ONE OF THE GOOD ONES

This fun new play, (wisely commissioned by the Pasadena Playhouse, so it’s the only place you’ll see it for a while,) about a *Latine family, is very humorous. *[Note: My research showed me that “Latine” seems to be the newly correct way to define people of Hispanic heritage, without assigning a gender to them, such as with Latino or Latina. I really hope I’m getting it right here.]

But let me tell you this—it would really help with the enjoyment of One of the Good Ones to know Spanish. Both my friend Jan and I felt left-out whenever the characters spoke it fluently, followed by hearty laughter from most of the sold-out and very appreciative Opening Night audience! It made me wish I had retained more Spanish than “muchas ropas,” (said disparagingly by someone about my massive wardrobe,) and “muy joven,” (said scoldingly about most of my guy friends in my clubbing days.)  So I suggest that you at least try to see this comedy with a Spanish-understanding pal, so they can explain those amusing lines to you.

But no worries if you have to go it alone—the entire hour and a half play is full of mirth, so it’s really of no consequence if you miss a sentence or two. And though it’s about a Latin-American twenty-something introducing her boyfriend to her Cuban father and Mexican-Puerto Rican mother, the story is pretty universal. “Meeting the parents” is always a good premise for comedy, and, although the show does get a bit too preachy at times, it works mostly wonderfully in One of the Good Ones.

My friend, (who’s been a casting director for decades, so she’s seen it all by now,) and I didn’t laugh as much as the majority of the audience members did, but we both still found it entertaining, especially once the main quartet of actors were on stage together.

Surprisingly for me, (who doesn’t watch much TV outside of sports,) I was already familiar with three of the five actors. I’m probably the only person who watched, (and enjoyed,) the 2018 TV series, The Baker and the Beauty, on which Carlos Gómez played the baker’s father, so I already knew who he was. And I wasted spent two years of my life watching Once Upon a Time, waiting for something interesting to happen on it, so I knew Lana Parrilla from being the Evil Queen on that. But, most significantly, I have never missed even one second of So You Think You Can Dance after the first season, so I knew Nico Greetham from being in the Top Ten on that show almost a decade ago. I love when a dancer is also a good actor. It’s so interesting to me when people have multiple talents!

Even though the entire cast does the script proud, I must admit that I didn’t really connect with the two females, Ms. Parrilla and Isabella Gomez, who plays the daughter. Jan and I both thought the show came to life when Carlos, as the husband and father, came on. And then it picked-up again after that family discourse became enough already, (how much can an audience hear about menopause and watch a woman dab her armpits with a tissue?,) and Nico entered as the daughter’s boyfriend. He’s unexpectedly (for me) very funny.

As usual for the productions at the revered Tony Award-winning Pasadena Playhouse, I’m recommending One of the Good Ones. Even if you live elsewhere, I have a feeling that this play will be around everywhere for many years to come. (So you people around the country have time to learn some Spanish now!)

The Tanya Orellana-designed set, which is the living room of the family’s upscale home in—where else?—Pasadena, is almost perfect. I wish that I lived there! The only drawback of the design is the electronic fireplace that takes up a big space in the center of the stage. When the father says he’s turning it on, you could not see it working from the back of the theatre. So we didn’t even know that’s what it’s supposed to be.

It’s always good when a play gives audience members interesting flashbacks to episodes from their own lives, as this one did for me, and I’m sure for everyone who sees it. My closest one to the action of One of the Good Ones is that, back in the day, I had a boyfriend outside of my ethnicity for a few years. While I’m Jewish, my bae was black, and even though this was in the dark ages, when bi-racial couples were frowned upon in America, no one from either family objected, not even at the beginning. We were both taught that you accept people for who they are, and our fams loved the others’ paramour. So I had a bit of the opposite experience to the one portrayed in this show.

Also, I can tell you that, while totally played for laughs here, the language issue is real. I was educated about that many years ago through my friendship with French Olympic medalist Philippe Candeloro. We were hanging-out at one of my clubs one night, and none of my gang spoke French, so he had to just go along with our feeble attempts at Français and his okay English. But then, we stopped into a French cafe as it was closing, and after getting to speak his native language with the staff for an hour or so, Philippe was all refreshed. It was such a lesson to me; people need to communicate in their mother tongue as often as possible; it’s good for their souls. I actually brushed-up on my French for a while to make his trips here as easy as possible for him. (Now I need to do the same for Spanish!)

Even if One of the Good Ones doesn’t make you hark back, as it did for me, I think that everyone will enjoy it. It’s well-written and performed, and only one ninety-minute act. It’s also always fun to see people you may know from TV in person. It’s just a very easy experience all the way round.

In addition to getting to see such a good play, we Opening Night-ers were treated to a really fun soiree when it was over. The fete was held in two places on the premises. Half was on the Playhouse’s happening patio, (festively decorated with piñatas, which feature in the narrative.) If you preferred to have a seat, you could go inside the year-old adjacent restaurant, Bar Chelou, where most of the food was, along with the more creative beverages. While I was having a love affair with their tiny crispy potato bites, the rest of the guests were very happy with the various pretty and generous cocktails.

The only thing that missed the mark a tiny bit that evening was the party menu. While the cheese and charcuterie were classy, (and were accompanied by delicious little breads,) it would have been really clever of them to serve simply salad and enchiladas, (even mini passed ones,) just like the family in the play did!

Still, as Jan and I walked across the street to the parking lot, and looked back at all the hubbub in the courtyard, with the music going, both of us declared that we were so grateful to have been a part of that fabulous event!

One of the Good Ones running through April 7, 2024
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena
626-356-7529 www.pasadenaplayhouse.org