{"id":87190,"date":"2025-10-09T08:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T15:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=87190"},"modified":"2025-10-09T14:05:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:05:27","slug":"little-king-of-norwalk-review-play-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/little-king-of-norwalk-review-play-homeless","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: A play about Norwalk\u2019s homeless housing ban, plus 3 other shows to see"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up<\/a> for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s so much going on in theaters this weekend! Two local plays are continuing, one is beginning, and there\u2019s a hilarious new play in Los Angeles about our neighboring city of Norwalk\u2019s ban on homeless housing \u2014 which actually happened in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locally, \u201cPredictor<\/a>\u201d at The Garage Theatre<\/b>, 251 E. Seventh St., is entering its final weekend, casting us into the mind of the erased woman who invented home pregnancy tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets, visit <\/i>TheGarageTheatre.org<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From left: Carmen Tunis, Trevor Hart, David Vaillancourt, Terrance Sylvas and Aaron Izbicki in “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” at Long Beach Playhouse. Photo by Mike Hardy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And \u201cDr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde<\/a>\u201d at Long Beach Playhouse<\/b>, 5021 E. Anaheim St., is continuing for two more weekends, the perfect play to get into the Halloween spirit, having experienced it last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher took Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s well-known novel and split the evil Mr. Hyde into four actors in dark glasses, played with plenty of snarl and menace by Aaron Izbicki, Trevor Hart, Terrance Sylvas and Carmen Tunis (who is also great as Jekyll\u2019s friend Utterson).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatcher also gave Mr. Hyde a girlfriend, which is a little strange given Hyde\u2019s propensity to maim and murder women, such as by throwing acid on them, but Elizabeth (Alexandra Young, understudied by Ren\u00e9e Schwartz) seems to be a strong woman who knows her mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And David Vaillancourt as the mild and intelligent Dr. Jekyll plays up his character\u2019s ambivalence about his evil alter ego as he experiments with potent potions. All in all, the play is an entertaining escape into the macabre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit <\/i>LBPlayhouse.org<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aryan Chhabra (top) and Himika Kaku in California Repertory’s “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea.” Photo by Nick Neira.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another play is opening this week at California Repertory<\/b> \u2014 CSULB drama department\u2019s theater company \u2014 called \u201cSometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea,\u201d a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d written by Julia Izumi and directed by Alana Dietze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cal Rep describes the play, staged at its Studio Theatre, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., as a \u201cpoetic meditation on unrequited love, personal storytelling and emotional chaos\u201d about a little rain cloud who falls in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSet in a whimsical world where fable meets memory, the play is led by a narrator desperately trying to maintain order as their characters and former lovers spiral into rebellion,\u201d the theater says. \u201cWith sea witches, shapeshifting metaphors and a heartbreak storm on the horizon, the story blurs the line between fairy tale logic and human longing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets and information, visit <\/i>CSULB.edu<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From left: Randy Vasquez, Ruth Livier, Richard Azurdia and J. Ed Araiza in “The Little King of Norwalk” at Latino Theater Company. Photo by Grettel Cortes Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Further afield in Los Angeles, the Latino Theater Company<\/b> is staging a high-energy, funny and interesting new play called \u201cThe Little King of Norwalk\u201d that might appeal due to Norwalk\u2019s proximity to Long Beach and our shared challenge of housing the homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In real life, the Norwalk City Council approved a ban<\/a> on homeless shelters in August 2024, along with businesses serving low-income residents like liquor stores, discount stores and laundromats, citing its \u201cpolice power\u201d to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel L\u00f3pez Reyes\u2019s play satirizes the councilmembers behind the ban and two siblings caught in its wake \u2014 Wendy Perez (Esperanza Am\u00e9rica), an activist fighting the ordinance, and her brother Juan (Xavi Moreno), who figures out how he can benefit from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Reyes borrowed the story from Russian writer Nikolai Gogol\u2019s satirical 1836 \u201cThe Inspector General,\u201d he set his play squarely in his native Norwalk, a map of its streets and barrios projected onto large translucent screens on stage (designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy and Juan had lived in a car for a year at one point with their mother when their father had to return to Mexico, and Wendy now takes phone calls from unhoused single mothers and veterans, promising to help, and is vocal at City Council meetings against the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, we see the council members peering out of City Hall\u2019s windows to see how many anti-ban protesters have amassed while denigrating the homeless and impoverished. But because their characters are so hilariously exaggerated, we can laugh at their diatribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Alvarado (Randy Vasquez), with the clean-cut precision of a former military officer and a Hitler mustache, spits out the worst invectives against both the poor and Gov. Gavin Newsom for curbing his city\u2019s right to make independent decisions. He\u2019s joined by savvy City Manager Nancy Juarez (Ruth Livier) and dyslexic School Superintendent Alex Ayala (J.Ed Araiza).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police Chief Ricky Ortiz is performed with great comic effect by Richard Azurdia, whose dancing at the Acapulco in Downey while council members sing karaoke is just one scene that elicits uncontrollable giggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the council mistakes Juan for a state inspector and offers him bribes to report on how the ban is justified \u2014 playing on their mutual Mexican heritage \u2014 Juan seizes his ticket to a job and rent money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reyes\u2019s writing is tight, full of jokes and local geographic and cultural references, and very distinct characters, each of whom the actors fully inhabit with energetic vocals and fluid physical movement, as directed by Geoffrey Rivas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though in real life Norwalk\u2019s homeless shelter ban was rescinded<\/a> last month after a state lawsuit, this uproarious play is still a timely comment on the haves and have-nots, those with power and those with the overriding power of heart \u2014and a model of theater as a space of reflection and transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Little King of Norwalk\u201d continues through Nov. 2. The Latino Theater Company is in The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles. For tickets and information, visit <\/i>LatinoTheaterCo.org<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Little King of Norwalk” satirizes a real-life decision by the Norwalk City Council, which stirred statewide controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":87196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-87190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87190"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87217,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87190\/revisions\/87217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87190"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=87190"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=87190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}