MEXODUS

Mexodus is quite possibly the best show I’ve ever seen! (And between reviewing theatre now and growing up in New York, I’ve seen at least thirty shows a year since I was about two!!! I saw three last weekend alone!)

And please know that no matter how many superlatives I use in this review, Mexodus is even better than I can possibly portray! Everything about it is fascinating! Here’s how much I loved it—I’m absolutely sick that Mr. X missed it! If I had known exactly what was to come, I would have insisted that my krump dancing bae go with me. (But my friend Jeanine, who got that honor in his place, keeps saying it’s “so amazing!” And, trust me, hip-hop is far from her thing. She’s doing a role on a TV hospital show now, and she said that she was thinking about the show so much in her “hospital bed” on set the day after the opening that she fell asleep doing so! A crew member had to wake her!)

I actually almost turned down the invitation to Opening Night of Mexodus because I was, as usual, overbooked for that weekend. But I adore the Pasadena Playhouse, so I changed my schedule around, even though the title and image on the invitation did not really make clear what I would find there. But as soon as I did a bit of research on this show, I could not wait to see it. It’s just two guys, Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, (who also wrote the script and all the music!!!,) yet it’s won several Best Musical awards in New York! I could not imagine how that was even possible.

And now that I’ve seen it, I have my answer. I can’t remember ever before witnessing so much creativity from just two humans! It’s literally mind-boggling. I rarely call anything “amazing,” but in this case, that word is not even good enough!

Besides what we’re seeing on the stage, my head spins from picturing them conjuring-up this entire show! So much work went into it. I can absolutely see why Mexodus was the season’s most award-winning off-Broadway musical. (Sidebar: The cute girl sitting next to me told me that her brother, who lives in New York, had missed the show there, so he flew out here to see it!)

So what could this be about really, you might ask? I feel that there’s no way to describe the show that will do it justice, but I’ll try. It does actually have a story. It’s a tale of two men who come together in Mexico in 1851 through the Underground Railroad of that era. Nygel plays Henry, a runaway American slave, and Brian is Carlos, the Mexican man who saves him. That historic lesson is very important, of course, especially in these times when so many minorities are being heavily discriminated against in this country once again. I worry every time I don’t hear from any of my non-Caucasian pals for a couple of days.

But it’s the jaw-dropping massive talent of these guys that’s the reason to see the show. Besides all the writing of the narrative, music, and lyrics, and the outrageous musicianship, (they each play multiple instruments, including Brian on…accordion!; and Nygel even appears to be a concert pianist!,) the guys are funny and serious and poignant actors. They literally have enough talent for about forty people each. Hey buddies-– leave some for the rest of us!

Adding to the excellence is that the performers are enjoying themselves as much as the audience is! Brian is also basically the emcee of the proceedings, and he’s charming. He asked if we were ready to “get lit,” which it appeared that the younger-than-usual audience was. And they’re both cute, which does not hurt. The two of them must have been the life of every party as youngsters. (And now, as well! Never since I saw Mr. X on stage as a teenager, and knew right away that I wanted him in my life, have I wanted to be friends with the actors/musicians I’ve seen in a show before!) [Auxiliary note: I met Nygel’s girlfriend at the fun afterparty, and she’s beautiful, too!]

I was a fan of just their voices and music, even when I didn’t understand the words. One amazing aspect of what they do is layer each instrument’s sound, building all the music from scratch at each performance right in front of our eyes. It’s mostly hip-hop, but there’s actually a touch of other styles along the way—some soul, gospel, traditional Mexican, a bit of blues, and even that tiny bit of classical piano I mentioned before. (I would have loved to hear Nygel play even more of that!) It’s all totally my kind of music.

And, for once, I was far from the only person bopping to the music! I was happy to see that audience movement. It was actually sort-of hard to stay in my seat except for the fact that I wanted to watch the guys even more than to dance myself!

I do have to admit that I couldn’t really follow the story at first. (Perhaps that’s because my aural comprehension has gotten a tad lazy due to using closed captions on TV.) But after about fifteen of the ninety minutes, I got the narrative, and was all in. But I enjoyed it all from the get-go because of the incredible music and the energy of the duo performing it.

I also appreciated much of the dialogue, both amusing and heavy. Brian’s character pointed-out that as a people, “we are taught to separate.” Spot-on. And one of them said, “It’s not safe anywhere,” as the character in 1851—ring any bells for these days?

One line that especially struck me was, “What are you doing with the days that your ancestors have earned you?” That was just one sentence in the middle of all of it, but it really hit home. Clearly, this duo is doing the absolute most with their days!!! You know when people ask what you bring to the table? Well, these guys built the table!

This is how good Mexodus is—for once, I’m not even going to equate it to a story from my own life! There is no comparison. (How’s that for a recommendation???)

Of course, Brian and Nygel can’t do everything by themselves, so they had David Mendizábal direct it, (he also did the tiny bit of costuming there is,) and Tony Thomas choreographed the bit of movement. (The crowd went wild when the guys did literally one second of Kid ’n Play’s famous move!) I also have to give props to “looping systems architecture and sound designer” Mikhail Fiksel, who won a Tony for the also-fascinating Dana H., (which I reviewed here, if you want to see what else this guy can do: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-dana-h.)

To sum up, if you love great music, and are a fan of talent, you have got to see Mexodus!

I have to add a couple of props for the Pasadena Playhouse itself. One is that they always provide little bottles of ice cold water for the audience on hot days. You have no idea how much I appreciate that. And my friend pointed-out that there is plenty of room between the rows for people to get by without stepping on your feet, which is also a pleasure. So go see this show there already! You have only two more weeks!

Mexodus running through August 2, 2026
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena
626-356-7529 www.pasadenaplayhouse.org