Mark Brokaw directs a cast made up of Edi Gathegi, Sean Carvajal, Ricardo Chavira, Erick Betancourt, and Stephanie DiMaggio. Kean Theatre Conservatory Opens 2016-2017 Season -+ Ravi Ghosh . Thats astonishing, as their roles are killers in more ways than one. Angel's stated justification is that the minister ran a cult that took his best friend away from him. Yet, Jesus Hopped the A Train may be trickier to perform, with its passions verging on melodrama and its frequent alternating monologues sometimes telling rather than showing. But when performed, as it is here, by a cast that can recreate its rapture as well as its moral gravity, it achieves the doubleness of great art, burrowing deeper the higher it flies. Dont be a God-fearing man, Valdez warns Lucius, be a Valdez-fearing man.. Still . The play is essentially a set of monologues stitched together at the edges, and showing signs of fraying. (Scott Dray). Jesus Hopped The A Train- Angel Monologue - YouTube . But it also displays incendiary passion and insight into its troubled characters". His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. Lucius to dislike, although this is after weve warmed to him. Where: Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Tickets: $30 at 773-935-6875 or www.eclipsetheatre.com. [12][13] However, Pamela Renner reviewed the premiere unfavorably in Variety, with most praise reserved for Ron Cephas Jones. Hives Not Going Away With Prednisone, Nor does Angel, at least initially. It starred Edi Gathegi, Sean Carvajal, Ricardo Chavira, Stephanie DiMaggio, and Erick Betancourt. One has been serving his sentence for years, but his discovery of God helps him find joy in his days. Angel Cruz is a 30-year-old bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the death of the leader of a religious cult. Uploaded by The production received considerable acclaim from critics such as Ben Brantley of the New York Times and Michael Feingold of The Village Voice. Director Chari Arespocachaga, who also staged Short North Stages 2020 area premiere of Guirgis The (Expletive) with the Hat, again knits together a well-paced production that scores with edgy insights and dark humor. Reviews for Jesus Hopped the . Explore, Explain, and argue. White, polished and put-together, Mary Jane dug herself out of a childhood filled with violence and poverty while Lucius succumbed to mental illness and hard drugs. Lucius has found God and been reborn. Stephen Adly Guirgis' Pulitzer Prize-winning "Between Riverside and Crazy" gets its local debut at Steppenwolf in June. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. It seems simple on the surface, but between these two strong actors, Guirgis stellar script and Dexter J. Singletons finely-tuned direction, it makes for electric theater. Lucius, despite Taylor's fearsome performance, remains a bit of a conundrum, as captured in a beguiling late-in-the-play monologue from D'Amico (Zach Bloomfield), a guard who loses his job for doing too many favors for the killer. RECOMMENDED Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Stephen Adly Guirgis got his break in 2000 with "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," a play that in 2016 feels distressingly timeless. Thats a rare thing to find anywhere, let alone in smaller professional or community groups. Search all monologues. It's a tight, well-paced and thoughtful staging . The moral argument between these two men forms the heart of the play, as Lucius, who says he found God in prison, confronts Angel, who long ago lost God outside it. society, are remarkabl. . 4. Hes angry, lonely, frustrated and struggling with his faith/spirituality. JESUS HOPPED THE `A' TRAIN. - Free Online Library A great feeling., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history. Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, . Billington quipped that Angel's final sacrificial gesture "smacks more of romantic fiction than spiritual redemption [] I enjoyed the production without fully believing in Guirgis's vision of crime and punishment. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train closes October 15, 2017 Details and tickets -[/ezcol_1third] It's startling to watch Luciusa so-called man of Godinfluence Angel in a way akin to Rev. But when the Reverend dies in hospital, Angel lands in solitary confinement next to Lucius, a card-carrying Christian serial-killer. He's also suspicious and angry toward Mary Jane (Elizabeth Birnkrant), the public defender who sees in Angel's defiant attitude flashes of her own past as an angry "charity case" in a private school with a drunken father. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is at the Young Vic until . Perhaps the most stirring monologue of the play comes from . Contents 1 Plot synopsis 2 Productions 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links Plot synopsis The play takes place in a prison on Rikers Island in New York. JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN Auditions Actor's Express Theatre Company in Submission 11/23. Rehearsal: May 28 - July 7, 2018. . 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train': Theater Review Robert Heinly (D'Amico) in Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. The monologue of Paravicini from The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie (comedy / murder mystery) Shakespeare Monologue (Performance Video) . While the sermonic Lucius speaks of redemption before God, of renouncing darkness and embracing salvation, the early interactions between client and lawyer feel underweight in comparison. George Jetson Birthday, Laura Baronet. The shooting was part of Angels plan to rescue his best friend, whom the cult had stolen and brainwashed. Arthur Williams III as Lucius Jenkins and Bill Stambaugh as Valdez in Hovey's 'Jesus Hopped the A Train) By Deanna Dement Myers. Furthermore, staging it in the round allows the guard Valdez (a smug and pitiable character played very well by Joplin Sibtain) to roam all levels of . centres around Angel, who finds himself facing a murder charge after shooting a friend. . Short North Stage will stream Jesus Hopped the A Train through June 27.Tickets cost $15. These are the dichotomies that Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train puts up against each other, whilst exploring the injustices and complexities of the American justice system. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train closes October 15, 2017 Details and tickets -[/ezcol_1third] It's startling to watch Luciusa so-called man of Godinfluence Angel in a way akin to Rev. Lucius is awaiting extradition to Florida to take responsibility for the trail of bodies he left behind. meters wide with a concrete floor, runs from one end of the auditorium to the Before Angel arrived, Lucius would spend this time chatting with DAmico, a kindly guard played by Rob Giardian. God Is The Giver, And Sustainer Of Life Verse, But Lucius feels like a culmination of that journey, taking the charisma of his Martin Luther King, Jr. (in The Mountaintop), the passion of Kenyatta Shakur (in Sunset Baby), the world-weariness of Lincoln (in Topdog/Underdog) and, along with a streak of psychosis, funneling it into a wholly new and wholly lived-in performance. Be the first one to, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Prisons -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama, urn:lcp:jesushoppedatrai0000guir_y8m1:lcpdf:c385346e-d259-4dec-814e-689ba64dc1b7, urn:lcp:jesushoppedatrai0000guir_y8m1:epub:4d85c109-bfbb-49e0-ade3-a74c2a2e37c1, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). But in the next cell to Angel is an articulate serial killer called Lucius who has found God and who tries . One of the most striking things about Soulpepper's Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is how multi-dimensional its main characters are. If you dont have access to a reader, please present a monologue in the style of the show. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8 p.m. on Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday. . Free will versus actions determined by the circumstances of our existence. By Jesse Green. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, a blazingly sharp script, a compelling In 'Jesus Hopped the "A" Train,' prisoner's faith is put to the test Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial . A moment where things come into complete focus is a late monologue by a prison guard whose soft spot for Lucius cost him his job: with perfectly calibrated delivery, Gregory Prest delivers a . THEATER REVIEW; Locked Up In a Place Far Beyond Redemption HB Studio. and Hanrahans monologues to gain an air of a courtroom. Valdez (Christian M. Castro), the quick-with-the-club guard, has no use for Lucius' proclamations of faith. Presented by Ron Kastner, Roy Gabay, and John Gould Rubin at the East 13th Street Theater, 136 E. 13 St., NYC, Nov. 29-Dec. 31. Review: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train brings a poetic and profane New York, NY, Linda Ray Thirty-year-old Angel Cruz (Xavier Lopez) has just been thrown in Riker's Island prison, the notorious institution on New York City's East River. A monologue from Jesus Hopped Jesus Hopped The A Train- Angel on Vimeo There is even something endearing about the crime that put him in prison: He shot a cult leader in the butt while trying to rescue a friend. His lawyer Hanrahan Angel's desperate desire for assurance and forgiveness make him, in a weird way, immediately lovable. In one particularly impressive monologue, Adjepong's Lucius exercises whilst addressing his religious beliefs; the actor's energy doesn't falter once as he performs . for her but theres also a personal connection. But they are also particular to our time and place, perhaps even more so now that the United States is the worlds largest jailer than they were in 2000. . At the opening of the play, he is in his second night of incarceration, awaiting trial for shooting the leader of that cult in the "ass." He is on his knees, alone and terrified, trying to say a prayer he no . Search the history of over 797 billion His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. More . Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. As his name implies, Angel wrestles with questions of faith, and those questions come pouring out from Lucius during their side-by-side exercise sessions in the prison's outdoor cages. 0. Kim's described affect on Joey, the friend Angel fought so hard to free from a cultish existence built by a false prophet. it in the round allows the guard Valdez (a smug and pitiable character played very Soulpepper Theatre presents Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, a graphic and distressing story of two prison inmates serving time for murder. . Angel Cruz and Lucius Jenkins face murder charges. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues. Melanie Furstenberg Dubuque, stimulus control transfer is important for, most dangerous towns in suffolk county, ny, God Is The Giver, And Sustainer Of Life Verse. Our Father, who art in heaven, he stammers, Harold be thy name.. Photo: Tristram Kenton. With the criminal-justice system the subject of much scrutiny, Short North Stages production of Jesus Hopped the A Train seems timely. In other scenes, she performs monologues. who shot a cult leader in the ass because he had ensnared Angel's best friend in his "religion," and Edi Gathegi as Lucius Jenkins, a brutal murderer who found religion on his way to the executioner. Howie. It's the reason I keep coming back to Collective Consciousness. Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues.But it also displays . Puetro-Rican, Angel, played with refined commitment by Ukweli Roach, shot a religious cult leader in the behind, landing him with potential murder charges.. Singhateh is compelling as evangelising killer Lucius, his performance cleverly toying with the audience's sympathies as he slips between charming bonhomie and cold-bloodedness. Results may vary. Monologues for Women; Comedic; . The first, Charlie D'Amico (Erick Betancourt), is soon fired for doing a variety of favors for Lucius. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall It allows Lucius evangelism to soar An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. Angel Cruz. JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN by Stephen Adly Guirgis . Still . father stabbed someone at a dance when she was younger, but, In Rikers, Angel meets Lucius Review | Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train | Young Vic | 5 Stars | Kate Hewitt's production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train' is bold and. on March 2, 2022, There are no reviews yet. . Submit at https://actors-express.com/get-involved/ . Some prisoners go out of their minds when confined to the 23-hour isolation wing of Rikers Island prison. It explores the space between what can be done and what should be done. But the audience also hears stories of childhood friendships and complicated . Lucius is also a serial killer, a self-described paranoid schizophrenic who employs his charms on . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. When the cult leader dies during surgery, Angel suddenly finds himself facing murder charges. Stephen Adly Guirgis's plays include Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Little Flower of East Orange, and The Motherf*cker with the Hat. Mirrors, not cages, provide the true path to justice and peace. Four glass AE is fully committed to diversity, inclusion and equal employment opportunity. A lot of what we hear from the lawyer is in the form of direct address, and these monologues lack the poetry (brute or not) of the rest. T.Schreiber. Stephen Adly Guirgis's plays include Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Little Flower of East Orange, and The Motherf*cker with the Hat. , albeit in separate chain-link cages. Jesus Hopped the A Train | Theatre | The Guardian Then one day they get talking. "[15] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed a 2017 revival favorably, praising the "incisive characterizations and riveting dialogue". It opened on the Pershing Square Signature Center's Irene Diamond Stage on October 23, 2017, and ran until November 26th, 2017. Sean Carvajal stars in Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, directed by Mark Brokaw, at Signature Theatre. In 2018, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train was ranked by The New York Times writers as the 14th best American play of . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. When the psychopath is an acute thinker about responsibility and the atheist a tantrum-prone man-child hoping to avoid it, we have trouble deciding how to invest our emotions. Lucius Jenkins is on appeal, trying to avoid the death penalty for the murder of eight people. Howard?) amidst the cacophony of his incarcerated neighbors telling him, in no polite terms, to shut up. Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. "the Black Plague," works out furiously in the cage next to Angel. jesus hopped the a train lucius monologuehow long does it take to digest raw broccoli. . But then, in a knife-edge final discussion before Lucius is sent to the electric chair, Angel extraordinarily finds that he too is turning towards the faith that he has so far shunned, thus jeopardising his own case against the born-agains. Lucius has done terrible things but now he has found God. agrees to represent him. Portland Monthly; Seattle Met; Sarasota Magazine; Aspen Sojourner; Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine; Park City Magazine; Houstonia Magazine 2799 Katy Freeway, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77007 Phone: 713-862 . Aside from that hilarious and heartbreaking first sentence, theres not much I can quote from Stephen Adly Guirgiss Jesus Hopped the A Train, which opened on Monday in a riveting revival by the Signature Theater. What Does Cameron Call His Style Of Rhythm?, He's being held there because, as he tells us, he "shot a man in the ass" earlier that week. Making moments memorable are flashbacks some characters share. No memorization required. Cory Velazco is fascinatingly impulsive, defensive, skeptical and earnest as Angel Cruz, a young man who finds himself in prison after trying to save his best friend from a religious cult. These scenes are separated by blackouts and a . Angel, on the other hand, acquires the nickname of Droopy Dog. And . Angel Cruz, played by Richard Nguyen Sloniker is a Puerto Rican awaiting trial for justifiable attempted murder. At a glance Short North. Lucius Jenkins, played by Dumi is an extremely articulate African American convicted serial killer who is trying to stall his extradition to Florida, where he will be executed. He brings Lucius Oreo cookies and cigarettes; his wife baked Lucius a shepherd's pie; D'Amico and Lucius share a buddylike badinage. clean in its execution, and one which gives the illusion (conversely) of space, The new guard Valdez (Jason Hall) is cruel and curt. But Nieves' resonant performance negotiates the line between adolescence and adulthood, faith and nihilism and other boundaries that cage in Angel's soul as surely as the Rikers walls encase his body. Set inside Rikers Island, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train follows Angel . . Their monologues are all interesting, at least, but Guirgis was mainly interested in having Angel and Lucius debate. Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, . The play's format, which really focuses on a series of monologues and duologues - offers a complete focus on the individuals . Added to the mix are Lucius Jenkins, a serial killer turned born-again Christian, and Valdez, a sadistic corrections officer. For one hour each day both men share adjacent cages on Rikers Island.