Before I begin my review of Adanza’s “Show Me Your Dreams,” which is playing April 4 and 5 at the Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, I would like to declare my love for live theater and dance. I go into every show wanting to like it, but I left this show as disappointed, bewildered, and bummed as a toddler ready for the circus but forced to sit through a Shakespeare play.
I was expecting to see a show where, as promoted, aerial artists meet music, dance, circus, storytelling, and bubbles, but this was an incoherent musical with breakdancing, an aerial artist, and bubbles thrown in randomly as novelty acts. The circus acts, roller skaters, aerialist, and break dancer seemed like afterthoughts when they could have been the stars of the show.
Bella Hamm, Alex Honorato in Adanza’s “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
Instead, it seems as if the founders of Adanza, Brooke Ferri and Joseph (Jilbér) Ferri, created “Show Me Your Dreams” to showcase the talents of Jilbér, who stars as the Son, and the original music score written and composed by Brooke. If this were the case, this show should be promoted as a workshop, and with more time and thought, it could be rebranded, possibly as a bubble show, because what is impressive is Jilbér’s bubble-blowing skills. He has performed bubble shows throughout California for over 15 years and is the owner of the event planning business, Bubble Mania and Company.
Cast members of Adanza’s “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
According to the program, the story follows a hero who travels the world finding inspiration everywhere he goes and ultimately learns that it is never too late to be the person he was always meant to be. Unfortunately, the storytelling is weak, disjointed, and confusing. The love story that is introduced at the beginning is completely abandoned midway, and another narrative, which apparently is connected, pops up. This second story leads the audience on an arbitrary journey to different countries. In each locale, the cast presents amateur performances of song and dance that are supposed to highlight the local cultures.
Winged Dancers in Adanza’s “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
The show begins with two lovers trying to make it in this world as artists. They marry and have a child, and then their respective world tours pull them in different directions. I could have excused the simple tap dance sequence, quirky rag doll-ish ballet segment, and the mother who blows bubbles into her baby’s face while it cries in the crib, if I understood what happened next. But with no intermission the musical switches gears to focus on a lone man (apparently this is the couple’s son 50 years later) bored at his sales job who wins, along with his entire team, a cruise around the world. The show floats adrift from here.
Aerialist Sharyn Scott in Adanza’s “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
Some of the low points and mishaps were: a man on stilts throwing little airplanes at people; a man who tried to swing colored balls around but the strings got tangled, requiring an exit to stage left; a man who dropped his Chinese yo-yo after first captivating the crowd with his skills; and the flamenco dancer who tapped her way off her small wooden platform. I use the phrase “low points” not because they by themselves were subpar, but because they were randomly thrown into the scenes to add a “wow” factor but had little connection to the story.
Adanza’s Joseph (Jilbér) Ferri in “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
The singing and dancing skills of the main female star, Bella Hamm, and performances by break dancer Gonsalo Bboy Chalo and aerialist Sharyn Scott were high points. They could have been featured by themselves without the distraction of the baffling storyline. The show tried to roll a variety of art forms into one but, in doing so, took the awesomeness away from each and instead bombarded the audience with lackluster song, choreography, and story. “Show Me Your Dreams” does indeed come across as a dream, where things pop in and out of your head, with no seeming connection and for no apparent reason.
To learn more about Adanza, please visit their website.
For more information about the Eastwood Performing Arts Center, please visit their website.
Written by Jessica Koslow for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Adanza’s Gonsalo Bboy Chalo and cast members in “Show Me Your Dreams” – Photo by Isaak Berliner Photography.
