differing identities and life paths, Simone is at a crossroads. Half African American and half Haitian, this early thirties, native New Yorker recently left a potentially successful career in finance because it didn’t suit her more humanistic values. Looking to help heal the world and herself, Simone…

GET TO THIS MUSICAL ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE TO DRAG YOURSELF It’s campy. It’s trashy. It’s WAAAAY over-the-top. It’s ridiculous. It’s stunning. I’s funny. It’s moving. It’s touching. It’s corny. It’s absurd. It’s heart-warming. It’s loaded with talent. And it’s got original voice-overs from Liza Minnelli (also a producer). In a word, it’s Drag: The…

WHOSE TOWN IS IT ANYWAY? Long before there was a Sheriff Taylor and a Mayberry (google it) there was a Stage Manager and a Grover’s Corners. Thornton Wilder’s classic paean to small-town life centering on that bucolic New Hampshire enclave first premiered on Broadway in 1938. Since its initial run, Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our…

THERE’S GOLD IN THESE HILLS It’s always difficult for the children when a mother passes away, even if those children are adults. And if that mother is a strong-willed widow who struggled and fought to raise her four daughters by herself, supported only by the inconsistent income of running a lower-end, seaside hotel in Blackpool,…

THE BONES ARE INDEED GOOD, IF NOT A BIT SKELETAL The website houseful states, “good bones” refers to the core foundational elements of the home, “:a steady structure that can withstand time, wear, and elements. A home with good bones typically has a sturdy foundation, structural stability, and a strong roof.” The decades old, abandoned,…

NOT APPLICABLE Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) are two of the brightest political stars ever to walk the halls of the Capitol. Still in her thirties, Ocasio-Cortez aka “AOC”, hails from a working-class background and, since her 2018 election, has unabashedly fought to put progressive goals and concerns at the…