paloma

i've gotten accustomed, over the yrs, to hearing great bands playing great sets to eight people, five of whom were in the other band, one of whom was running sound, and another of whom was tending bar. but there's so much work and so many more ppl involved in mounting a theatrical production that no matter how inculcated they might be with the ol' "show must go on" ethic, it's gotta hurt when actors take a stage to play to an audience that small.

that was the case this afternoon, at the premiere performance of rob bosquez' new play paloma at the rose marine theater. the show was mounted by the butterfly connection, a local outfit that specializes in performing new works and adaptations by local playwrights _for free_ to try 'n' expose more folks to live theater, and brilliantly staged by director adam justin dietrich, whose performance was one of the highlights of bosquez' a tale of los ninos cinco at teatro de la rosa last yr.

as a playwright, bosquez is the best-kept secret in fort worth theater -- one of those cats who, to paraphrase one of his characters, "dreams while he's standing up" and lets us share his incredible-but-oh-so-evocative visions. as my sweetie pointed out after watching paloma, "he does non-linear narrative better than most mofos," and she's right: in bosquez' world, past and present, dream and reality intermingle in a way that draws the viewer in without ever obscuring the essence of the story. paloma unfolds in three acts, each of which raises more of the curtain, so to speak, on a tale of love, infidelity, guilt, and murder, set in dusty west texas in the '20s.

music's an integral part of the performance, with recordings of classic western swing that play in between scenes and live singing and playing by cast members anson f. norwood (a particular standout as lester burke, the drifter at the center of the action), hip pocket theater veteran dick harris (paul), and alaina appleby (birdy). the cast is uniformly excellent (besides the above-mentioned, david conard and jennifer cleghorn were outstanding as a pair of doomed lovers) and they deserve to be playing to packed houses, not the paltry handful of theatregoers they had this afternoon. so if you dig seeing real life and hope and dreams played out on the evening stage, get you out to the rose marine tonight or the next, or to fort worth community arts center may 4th-7th. and if you've never partaken of the live theater experience, turn off the damn tv and go check it out -- you owe it to yrself. truly.