Were New York Critics Impressed with B'way's Latinologues?

Rick Najera's Latinologues has played all over the country, and now it is on Broadway in a production directed by Cheech Marin. The Latin-flavored performance piece opened for a limited engagement at the Helen Hayes Theatre on October 13. Were New York critics impressed?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "Broadway is already becoming known for second-rate jukebox musicals such as Good Vibrations and Lennon. Latinologues heralds the arrival of a new, equally dispiriting genre: the second-rate stand-up comedy show. Rick Najera wrote the sketches, which are not only unfunny but also borderline offensive. During the course of the 90-minute production, directed by Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong fame, Najera includes just about every negative stereotype of Hispanics one could think of: illegal immigrants also referred to as "wetbacks", randy busboys "machos", prostitutes "putas" and cocaine-snorting drug lords, to name a few."

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "Mr. Najera and his compadres can skillfully sling one-liners, but the characters he has cooked up to transmit them are neither fresh nor fully realized. In contrast to the colorfully individualized portraits in John Leguizamo's solo shows, the men and women of Latinologues are composites of worn, obvious stereotypes... Mr. Lavan and Mr. Derbez also bring charisma and brio to their performances, but the consistently inconsistent writing lets them down, and a more sharp directorial hand from Mr. Marin would not be amiss either. The show is slapdash in some less significant respects, too. While Kevin Adams has lighted the stage with admirable meticulousness, the photographs used to add background appear to have been taken by a Kodak throwaway from the drugstore."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "The monologues were written by Rick Najera, who also performs some of them, including one of the funniest, which presents a swishy Hollywood executive in charge of making movies for Latinos… Some of the material is very broad. Shirley A. Rumierk, for example, plays the Miss Puerto Rican Day Parade winner who, on her last day, refuses to surrender her crown, a wild idea she exploits with gusto… In one of the more successful monologues, Rene Lavan plays a busboy who imagines he's on the success track but whose talent goes mostly into womanizing. He invests the character with enough heart to avoid making him seem what he easily might--a cartoon. Not everything, unfortunately, is played so skillfully… A lot of the punch lines are in Spanish, which makes some of us feel like, well, gringos. But overall, Latinologues is filled with ribald spirits, incredible energy and great talent."

Marilyn Stasio of Variety: "Latinologues finally came to town, and if word of mouth gets out to the boroughs that the cast is hot, the humor is spicy and the Latino sensibility is authentic, it should have a healthy run… With only four thesps in the cast, that energy is the premium fuel that keeps the show pumped up. Although the comedy sketches are nominally performed in English 'because we don't want the Anglos confused--they paid full price', the Latin rhythms, Spanish curses and breakneck speed of delivery give the monologues the hard-to-catch quality of street-corner outbursts."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Latinologues, which opened Thursday, would seem to be better suited to the confines of the small screen than a large stage... This parade of monologues is a hit-and-miss affair, depending on who is performing. Najera, a portly, ingratiating fellow, comes off best... The evening is short, barely 90 minutes, but it feels skimpier than that."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "In truth, while non-Spanish-speaking fans may miss a few references in Latinologues, much of Najera's material is too patently affectionate, or hokey, to rile anyone. Still, as breezily directed by Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong fame, Najera and company deliver some jokes and insights that should cross cultural boundaries."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "The 90-minute show is not likely to confuse theatergoers accustomed to finding themselves reflected back onto their concepts of themselves at more conventional Broadway offerings. Nor, unfortunately, is it likely to be as broadly amusing as its personable performers appear to believe it is… The scenarios, written by Rick Najera and performed here by him and three other actors, are mostly sentimental character studies that rely on long-proven traditions of ethnic-recognition humor. Thus, although the words are almost completely understandable, we sense from the audience reaction that the ah-hah pleasures of cultural identification have a greater kick within the diversity of the Hispanic community."