BWW Reviews: Jaston William's BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS is Hysterical and Poignantly Touching

The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston hosted Jaston Williams, of GREATER TUNA fame, on Saturday, June 15, 2013 for two command performances of BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS. BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS, one of four one-man shows crafted by Jaston Williams, had its World Premiere on February 14, 2009 at the Lubbock Civic Center Theater as a benefit for Lubbock Community Theater. To create the show, he pulled several of his autobiographical vignettes from I'M NOT LYING and COWBOY NOISES. He also wrote a new piece, "The Screaming Part of China."

Audiences at The Grand 1894 Opera House love seeing Jaston Williams on stage. Walking into the venue there was an undeniable electric energy that filled the entirety of the building. Conversations recollecting previous performances abounded, as the audience excitedly anticipated seeing Saturday night's performance. The lights dimmed and Rufus Wainwright's "Oh, What a World" filled the auditorium. Jaston Williams stepped onto the stage to thunderous applause and launched into a hysterical night of theatre, recounting stories from his own fascinating and surprisingly relatable life.

In "A Piece of Chalk," Jaston Williams made the audience howl with laughter, telling us of his exploits as a four-year-old West Texas boy that was disappointed that he had to learn ballet to participate in the tap classes that interested him. He and his parents dreamed of young Jaston Williams following in the footsteps of Fred Astaire, so he was enrolled in dance classes. To his surprise he was the only boy at the studio in Valentine, Texas-a town whose claim to fame was having about "two frames of film" in the 1956 adaptation of GIANT based on "Edna Ferber's hardback about a state she didn't come from nor much care for." He hilariously explained that the dance recital had an out-of-town try-out in front of an audience of seven in Van Horn, Texas. In Van Horn his insurmountable stage fright ruined the show and molded Jaston Williams into the performer who we know and love, giving him the mettle for a lifelong career in the spotlight.

His piece entitled "Cussing" was filled with Jaston Williams' cherished brand of charisma and charm as he explored the power of lasting friendship. As a nine-year-old fourth grader, Jaston Williams befriended another boy who taught him how to cuss. As he recounted their time spent together, he deftly utilized sidesplitting body language and facial expressions to characterize all the people in the story for the audience. His exploration of his friendship with this boy was sublimely touching.

"Killing Mama" took the audience on a journey into the heart of Jaston Williams' remarkable family. He opened the piece with mirthful and funny references to DRIVING MISS DAISY that earned peals of laughter. As he narrateed the story of how his family attempted to convince his legally blind, deaf, and walker-using mother not to drive anymore, he brought the house down with plentiful hearty guffaws. Listening to his story, I was reminded of my great-grandmother, her navy blue land yacht known as a Cadillac de Ville, and the frustration she experienced as age worked against her ability to drive and be independent. Then, Jaston Williams expertly closed the piece with sweetly stirring and emphatically evocative details about his mother's last days. Across the auditorium, tears welled up in the eyes of all in attendance as he moved us deftly with grace and compassion to the resoundingly beautiful conclusion of "Killing Mama."

Closing Act I, Jaston Williams told the audience about a near-death experience from his early childhood. Jaston Williams is a phenomenal wordsmith, which is made abundantly clear by his skillful use of the English language in "Asuncion." As he wove this engaging story, he left the audience both spellbound and riveted. We hung onto every word proffered with pristine precision that boldly emphasized the rich power of purposefully chosen words.

Act II began with "Cowboy Noises," which is his uproarious tale of the night that The Beatles made their American debut on the Ed Sullivan show. His father, a hard-working West Texas Cowboy was already upset about changes in the world such as Elvis Presley, who he incorrectly assumed would be a passing fad. Then, those four singing boys from Liverpool, England completely unnerved and discomforted him as they sang and danced on national television. Yet, it is Jaston Williams' compassionate and understanding treatment of his father that stunningly provoked our souls and hearts in this resplendent piece. He thoughtfully explains how, as a father himself, he can now see that fateful night through the lens of his father's eyes and now respects that his father was so upset because he simply wanted to protect his youngest son from something he just could not comprehend.

Closing BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS was "The Screaming Part of China." In this piece, Jaston Williams took the audience on a gorgeously rousing and inspirational journey to Northern China. He went there to adopt his son, and he easily earned copious laughter as he expounded on the clashing of cultures he met with in China. Additionally, he tenderly touched our hearts with his instant love for his adopted son. Here he shed light on the miraculous power a good father has to positively impact the life of his son or daughter.

Direction by Scott Kanoff decisively gives Jaston Williams room to effectively affect the audience with his elegantly expressive and poignant recollections. Jaston Williams is given a lot of freedom to create on the stage, but Scott Kanoff guides him to ensure that every moment in the performance is magnificently memorable.

Kevin Bailey's Set Design is wonderfully light while being expressive of locale and era. He mixes items to create a fantastic blend of textures and designs that give the audience just the ideal amount of visual information to place Jaston Williams' vignettes in the appropriate time period and place.

Luke Moyer's Lighting Design is phenomenal. On the upstage cyclorama he brilliantly uses color to aid in the emotional tone of each piece, but he also creates that wide expansive Texas sky as well. He adroitly used reds and browns to produce a visual that flawlessly imitated the ruddy dusty air in Lubbock and West Texas.

Ken Huncovsky's Sound Design amplified Jaston Williams' voice to ensure that every word was heard perfectly in the auditorium. Moreover, his music selections complimented the show well.

For audiences who missed BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS or long to see it again, they can catch performances of the show from October 17 to 20, 2013 at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, Texas. For more information about these performances, please visit http://www.eisemanncenter.com. Audiences can also catch Jaston Williams in Casa Mañana's production of BIG RIVER in Fort Worth, Texas from September 21 to 29, 2013. For more information, please visit https://www.casamanana.org. Also, Jaston Williams will be premiering a new one-man show called MAID MARIAN IN A STOLEN CAR! at Austin's ZACH Theatre's Whisenhunt Stage. This production will run from June 12 to July 13, 2014. For more information about these performances, please visit http://www.zachtheatre.org. And for those audiences longing to return to The Grand 1894 Galveston Opera House, they can catch THE ADDAMS FAMILY: A NEW MUSICAL COMEDY from June 21 to 22, 2013. For more information about these performances, please visit http://www.thegrand.com.

All photos by Brenda Ladd. Courtesy of Hook 'Em Marketing & Public Relations.

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