The Happiest Song Plays Last

The Happiest Song Plays Last is a theatrical piece that you surely will not want to miss. The play is the effort of Quiara Alegría Hudes the Tony Award nominee for his play In the Heights. Through The Happiest Songs the playwright has concluded the famed trilogy of “Elliot”; which is based on his own life. The first two plays of this series, Elliot and A Soldier’s Fugue premiered in 2006 at the Steppenwolf Garage. Both of them won great critical and public acclaim. A Soldier’s Fugue recently became the much applauded effort winning the Pulitzer Prize. Although The Happiest Song is all new, critics are reviewing it as a very strong play. It has a wonderful stance that stands alone. It is richer in meaning and concluded the tri-part Elliot series wonderfully.

The Happiest Song Plays Last is an effort that proves the Hues is a real liberal writer. This drama explores war, deprivation, loneliness and search of life and love. It also aims to find the meaning of many other things that especially the feeling of being away from home. Personal life incidents are discussed here while pin pointing issues like poverty, racial discrimination, migration and diaspora. The play showcases a collection of a wide range of circumstances and personal experiences that makes reality more exciting than fantasy. The storyline might seem too difficult to digest in a two act play, but everything blends in fairly well.

This intense drama has been directed by Edward Torre. Hues plot that moves between Jordan and Philadelphia where the star cast comes in to perform their respective roles. Armando Riesco as Elliot and Sandra Marquez (renowned member of the Teatro Vista Ensemble) plays Yaz as Elliot’s cousin in the lead roles. Jaime Tirelli play Agustin Yaz’s Pueto Rican longtime friend. Fawzia Mirza is Shar plays the role of a movie actress, while Demetrios Troy plays Ali, Fawzia’s co-star. James Harms as Lefty and completes the supporting cast.

The play begins on the set of a movie shooting in Jordan. A veteran of the Iraq War Elliot goes back to the Middle East as a consultant and replaces the male lead. In this role rediscovers the war in a totally different context. He sees the horrors and feels the trauma of the war during the filming of this war-themed flick. Things that he had seen once as a soldier appear to be completely different. The story running in parallel to Elliot’s is that of his cousin in North Philadelphia. Yaz is an activist running a rundown soup helping her old friend Agustin in times of trouble. These two stories start come together when the cousins connect through Skype, where they share everyday failures and achievements.

The sharing of experiences becomes more important when Yaz and Elliot make some life changing decisions. While Yaz thinks about having her first child and Elliot thinks coming to peace with his past in the war. He makes a sudden decision about going to Egypt in the middle of an uprising. Whatever happens next needs to be witnessed in person. The Happiest Song Plays Last tickets offer you a chance to do that in the premier season. Don’t miss out on it.

This ensemble cast of the play is small and has been used very skillfully by Torres. The overall impact of the play is very strong; every character deals wonderfully with his or her own anger, depression and frustration. Riesco plays Elliot marvelously, Mirza shares her identity crisis while holding the image of a young strong minded woman. The supporting characters of Harms a special homeless person and Tirelli as a weak rebel add more dimension and depth to Torres’ work. Torres has also made the dialogues and characterization truly inspiring.  His hard work in this area can be seen in every act where the cast is at ease and confidently delivers each line and expression. Nelson Gonzalez’s music gives special details to the storyline and the melodrama. It is haunting, and ethnically inspired. Gonzalez’s efforts have helped Torres portrayed the best things in life with beautiful Puerto Rican songs and Palestinian and Jordanian music in the background.

If you are a true theater lover, then The Happiest Song Plays Last is the best offering for you. The Happiest Song Plays Last tickets take you to this admirable theatrical. Purchase them in advance and experience this play your way.