A RED letter event for Panama theater goers

 By Lourdes Quijada

“Went to rehearsal last night and can't tell you how phenomenal RED  is,  it's  no wonder it won so many Tony awards.”

Not my words, but those of  two doyens of the Ancon Theatre  Guild.

Tom and Gale Celucci have been pillars of the old lady of Ancon for more years than they might care to remember, and have experienced the best of times and  maybe edged  near to the worst of times in the world of theater, so a burst of enthusiasm from them is not to be taken lightly.

The Guild is  beginning  its booted up theatrical year with the best Broadway play of 2010, RED, by John Logan, which went on to win ten Tony awards.

It will be the first time in years  that a play will be presented in Panama in English and then in Spanish with the same cast.

RED is a drama about the life and thoughts of Mark Rothko, a genius artist of abstract expressionism in the twentieth century.  The play takes place in Rothko’s New York studio in the 50’s when he contracts a young assistant to help create, his series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building in New York.  The story becomes a verbal battle between the artist and the assistant about life, death, the past and the future. 

The play is directed by another icon of the Panama theatrical scene, Bruce Quinn, and performed by Leo Wiznitzer (Mark Rothko) and his assistant, Luigi Pezzotti (Ken).

The music was created by Adam Cork who was in charge of the London and Broadway openings and won the Olivier Award and the Tony award for Sound Design.  The lights are created by Rick Belzer, International Lighting expert and winner of multiple lighting awards.  Rick is coming to Panama specifically for this production at the Guild and Teatro La Quadra.

The play  will run for only three performances at the Guild on January  12, 13, 14 . Each performance  at 8 pm, following the traditional mingling and chit chat  on the balcony.

For reservations go to  tgapanama@gmail.com but move fast, because with only three performances tickets will likely be hard to come by, and the price is right

:a  donation: of $15., $7.50 for seniors and students.  

If you want to fine tune your Spanish ear, you can trot over to the

Teatro La Quadra  January17 to 29 for the Spanish versionor if you missed out at the Guild, catch an  Ingles performance at the Qadra on Jan 19 or 26.  Donation: $25.. Senior Citizens $15 and $10. for students.