The art cast of the comedy The True Story of ‘Cuca Gómez’, starring Otilio Warrington (‘Bizcocho’) in the role of the internationally renowned beauty and performance products businesswoman and her special assistant Gloria (Tita Guerrero), might have to do on Saturday night an unexpected challenge when the second performance of the play came on stage, this time at the Centro de Bellas Artes de Caguas.
The ultimate goal of a theatrical comedy, and the work that the actors strive for, is undoubtedly to keep the audience laughing throughout the development of the plot. And when that succeeds, that’s excellent for the production and the actor, but the challenge for the actor on duty when attacking his lines is to be accurate and precise and wait for the indicated pause, which comes organically, something of his verbal and non-verbal work is not lost under the laughter of the audience.
And it was exactly the kind of audience that Warrington, Guerrero and the rest of the cast faced. Hundreds of people came to enjoy the show and not laugh, almost during the two hours it lasted. The main thread of the plot revolved around the character of Cuca Gómez, one of the Puerto Rican Querendonas starring in the television comedy Los Kakukómicos, broadcast by Telemundo (Channel 2) from 1980 to 1990 in a production by Paquito Cordero became.
Most often, the actors gracefully appeared in front of the audience and laughed, on other occasions the plot was lost. Anyway, people kept laughing.
The play began last Friday and continued with its second performance on Saturday to a full house. The work’s production, Alexandra LLC, has already confirmed performances for this Sunday in Caguas. Then on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th July at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Santurce. So they will be at the Yagüez Theater in Mayagüez on Saturday 12th August and Saturday 26th August and Sunday 27th August at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Humacao.
Cuca Gómez, Warrington’s character, experienced a break from Puerto Rican audiences for the first time in almost 21 years, from 1990 to 2011 when most of the cast of Los Kakukómicos performed in a show at the Centro de Bellas Artes de Caguas in February.
Since then, no one has heard from Cuca Gómez, a businesswoman and successful entrepreneur in the world of beauty, male or female, whose phrase, related to her products and new formulas of beauty and sophistication, was forever etched in Puerto Rico’s history the “I make it, I use it and I recommend it!”.
In the 1980s, with the help of “Bizcocho,” Cuca Gómez pioneered comedy locally and in US cities where many Boricuas lived. A large generation of Puerto Ricans grew up with her, followed her, adopted her personality and kept her on a pedestal. Warrington played her part with respect, she thought, she acted, she spoke like a woman. He was very careful about dignity and not to offend women.
Well, after the departure of Los Kakukómicos from local television and in view of this new comedy The True Story of Cuca Gómez, the sought-after author and screenwriter Alexis Sebastián Méndez, who already had experience working on a screenplay, was chosen for a Special of “Los Kakukomicos” he slipped into the skin of the generation that had a great time with the character of Cuca Gómez.
After also reviewing old comedy scripts by Felipe San Pedro and Shorty Castro, Méndez brought a “new twist” to the character, adapting it for our times and basing it on questions that every ’80s neighbor’s son asks about life would of Cuca Gómez today.
What happened to his life, what is he doing, where is he, does he live in Puerto Rico, in the United States, in Europe? Is she a millionaire, is she bald, will she have married? And what about his ever-faithful, loyal friend and helper, Gloria? These and other questions sparked the creativity of Méndez, who brilliantly created a screenplay and narrative to answer and clarify these kinds of doubts.
Of course there can be a good script, but without a good director things don’t progress. The hand of experienced theater director Gilberto Valenzuela gave form and direction to these words, dialogues and sentences. He also dabbled in stage design. A major success was the presentation of new footage of comical “sketches” featuring characters from Los Kakukómicos on screen, while at the same time making changes to the scenery.
A good script and a good director are not enough. To deliver a comedy-paced play that comes and goes like The True Story of Cuca Gómez takes top-flight actors to make it flow with rhythm, cadence and elegance… and leave audiences dying of laughter.
And this is where the production dropped the ball.
“Bizcocho” in a role that knows him because he gave birth to him from day one. Tita Guerrero, who brought her special touch to a character like Gloria, originally developed by Rosita Velázquez, another darling of the Puerto Rican people. The seniority of actors such as Marilyn Pupo, Yoyo Boing, Adrián García, Waleska Seda, Braulio Castillo, Herbert Cruz, René Monclova, Gil Viera (Hummingbird), Erick “Chicho” Rodríguez, Ali Warrington, Tairís Warrington (Alí’s daughter and granddaughter by Bizcocho) and the particular participation of the telereporter Lourdes Collazo gave life to a lively, mischievous comedy, full of ambiguities, adapted to those years, but much more daring than what was shown on television, but suited the tastes of the general public.
The plot and its consequences are very difficult to put into context in this text, because although it seems simple, it is in fact very complex. She particularly points to the fact that Cuca Gómez and her rival in the world of lifelong beauty, Loba Sofía (Marilyn Pupo ), are embroiled in a legal battle over who is the intellectual owner of the famous phrase “I make it, I use it”. it and I recommend it!”. This is the beginning of the work that will also reveal a great secret about the life of Cuca Gómez, apparently never known before.
“Bizcocho” like Cuca Gómez, you can say that the two have been together for years. Already the Cuca Gómez of the 80s, although maintaining a style, a good demeanor and good clothes, does not have the agility and verbal aggressiveness of the past. And it’s normal. Most of the spectators in attendance don’t look the same as they did a few decades ago when they enjoyed Los Kakukomicos. It goes without saying that everyone has gained years in this regard. But the ability to laugh and make people laugh is latent.
Tita Guerrero is a hit in her role as Gloria. It is she who carries this comedy. She is the vortex, the energy, the spark, the match that lights everything up and takes “Bizcocho” and the whole world by the hand.
They look very good in their performances, García and Seda as Soledad and Solitaria, Colibrí, Castillo, Pupo (with their touch of Cruella de Vil character), Monclova, Cruz and Rodríguez who played three stage roles. The audience was very assertive at the divisions of Yoyo Boing, Castillo and Colibrí.
Finally, it’s possible that this comedy may not be fully understood or enjoyed by the current young generation, but for the 45-50+ year olds and up it’s an opportunity to reminisce and see good old timers on stage see .actor and tell the truth, laugh relaxed and win.