Its also clear that our preconceived notions of these characters color the way we view them. A monologue from Jesus H. DAmico - (30s/40s/Italian) He is a gentle and more calming guard at Rikers. Billington quipped that Angel's final sacrificial gesture "smacks more of romantic fiction than spiritual redemption [] I enjoyed the production without fully believing in Guirgis's vision of crime and punishment. other. But mostly there The kind that seems so raw and dangerous, you almost feel like a creep for listening in but then anxiously wait for his return whenever he leaves the stage. Lucius Jenkins is on appeal, trying to avoid the death penalty for the murder of eight people. Randall Sr. captivates as Lucius "Black Plague" Jenkins, a serial killer on death row who has found God and is trying to lead Angel to Him . [2][3] The play was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. . What about my victimization? Playing the charismatic older convict, Lucius a self-proclaimed child of god who has killed six people Jones is a live coal onstage. Read 26 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. With some bravado, Angel insists that what he did was therefore only technically wrong. Was it my free will to be an undiagnosed manic-depressive paranoid schizophrenic?! Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 79 pages ; 20 cm "Angel Cruz, a poor Puerto Rican, isn't sure why he's in jail after shooting Reverend Kim, the born-again Christian who brainwashed his best friend. With so many themes to explore some get little more than a cursory nod, but in this Young . The play takes place in a prison on Rikers Island in New York. He is a former co-artistic director of Labyrinth Theater Company. If it reached no further, the breakneck drama, originally produced by the Labyrinth Theater Company in 2000, would be a worthy enough stunt, a jukebox of Mamet-scaled vulgarity. Stephen Adly Guirgis' Pulitzer Prize-winning "Between Riverside and Crazy" gets its local debut at Steppenwolf in June. JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN . HB Studio. Stuart. It allows Lucius evangelism to soar His poetry has appeared in various literary publications in the United States and abroad. In some productions of Stephen Aldy Guirgis play, that might be the case, but at Collective Consciousness Theatre the shows gravitational pull changes the second Terrence Riggins walks on stage. But after DAmico is canned for slipping Lucius contraband cookies, hes left without an audience. Portland Monthly; Seattle Met; Sarasota Magazine; Aspen Sojourner; Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine; Park City Magazine; Houstonia Magazine 2799 Katy Freeway, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77007 Phone: 713-862 . Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is a play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis . Not Exactly Billington: writing about theatre since 2012. [1], The play premiered Off-Broadway at the East 13th Street Theatre in a production by LAByrinth Theater Company on November 29, 2000, and ran to December 31, 2000. Jesus Hopped the A Train | The Front Row Center His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. agrees to represent him. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues. Angel Cruz, played by Richard Nguyen Sloniker is a Puerto Rican awaiting trial for justifiable attempted murder. One of the most striking things about Soulpepper's Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is how multi-dimensional its main characters are. It's a tight, well-paced and thoughtful staging . Set inside Rikers Island, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train follows Angel . Jenkins, a born again Christian and cold blooded killer. (Arthur Williams III), an older man who shows him kindness and seeks to show him the way to Jesus's love. Its a complex and feral feat of acting, one that would feel at home at Long Wharf or Yale Rep or even at one of the best New York theaters. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train - Wikiwand The victim? The performance by Frankham was another highlight for me; the development of the character though her interactions with Angel and her later monologues was subtle, yet well conveyed. Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train begins and ends with the same image: a young prisoner, Angel, on his knees, praying in darkness. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8 p.m. on Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday. Directed by Kevin Mack. Jesus Hopped the A Train (Play) Plot & Characters | StageAgent Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is a multi-layered discussion about morality in all its forms and how the artificiality of prison with its removal of humanity and, perhaps quaint, concept of punishment, challenges concepts of responsibility and redemption. Intermission is partnering with Soulpepper Theatre Company and theatre critic Robert Cushman to mentor this season's participants. We hear a story of how her Riverside Jacksonville News, There is nothing abstract about them: Mr. Guirgis says that the play began in his own attempt to rescue a friend from the Unification Church. | Check out 'Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train Fundraiser' on Indiegogo. The kind that only happens when the right actor connects with the right role at the right time. father stabbed someone at a dance when she was younger, but, In Rikers, Angel meets Lucius Some prisoners go out of their minds when confined to the 23-hour isolation wing of Rikers Island prison. The cast of "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" by Eclipse Theatre. Stephen Adly Guirgis' Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is an explosive, verbose play set in the maximum security wing of the infamous Rikers' Island prison in New York. But me? There is even something endearing about the crime that put him in prison: He shot a cult leader in the butt while trying to rescue a friend. Perhaps the most stirring monologue of the play comes from . The opening joke is not, therefore, cheap. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train | Theater in New York - Time Out New York Angel Cruz and Lucius Jenkins face murder charges. . All people wanna do is cry for the victims! Synopsis Jesus Hopped the A Train tells the story of several inmates of Rikers Prison who are awaiting charges for murder. Jesus Hopped The "A" Train. Part Size: Lead. The performance by Frankham was another highlight for me; the development of the character though her interactions with Angel and her later monologues was subtle, yet well conveyed. . Reviewed . Free will versus actions determined by the circumstances of our existence. . . By Jesse Green. The play was performed during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2001. Gender: Male. Director Chari Arespocachaga, who also staged Short North Stages 2020 area premiere of Guirgis The (Expletive) with the Hat, again knits together a well-paced production that scores with edgy insights and dark humor. Joey said, "Jesus hopped the A train to see us safe to bed." Plot synopsis. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, a CurtainUp review . Thats not to say everything in Jesus works so well. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train does not offer a clear verdict, even while it implicitly criticises the judicial and penal systems of America. (played with methodical control by Dervla Kirwan) takes a liking to him and Jesus Hopped the "A" Train - Backstage JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN by Stephen Adly Guirgis . One gets the sense that, with only a slight reversal of fate, Valdez and Mary Jane could have easily ended up going down a dark path with Angel serving as their subsequent lawyer. Stephen Adly Guirgis got his break in 2000 with "Jesus Hopped the . We see Angel meeting with his lawyer, a tightly-wound public defender with personal walls as thick as the ones at Rikers. who shot a cult leader in the ass because he had ensnared Angel's best friend in his "religion," and Edi Gathegi as Lucius Jenkins, a brutal murderer who found religion on his way to the executioner. Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is a play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. on the Internet. His first five plays were directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and subsequently received critically acclaimed productions in New York and London. It then returned to New York City as writer Stephen Adly Guirgis began his residency at Signature Theatre Company. Results may vary. This leads you to expect Jerry Orbach, or a neat denouement that Mr. Guirgis is not about to provide. Lucius (Carl Lumbly), an articulate serial killer who has found God, is Angel's next door cellmate. Jesus hopped the 'A' train by Guirgis, Stephen Adly. Review: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train - Durham Student Theatre Photo: Tristram Kenton. The play takes place in a prison on Rikers Island in New York. There in the next cage is Lucius Jenkins, a serial murderer and self-described paranoid schizophrenic trying to avoid extradition to Florida and probable execution there. Synopsis. The shooting was part of Angels plan to rescue his best friend, whom the cult had stolen and brainwashed. (He tells his court-appointed lawyer that he merely aimed at Kims water-buffalo-sized posterior.) Sean Carvajal stars in Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, directed by Mark Brokaw, at Signature Theatre. He is a former co-artistic director of Labyrinth Theater Company. Reviews for Jesus Hopped the . Jesus Hopped the A Train book. Jesus Hopped the A Train. But youd be wrong. by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Guide written by. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train revels in these complexities. Angel (John Ortiz) and Lucius (Ron Cephas Jones) are in lock-down, spending all but one hour a day in their cells. The burdens of the outside world are crushing, and in the little time these two share outdoors in their separate cages shows the strain. Audition for JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN at Actor's Express Theatre Part investigation of our broken criminal justice system, part examination of the corruptive influence of Judeo-Christian morality, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" is a promising Randall Sr. captivates as Lucius "Black Plague" Jenkins, a serial killer on death row who has found God and is trying to lead Angel to Him . Jethmalani's production gets a little overstated in the small space, with some dialogue lost in the echoes. He has a great, effective monologue at the end about the death of Lucius that is sublime. JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN. Joey said, "Jesus hopped the A train to see us safe to bed." **** Mary Jane . Brayden Fagbemis putback rescues No. Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, . Pirie has a resume of fine acting longer than Lucius' rap sheet, and it shows. on March 2, 2022, There are no reviews yet. Two contrasting prison guards, although convincingly portrayed by Quinn M. Johnson Charlie DAmico (good-guy, likable Charlie DAmico) and Justin Picado (strict, cruel Valdez), remain schematic. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is skillfully structured so that the audience's sympathies see-saw back and forth between the silver-tongued Lucius and a seemingly sadistic guard named Valdez (the . Please prepare one of the sides available at https://actors-express.com/get-involved/ . Two years later a similar production was mounted at Londons Donmar Warehouse. Isaac. The cast of "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" by Eclipse Theatre. a panoptican effect. JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN Auditions Actor's Express Theatre Company in Submission 11/23. glass, to create the sense that characters might be talking to, arguing with, Review: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (Soulpepper) Lucius Jenkins. June 22, 2022; a la carte wedding flowers chicago; used oven pride without gloves; jesus hopped the a train lucius monologue THE COVID-19 MONOLOGUES; . Gathegi. If you dont have access to a reader, please present a monologue in the style of the show. Much of it also seems unneeded and diverting. Yet, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" may be trickier to perform, with its passions verging on melodrama and its frequent alternating monologues sometimes telling rather than showing. The others Stephanie DiMaggio as Hanrahan, Erick Betancourt as Charlie and especially Ricardo Chavira as the terrifying Valdez support them, and the plays whipsawing arguments, handily. . Particularly thought-provoking is a monologue by Matthew Douglas as Charlie, the guard before Valdez who was fired, whose initial amicable relationship with Lucius is clouded by his final visitation. In the Signature Theater revival of Stephen Adly Guirgis' "Jesus Hopped the A Train . The performance by Williams was understated but effective and led to one of the most compelling scenes, where D'Amico is describing Lucius' execution. That Lucius (Edi Gathegi) is generally sunny and witty despite having killed eight people plays with our loyalties. (Scott Dray). Early on in the play, Valdez has a monologue-which may appear to be his only redeeming moment in the play. Productions But when the Reverend dies in hospital, Angel lands in solitary confinement next to Lucius, a card-carrying Christian serial-killer. What Does Cameron Call His Style Of Rhythm? But the audience also hears stories of childhood friendships and complicated . New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. web pages "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" arrives at the 13th Street Theater with all the trappings of a grass-roots Off Broadway hit: a dollop of street credibility in the person of its brooding leading man . . Review | Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train | Young Vic | 5 Stars | Kate Hewitt's production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train' is bold and. [17], Michael Billington of The Guardian, who had given the play three out of five stars in 2002,[18] gave the same rating after a 2019 performance and said that "for all the vividness of the dialogue, the play still strikes me as baffling in its exploration of guilt, faith and redemption." Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is skillfully structured so that the audience's sympathies see-saw back and forth between the silver-tongued Lucius and a seemingly sadistic guard named Valdez (the . Jesus Hopped The A Trainquestions the legal and penal systems in the US and offers a stark reflection on how the law struggles to deal with the complexities of the human . The reverend subsequently, and indirectly, dies. The new guard Valdez (Jason Hall) is cruel and curt. is a lot of reason to like him or at least be impressed by him. Angel Cruz is a 30-year-old bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the death of the leader of a religious cult. Angel Cruz is a young Puerto Rican man incarcerated for shooting a cult leader after said person stole his best friend. 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train' - Backstage Hes angry, lonely, frustrated and struggling with his faith/spirituality. Terell W.J. An inmate at Rikers (ANGEL) struggles with his new circumstances as he tries to convince his fellow inmate (LUCIUS) to speak to him. Lucius is a serial . The verbally fiery "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" is a bravura play: The dialogue can be ear-scaldingly profane, and the heaven-or-hell speeches soar like theological arias. Overdone Men's Monologues - MonologueAudition.com Lucius Jenkins is a . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train - Monologue - YouTube The opening monologue, in which Angel struggles to say the Lords Prayer but repeatedly mangles it, is so packed with frustrated profanities that it evokes David Mamets extremes. A great feeling., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history. meters wide with a concrete floor, runs from one end of the auditorium to the He's also suspicious and angry toward Mary Jane (Elizabeth Birnkrant), the public defender who sees in Angel's defiant attitude flashes of her own past as an angry "charity case" in a private school with a drunken father. And Angel, on the other hand, acquires the nickname of Droopy Dog. Part investigation of our broken criminal justice system, part examination of the corruptive influence of Judeo-Christian morality, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" is a promising start to Eclipse Theatre . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train plays through October 8, 2017, at 1st Stage - 1524 Spring Hill Road, in Tysons, VA. For tickets, call the box office at (703) 854-1856, or purchase them online. Pursuant to Equity guidelines, proof of full vaccination no later than two weeks prior to in person work is a required condition of employment. Postponed from April when an actor became ill with COVID-19, this pandemic-era production forges resonant metaphors after so many months of socially separated isolation. Runs to February 23 at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto's Historic Distillery District in the Michael Young Theatre, 50 Tank House Lane. Perhaps the most stirring monologue of the play comes from . Dogg as sound designer. The other actors do fine with their characters, who are written to mostly speak through direct-address. Magic Time!: 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train' at 1st Stage Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues.But it also displays . But before that, you can dip into his earlier work with Eclipse Theatre Company's "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," the first entry in the company's all-Guirgis season. The performance by Williams was understated but effective and led to one of the most compelling scenes, where D'Amico is describing Lucius' execution. Jesus Hopped the A Train Barbara and Scott Siegel New York City December 26, 2000 John Ortiz is Angel Cruz in Jesus Hopped The A Train (Photo: Jamie Mullians) Stephen Adly Guirgis, whose In Arabia,. It seems simple on the surface, but between these two strong actors, Guirgis stellar script and Dexter J. Singletons finely-tuned direction, it makes for electric theater. Lucius Jenkins. Reverend Kim, a Lexus-driving cult leader who's sucked in Angel's childhood friend, Joey. . "Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name . How Marmions Trevon Roots wins battle with Burlington Centrals Drew Scharnowski for sectional title. Angel Cruz. [4][5][6] The original cast included Salvatore Inzerillo, John Ortiz, and David Zayas, Ron Cephas Jones, and Elizabeth Canavan.[4]. doors slide back and forth to create the different places, most notably the separated Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Rabbit Hole. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues. JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN - Equity video submissions Actor's Express Theatre Company | Atlanta, GA, Associate Artistic Director Amanda Washington. In 2011, his play The Motherfucker with the Hat was nominated for a handful of Tonys, including Best Play; a few scant weeks after the award . Playing Lucius Jenkins, a fellow inmate convicted of murdering eight people, Riggins delivers the kind of . Lucius (Carl Lumbly), an articulate serial killer who has found God, is Angel's next door cellmate. about justice and redemption, whats right and wrong, and the power of belief. , albeit in separate chain-link cages. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall Lucius, despite Taylor's fearsome performance, remains a bit of a conundrum, as captured in a beguiling late-in-the-play monologue from D'Amico (Zach Bloomfield), a guard who loses his job for . Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. The play's format, which really focuses on a series of monologues and duologues - offers a complete focus on the individuals . Jesus Hopped the "a " Train( main work) . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train closes October 15, 2017 Details and tickets -[/ezcol_1third] It's startling to watch Luciusa so-called man of Godinfluence Angel in a way akin to Rev.