Orpheus Rox Reviews

"Orpheus Rox will never fade from memory."-- S. D. Theatre Scene

“Orpheus Rox”: Myth Mostly Hits--- The Village News

La Jolla playwright Robert Salerno's new play, “ Orpheus Rox” is surely literate, intimately and amusingly acquainted with the panoply of Greek gods, their liaisons, infighting, and human qualities. The audience hopefully brings a nodding acquaintance with mythology to the play. A memory of or nostalgia for the '60s also helps.
Gods above, humans below, and video clips on monitors throughout the huge playing area at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park lend Orpheus Rox a kaleidoscopic feel that goes right along with its hallucinogenic hero, a rock musician named Orpheus. Orpheus shows character and talent, so Apollo and Zeus decide to invest him with greatness and fame in the hope that he will usher in a new Golden Age. Dionysus, god of the Bacchanal, has other plans.
Drugs go hand in hand with the world of Rock and Roll, and Dionysus has a few tricks named pot, pills, and LSD up his toga. On earth, Dionysus is abetted by Orpheus' musically untalented, brother, Aristaeus. His timing just right, Orpheus enhances the Age of Aquarius, spouting brotherhood and love. The playwright’s video takes us to Woodstock, with clips of Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead (how apropos.
Salerno also teases our bedazzled eyes with clips from old film and television shows and his own dreamlike sequences filmed at local seashore and woods. Especially haunting is footage of Charon ferrying Orpheus' ladylove, a young social worker named Eurydice, to Hades.
This is an ambitious project, and Vantage Theatre must be applauded for attempting to realize Salerno's vision with limited resources and a large, valiant company of accomplished actors. La Jolla Playhouse tried something similar with Randy Newman’s “Faust”, and the results were similar, even though their resources were ample.
Salerno opines on three decades of social and political history. As pop music moves from rock to heavy metal, and punk (those Maenads are great as an all-girl group), Wendy Carol’s costumes tell all. Salerno's dialogue is generally respectable and occasionally guffaw funny.
Leading roles are handled adroitly. Wiener and Rhodes are appealing as the lovers, separated by a drug-induced coma rather than the mythological snakebite. On a platform above the action, the gods fight each other and the acoustics. Jason Lee and Dori Salois (who also directed) shine as Apollo and Athena.
Meanwhile, those who want to revisit the '60s (there’s even a chance to dance with the Orpheus Rox company and eat pot-free brownies) should love this complicated, clever, and hallucinogenic show.

Orpheus and Eurydice at the Be-In

“Orpheus Rox” in Updated Roles--- San Diego Union-Tribune

The World Beat Center, where Vantage Theatre is staging its workshop production of Robert Salerno’s “Orpheus Rox,” is a crazy delight for the eyes, crowded with sculpture and beads, screens and masks. It is the perfect setting for “Orpheus Rox,” Salerno’s multimedia theater journey through American pop-culture history from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. In the center ring, the play gives us Orpheus, a rock ‘n’ roll legend who must undergo a loss of innocence to achieve wisdom. Above us, a chorus of Greek gods bickers and meddles with Orpheus’ destiny.
Video screens project historical events (Hiroshima, the Beatles craze), as well as clips and other re-enactments of Greek mythology. The script is strongest when the characters forget their own mythological and historical importance and just play scenes.
The production has an admirably fun and playful spirit. Director Dori Salois calls the performance a “be-in,” and cites Jerzy Grotowski as a stylistic inspiration. The audience is encouraged to move about the space, and one scene features performers serving Kool-Aid and brownies and dancing with the spectators.
Experimental Theater techniques from the 1960’s seem appropriate for a play so clearly celebrating that decade as our last, best chance for a Golden Age.

Post-Mortem Review as 50's Quiz Show

“Orpheus Rox”--- Back Stage/Drama-Logue

Robert Salerno's new play Orpheus Rox superimposes the Orpheus myth on a 1960s sensibility. Salerno is intimately acquainted with the panoply of Greek gods, their liaisons, infighting, and human foibles, and he expects his audience to have at least a nodding acquaintance with same; the broader one's knowledge of the classics, the more amused one may be. A memory of or nostalgia for the '60s also helps.
Gods above, humans below, and film and video clips on monitors throughout the huge playing area at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park lend Orpheus Rox a kaleidoscopic feel that goes right along with its hallucinogenic hero, a rock music player named Orpheus endearingly played by Adam Wiener. Orpheus shows character and talent, so Apollo (Jason Lee) and Zeus (McKiever Jones III) decide to invest him with greatness and fame in the hope that he will usher in a new Golden Age. That reprobate Dionysus (Vincent Baca) has other plans.
In addition to regulation joy juice, Dionysus has a few tricks like pot, pills, and LSD up his toga. His plan to debase Orpheus is effected by Orpheus' musically untalented, road manager brother, Aristaeus (Francisco Torres). Orpheus embodies the Age of Aquarius, spouting brotherhood and love. Video shows us Woodstock, clips of Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead, and scenes filmed at local beaches and woods. On film, Charon ferries Orpheus' lady love, a young social worker named Eurydice (Erin Rhodes), to Hades.
The ambitious project is mounted by Vantage Theatre, laudably attempting to realize Salerno's vision with limited resources and a large, valiant, and uneven acting company. Wiener and Rhodes are appealing as the lovers, separated by a drug-induced coma rather than the mythological snakebite. On a platform above the action, the gods fight each other and the acoustics. Jason Lee and Dori Salois (who also directed) shine as Apollo and Athena.
Orpheus Rox has resonance with Randy Newman's Faust and Stephen Metcalfe's The Incredibly Famous Willy Rivers. Salerno opines on three decades of social and political history. He allows pop music to devolve from rock to heavy metal to punk.
Salerno's dialogue is generally respectable and occasionally guffaw funny. Meanwhile, those who want to revisit the '60s, dance, and eat pot-free brownies should love this complicated, clever, and hallucinogenic show.