The following review is a reprint form L.A. Theatre Magazine
Reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move
“This is a love story” begins the recounting of a soul mate and the discovery of a true love so powerful that even given pain, insecurity, complications and the good possibility that nothing lasts forever, love is all or nothing – and would you still choose it if you knew the odds.
Antonio Sacre claims not to be a writer but rather a storyteller. And indeed, the Irish-Cuban-American , reminiscent of the bards of old, has got more than a touch of the poet in him. In The Next Best Thing, Sacre blends contemporary storytelling, ancient myth and modern verse, into a moving, honest and heartfelt performance about one man’s survival of falling in love, blessedly, without fan-fare, slapstick, or melodramatic tearjerking.
More than willing to bare his heart to audiences, he shares his most painful and wonderful moments in an exquisite black-box performance – simple, humorous and subtle – through the metaphor of the Russian fairy tale, The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa, comparing himself to the boy who, time and again walks into his fears, his destiny, and transformation.
Written and Directed by Antonio Sacre
Directed by Paul Stein in collaboration with Jim Lasko, Artistic Director of Redmoon Chicago
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2 responses to “#HFF11: ‘The Next Best Thing’, reviewed”
[…] winners of Best of Fringe have gone on to have successful fringe runs in other cities including The Next Best Thing (Nominated for a LA Weekly Award), and which Gia On The Move reviewed for LA Theatre Review last […]
[…] first experienced his work back in 2011 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in The Next Best Thing, noting his “touch of the poet,” as an ode to his Bostonian, Irish-American […]