This show is too big, too populated, too sprawling to give you even a hint in this small space of how delightful the entire production is. And by big I don't mean overproduced, as the Sacred Fools Theatre is one of the more intimate spaces in town; I just mean a lot of ground gets covered.

Kirk Wood Bromley's verse play-yes, verse play-is based upon Romeo and Juliet, but there's no way it could be mistaken for a retread. This time the lovers are in present-day Phoenix-"sparkling Phoenix" as it so colorfully put in the script. Icarus (Matthew Troyer) is the Latino star quarterback on the Phoenix Aztechs, and Aria (Kim Jackson) is the Anglo daughter of the team owner. Edward Symington essays this growly bear father role and handles the mixture of crudity and poetry with aplomb.

Icarus is a winsome lad whose opening line, as he is introduced at a press conference, is, "Forgive me, I am shy yet to the press, like a rattler curled from the light." He makes this line sail so easily that the house is in love with him long before Aria. His older brother, Primalo (a captivating John Rosenfeld), has been toughened by circumstance into rather a different sort, and about the only thing these boys share is the family predilection for nice teeth. The lovely performance of Jackson as Aria also has an effective foil in the character of Dina, the chola with a "sweet nunchuck wiggle" and a jones for Icarus. Rachel Dara Wolfe is amazing in this part. To do what she does, and to do it in verse-well, it simply has to be seen.

Other notable performances are Gina Marie Fields as Trinidad, Aria's Nana (her diatribe on panties is priceless), Shirley Roeca as the Medicine Woman (who brings to mind the physical comedy of Art Carney), Pam Bel Anu as the barely functional Mayor Favor, Paul C. and Peter Allen Vogt as a variety of comic twin characters, and Amy Bryson (standing in for the always delicious Carolyn Hennesy) as the trophy wife of Aria's father. Bryson shimmies and schemes with the best of them. Alexander Yannis Stephano clearly and masterfully directs this cast, a group large enough to constitute a small village.The real star, though, is the text. Bromley's use of the language is lovely and very character-specific; never does he seem trapped by the convention of verse, nor do characters end up sounding too high-flown for their station. Most of my notes, in fact, were just eminently quotable lines, but there's no room left to share them here. Go and discover them for yourself.

At the Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood, ICARUS AND ARIA, a love story of sorts, makes its west coast premiere.

Icarus Alzaro (Matthew Troyer) is a young Hispanic professional football player for a pro team in Arizona. He falls for Aria Jones (Kim Jackson) a young Anglo woman, who happens to be the daughter of the owner of the team that Icarus plays for. Conflicts arise between the two families, along with other 'players' that go with professional sports: coach, agents, local government officials, hanger-ons, and anybody else who become the package.

Playwright Kirk Wood Bromley creates this tale as one part love story (a la Romeo and Juliet), one part sports tale (i.e. "North Dallas Forty" and countless others), and one part Greek chorus. Much of the dialogue is spken in prose, as if it's some long forgotten poem. (This prose is somewhat lost by the second act). Alexander Yannis Stephano directs the large cast into this story that really isn't a sappy love tale, and it's not a rah-rah blood 'n guts sports fable.

ICARUS AND ARIA is one of the more classy productions performed by The Sacred Fools that this writer has seen! However, don't let 'classy' be confused with 'lavish'. After all, who had said that sports had to be lavish, let alone classy??

-- Rich Borowy
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