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OCTOBER 11, 2021
Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help
“The Last, Best Small Town” features actors Miguel Perez and Richard Azurdia. Photo by Ian Flanders
DTLA actor performs in world premiere of a modern-day ‘Our Town’
By Bridgette M. Redman LA Downtown News Contributing Writer iguel Perez knew Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum had a great play on its hands when two outraged audience members walked out mid-performance. Perez — a DTLA resident who has a long list of film and TV credits, from “Oceans 11” and “Million Dollar Baby” to “Seinfeld,” “ER” and “Fear the Walking Dead” — plays the drunken patriarch of a Latino family in “The Last, Best Small Town” by John Guerra, a play that has been called a modern-day “Our Town.” The show opened at the Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum’s outdoor stage in Topanga and will run through Nov. 6 . It follows the story of two neighboring families — one Latino and one white — who live in Fillmore. Perez said he was charmed by the script from the moment he read it. One of his first professional jobs many years ago was playing the constable in “Our Town.” “I was just charmed by the idea of referring back to Thornton Wilder and that 1930s view of what small-town America is, and then fast forward to the next century,” Perez said. “Small-town America is so different and yet, in some ways, still the same. I found that fascinating.” It explores issues of class and race and how families start from different places. In the play, Hank Miller is the editor of the local newspaper and Benny Gonzalez is a mechanic at the local car dealership. “The audience reactions have been along an interesting spectrum,” Perez said. “Generally, the audiences are really excited and eager to engage. They laugh at the jokes, but a lot of it is laughter of recognition. They really hear and understand the story being told. Probably the most memorable audience reaction, and the one that I think really cements the story as being an effective story, was during our fourth or fifth performance during a particularly tough scene between the young boy, Elliot Gonzalez, and the father of his girlfriend, Frank Miller.” Elliot asks the father, “What do you see when you look at me?” Miller responds, “I see an honorable young man who carries himself well and who is ed-
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ucated.” And the young man says, “I am brown.” Miller says, “Yes, but it doesn’t mean anything.” Elliot responds with, “To you it doesn’t, but it means a lot to me.” Perez said that was the moment that sparked a protest. A man and woman stood up and began shouting, “White people are not all evil — what you’re saying is wrong.” They then began leaving in a huff while shouting at the actors on the stage. “The young actor, Kelvin (Morales), was a little taken aback,” Perez said. “He looked down and said, ‘Thank you for coming.’ And off they went. I told him later, ‘Fantastic! Congratulations! That’s a sign we’re doing great.’ We thought it was wonderful that someone had walked out in a huff.” He also points out that if the couple had stayed another 10 minutes, their point of contention might have been a bit leavened because the other side of the question gets answered as the play continues. “That was a wonderful reaction and one that cemented in our minds that we’re telling a righteous and effective story,” Perez said. Like “Our Town,” this play has meta-theatrical aspects. “Our Town” features the stage manager, while “The Last, Best Small Town” has a playwright who introduces everyone. There is a Greek-like chorus. Because the show is performed outdoors, they stretch out the set and use actual trees and outdoor elements as part of the town. Perez plays Chuy, the hard-drinking grandfather of the Mexican American family. He is the one who emigrated to the United States from Mexico, coming here because he knew it was the only way to build a future. While his personal future ends up rather limited because of his drinking and other things that happened in his life, he witnesses the future that his son and grandson are building. “The future is coming to fruition, just not for Chuy,” Perez said. “In terms of the story, Chuy serves as a reminder of how life could have been if he had not crossed the border. It’s not necessarily a bad thing what that life could have been, but it is a better thing the way life turned out. Chuy is a bridge between cultures.”