Theater

Mina Olivera excels in her hit play, "LOL! Latina On The Loose." Photo-Roberto Milk

Mina Olivera-Latina On The Loose

By Buddy Sampson

The beautiful, but unassuming actress is preparing for her appearance on stage at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) to perform her play “LOL! Latina On The Loose!,” a critically acclaimed play that’s receiving its share of well-deserved praise. While getting her hair and make up done, Mina Olivera, the writer and performer of the play, expressed her surprise at all the attention LOL has received. “I feel great,” she laughed. “It exceeded all my expectations and I just love talking to people afterwards and see how moved they were and what surprised me was guys are actually the ones that cry the most at the end of the play.”

Indeed, Mina Olivera, originally from Brazil, tells a story of her childhood, her travels around the world and the sexism and racism she encounters along the way to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. Like many talented performers who are able to weave a poignant story, interspersing it with comedy, Olivera paints a wonderful canvas, filled with laughs, sadness and fun. She chronicles her adjustment to a new life in California, radically different from the world she has come to know in Brazil, El Salvador and Switzerland. Directed by Alberto Barboza and produced by Miguel Angel Caballero, “LOL! Latina on the Loose!” is an absolute masterpiece, a certified hit.

Olivera does various styles of dance, in LOL!, from ballet, to hip hop to meringue, to modern, illustrating her tremendous command of dance. “When I was a child, I thought I was going to be a dancer,” said Olivera. “I did ballet my whole life. When my body started to develop, I noticed I didn’t look like a dancer anymore. I wanted to be a ballerina.”

During the performance, she fondly imitates her grandmother, who cared for her while her mother, Armenia, an activist and former member of the United Nations, traveled the world on various missions. “She was really important to me,” she said about her grandmother, who died two days after she left for California for a role playing a prostitute, a role she eventually turned down.  “I dedicated this (play) to her. I did that mistake, I left when she was sick. It was my way of honoring her.”

One of the issues Olivera addresses in the play is the lack of Latina roles in Hollywood, illustrated by her magnificent portrayal of a college counselor. “I learned that back when I went to UCLA,” she said. “We really just have to start creating our own. The reason why we don’t have enough roles is because we don’t have enough writers. We have to embrace who we are, then create our own roles and productions.”

Mina Olivera plans on working on a book in the near future. “The next project I think I’m going to do is a book called  ‘A Few Things a Gringo Needs To Know Before He Marries a Latina,'” said Olivera to a room full of laughter. “I have so many friends that are marrying Gringos, and they call me to ask for advice and a lot of times we have conferences about cultural differences.”  The beautiful, but funny lady is a star on the rise and Hollywood better take notice of this immensely talented and intelligent writer, dancer, performer and actor. The play will be presented on the road, with productions in Miami, New York, San Francisco and Texas. For more information, visit http://www.LatinaOnTheLoose.com.

Fantasia (Celie)

Fantasia’s “Celie” Is A Hit in The Color Purple

By Buddy Sampson

Fantasia has a hit on her hands. The spectacular singer, best known for her famous appearance on the popular show American Idol, stars as “Celie” a young woman, physically and verbally abused by her husband, Mister (Rufus Bonds, Jr.) who treats her as nothing more than property. Fantasia Barrino, (Fantasia) excels in the theater production, showing her considerable vocal prowess in solo format as well as coupled with the other dynamic performers that surrounded her.

Fantasia displays, in this sensational work with music written by Allee Willis, Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell, a tremendous musical range. Russell (pictued left at the premiere) explained why working on the play was a deeply satisfying experience. “To hear your music expressed through body and movement and voices, that’s pretty incredible,” she said. “I’ve never had that experience before, to see actors dancing and singing like that. It’s extraordinary to see your music expressed in that way.” Of course, however, doing a production of this magnitude has its challenges. “Writing a musical is all about rewriting,” said Russell. “You’re always rewriting and that’s the hardest thing. As a pop writer, you never have to rewrite songs. If you give a song to someone, they don’t say, ‘could you rewrite the part, please?’ They either like it or they don’t. But in a musical, you have to rewrite to adjust to everyone’s needs.”

The production of this play was flawless. From the sets, to the choreography, to the music, vocal and dramatic performances, The Color Purple is absolute perfection. The vocal harmonies were flawless between the actors. Fantasia (Celie) was the undisputed star of the show, but there were several other notable performances as well. Felicia P. Fields was superb as Sofia, and she provided big laughs, especially during her “Hell No,” sequences. LaToya London (Nettie) has the voice of an angel. Her duets with Fantasia were absolutely incredible, with mind blowing harmonies.

Felicia P.Fields (Sofia) and Tiffany Daniels (Squeak) in The Color Purple.

Angela Robinson as Shug Avery, is not only sexy, funny and engaging, but her strong vocal ability captivated each time she sang. “Squeak,” played by Tiffany Daniels, drew several laughs and the church ladies, Kimberly Ann Harris, Virginia Ann Woodruff, Yolanda Wyns and Lynette DuPree were hilarious with their singing narratives of the scenes.

Angela Robinson (Shug Avery) and Fantasia (Celie) in a tender scene in The Color Purple. Photo by Kim Webster.

The men in the production were awesome as well, with crisp choreography and strong singing. Stu James as Harpo drew cheers from the ladies in the audience, every time he sang or took off his shirt for the work scenes in the play. Bonds Jr. was excellent and scary in his role as Mister and showed considerable range as an actor.

Actress Erica Hubbard at Color Purple theater production. Photo by Kim Webster.

Several celebrities appeared at The Color Purple premiere, including Arsenio Hall, Chaka Khan, Della Reese, Tisha Campbell.

For a perfect night of entertainment, you must go to see The Color Purple. It’s running through February 28th. For tickets and information visit www.theBroadwayLA.org or call 1-800-982-ARTS. And tell them you read about it in The Scoop LA.

Photo of Brenda Russell is by Kim Webster .