[NEOPAL]Kent Trumbulls Mambo Italiano Review

[brentw617 at aol.com]

You will laugh sometimes and have a lump in your throat other times.

By L. CROW

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Most writers yearn for those rare and magical moments when the 
precisely correct number of words combine in the most efficient and 
creative way, so that the result expresses depth and meaning far beyond 
the sum total of the words themselves.

There may not be such a thing as a perfectly written piece, but Steve 
Gallucio's play, "Mambo Italiano," comes pretty close. Add to that a 
generous helping of humor from an excellent cast, and you have a 
performance that gets an A+. This production is now showing at 
Kent-Trumbull Theater.

"Mambo" is a story about being Italian, Catholic and gay. It is about 
loving and losing, struggling with family and struggling with self; the 
need to be accepted and the drive to be authentic. It doesn't matter 
whether you are straight or gay, this play will make you laugh really 
hard while it tugs at your heartstrings and brings a lump to your 
throat.

The premise

Angelo (Eric Wayne Coulbourne), is deeply in love with Nino (Brent 
Edward Whetstone) and finally gathers the nerve to tell his strict 
old-world parents that he is gay. Nino, however, isn't ready to come 
out and becomes resentful when Angelo reveals their secret.

Angelo's sister, Anna (Maria Alana Wright), has known all along, and 
she loves and supports him. At 35, she still lives at home under the 
iron hand of her parents. She is addicted to Valium and drinks too much.

Much of the sharp-witted humor of this work is in the fast-paced 
dialogue, filled with sarcasm and insults thrown back and forth between 
Angelo's parents, Maria (Donnagene Palmer) and Gino (C. Richard Haldi), 
who fight constantly. Enter Lina (Linda Kay Newill), Nino's mother, and 
the jabs go even deeper. But the trouble really begins when the two 
mothers get their heads together and decide to throw a party to fix up 
their boys with attractive girls, which they seem to think will 
immediately solve the "problem" of their being gay. Lina invites Pina 
(Heather Fenstermaker), and suddenly Angelo's world is turned on its 
side.



Throughout the play, it is Angelo who is the oasis in the desert. The 
others, it seems, have had their lives in automatic drive for years, 
living the mold cast by those before them, and passing it on to their 
offspring. But Angelo is life, love, passion, pain ? all the emotions 
that the others have drowned in a bottle of wine or suppressed in the 
lies they live.

Captivates audience

Coulbourne, who is a theater major at Kent-Portage, kept the audience 
in the palm of his hand ? especially in his beautiful and tender 
soliloquy expressing the depth of his feelings for Nino, then in his 
explosion during the party, pouring out years of pain, anger and 
resentment. Coulbourne's emotional range and his ability to penetrate 
the hearts and souls of the crowd were amazing. When he spoke, it was 
as if the rest of the world stopped to listen, because what he had to 
say was so important, and it was delivered so well.

In fact, the chemistry among all the members of this top-notch cast 
resulted in a flawless and magical performance.

This play is very highly recommended (but not suitable for children 
under 16). It continues Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 
p.m. Call (330) 675-8887 for tickets.