The American monthly magazine for expats and visitors in the UK

Saturday
May 19 2012

TIME:          US  |   UK

WEATHER:  US  |   UK

THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE
      Back Issues
WHAT'S ON
      Diary Dates
SPORTS
      Features & Blogs
FEATURES
      Politics blog
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
  "Life in the UK"
      American Groups
      Essential Contacts
      Money
      Education
      Driving
      Property

REVIEWS

John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown
Charing Cross Theatre, Villiers Street, London WC2N 6NL

To write a single autobiographical one–man show might be thought of as vanity, to write five must surely be considered egomania. With someone of lesser ability this might be true, but when you possess the raw talent and boundless energy of this pint–sized New York Latino, it certainly isn't a problem.

Theatrical to his very core and with a singular talent for mimicry, Leguizamo can hold an audience in the palm of his hand. In this vivid account of the colourful characters in his life, no other actors are needed. With the slightest gesture or vocal inflection he can conjure up a whole personality. Toned and trim, with an expressive face, rubbery limbs and a dancer's grace, he belies his 46 years as he breakdances, boogies and salsas across the stage. Never resting for a second, he is like a teenager on Red Bull. Think Robin Williams crossed with the manic British comic Lee Evans and you begin to come somewhere near the phenomenon that is Leguizamo.

He created an Off–Broadway sensation with his first solo show, Mambo Mouth which won an Obie and his second show, Spic–O–Rama, enjoyed extended sold–out runs in Chicago and New York. This was followed by Freak (Tony Award nomination), which, after its Broadway run in 1998, was aired on HBO, directed by Spike Lee, and won Leguizamo an Emmy Award. He then returned to Broadway in 2001 with the show Sexaholix…a Love Story (Tony nomination) and that raw exploration of his sex life coincided with a nervous breakdown and general burn out. All the while however he was in growing demand for TV and film work and the show gloriously satirises the Latino typecasting he endured, playing pimps and drug dealers in shows and movies like Miami Vice and Carlito's Way.

Because the earlier shows focused more on his youth, here he takes us quickly from this tough childhood in Queens, to his discovering the acting bug, to starting to play performance art spaces with his then girlfriend (the very tall Kat), to his ascent into regular TV and film roles. He thought he had made it when he secured his very own ‘Latino' sketch show House of Buggin but it flopped badly. That brought the gravy train for his family and pals on his payroll to a sharp end but it also forced him to reassess and start again with his theatre writing.

With a personality far too big for any writer, Leguizamo (like Robin Williams) needs his own material and what is really refreshing here is how, despite the occasional soft–centred stories about reconciling with his father or finding the right balance between life and work, he avoids easy sentiment. His portrayals of his disappointed and envious father or his grasping mother or his beloved granddad or Ray, his brash buddy from the old neighbourhood, may be mercilessly accurate but there is no cruelty in them and they have the ring of truth. He is similarly generous to Hollywood types whom he encountered such as Al Pacino or Brian De Palma but it is action hero Steven Seagal who drove him over the line. Seagal's sheer mediocrity and easy success inspired Leguizamo to forge his own path and believe that his story was also worth telling.

He writes in the programme note that doing a live autobiography before one is dead maybe an act of self–destruction or maybe an act of shedding an old skin. In any case he has the talent to do it better than anyone else.