Review: FLY ME TO THE SUN at The Fountain Theatre

With the subject of immigration in the news daily, The Fountain Theatre’s 35th anniversary Season appropriately opens with the West Coast Premiere of Fly Me to the Sun by playwright Brian Quijada, who co-created beats and remixes with his brother Marvin Quijada, to tell the story of how their family’s journey from El Salvador impacted their upbringing in Middle America.

Geraldo Navarro portrays BQ and his Abuela Julia

The semi-autobiographical play speaks directly to BQ’s relationship with his Abuela Julia who was summoned to America to raise him through his childhood as the youngest son of her daughter who was overwhelmed with the responsibility of raising two sons on her own in a country fraught with hatred against the assimilation of Latinx immigrants.

Noé Cervantes and Geraldo Navarro portray brothers who entertain their followers online.

The production’s director Raymond O. Caldwell, Artistic Director of the Fountain, shares in program notes, “BQ’s Abuela [grandmother] entreats us to think deeply about what to value as Americans, asking us to be critical of what the American dream is, and who the beneficiaries of that dream really are. These women whose immigration/migration to the U.S. was often rife with trauma and hardship, navigate capitalism, racism, sexism, and ageism as part of their new American lives… but what happens when you discover there isn’t a place for you in that dream?”

Geraldo Navarro and Noé Cervantes  

Like BQ’s Abuela, my own grandparents, all four of whom immigrated from Eastern Europe just after the turn of the 20th Century, brought with them the traditions, morals, and intense need to keep families close when they settled in America and to secure better lives for their children and future generations. But times have changed, reflected in Quijada’s heartfelt and soul-searching look into his personal guilt for not realizing how important his Abuela Julia was - as well as the love with which she raised him in an unfamiliar country - until it was too late to tell her in person.

Noé Cervantes and Geraldo Navarro

Told in the style of a late-night talk show which the brothers share online from their mother’s kitchen, what makes this two-hander starring Geraldo Navarro as BQ and Noé Cervantes as his brother DJ, who shares a playlist that pays homage to R&B, hip-hop, Latin-American music and American standards that will get you moving to the groove while sitting in your seat, is the incredibly unique way Navarro brilliantly portrays his Abuela Julia as a hand puppet – one that becomes more alive as his history with her is revealed through character-specific movement, accent, attitude, and clothing.

Geraldo Navarro as BQ and his Abuela Julia

It doesn’t matter that Navarro is not a ventriloquist since witnessing his mouth moving when speaking as his much-opinionated Abuela takes nothing away from his honest and loving portrayal of her as he examines the moments that move us to create a place called “home.”

Geraldo Navarro and Noé Cervantes 

Filled with intense and often cross-stage movement, stories being told are enhanced with media design by Deja Collins which include scene and story-enhancing projections in the kitchen windows. Lighting design by Alison Brummer focuses attention on soul-defining moments, with sound design and original composition by Andrea Allmond and costume design by Jeanette Godoy adding to the juxtaposition of generations against the timeline of their lives.

Geraldo Navarro and Noé Cervantes 

Scenic design by Michael Navarro along with scenic painting by Marine Walton transform the entire theater into the authentic middle-America kitchen set with all the walls now a brilliant white, making the small theater itself feel even smaller. Audience members feel even closer to each other, and the actors, as if we are also part of their family – which we really are as Americans whose families immigrated here to make better lives for their future generations.

Noé Cervantes and Geraldo Navarro

Artistic director Caldwell, who previously directed the play in Washington DC, shares, “The Fountain remains committed to presenting work that confronts the issues of our world by celebrating the deepest parts of our shared humanity. And what is more universal than the importance of grandparents in shaping our lives?”

BQ (Geraldo Navarro) recalls his Abuela Julia reading the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus to him about a boy who flew too close to the Sun.

May everyone honor their own ancestors’ memories by thanking them daily by remembering their sacrifices in the face over overwhelming odds to create a new family history in a land they hoped would provide a better life for generations to come. And may America once again be that country.

Fly Me to the Sun runs through October 12 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays at 8 p.m. (dark Monday, Sept. 29); Sundays at 2 p.m.; with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, October 11.  In addition, there will be three Spanish language performances on Sunday, Sept. 28; and Sunday, Oct. 5, each at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 2 p.m.

Tickets range from $25–$45; Pay–What–You–Will seating is available every Monday night in addition to regular seating (subject to availability). For reservations and information, call (323) 663–1525 or go to https://www.fountaintheatre.com/

The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Patrons are invited upstairs to relax before the show in the Fountain’s café, and afterwards for a complimentary (and delicious) mini-pupusa (El Salvador’s national dish), as well as conversation with cast members.

Los Angeles Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Hollywood Bowl)

9.1% of votes

2. HAIR (Conundrum Theatre)

5.2% of votes

3. HEATHERS (Backyard Playhouse: Treetop Production)

5.1% of votes

Vote Now!