Loud and gaudy Mambo

Steve Galluccio's play entertaining and very energetic

Everyone agrees that Angelo is a nice Italian-Canadian young man. When is he going to get married and settle down? But Angelo, a twentysomething Montrealer, is happy and in love. When he decides to spread the joy, and tell his overprotective family that the object of his affection is another Italian-Canadian man named Nino, his life changes, as does that of his family and friends. Those are the bare bones of the plot of Mambo Italiano, written by Montrealer Steve Galluccio and now on view at Toronto's Elgin Theatre, courtesy Ed and David Mirvish.
Mambo has been a continuing hit in Montreal, in both English and French. It is to become a movie and a television series. So it deserves our attention.
As a play, it is Gay Pride on stage. It is loud, gaudy, energetic and filled with explicit visual and verbal happenings that 20 years ago would have been banned not only in Boston but everywhere else. Mr. Gallucci seems determined to blame Angelo's parents for their son's gayness. Whether or not that causative factor has ever been proven is of no concern to the playwright. Angelo's "problem" is all the fault of his mother and father.
There is a second theme which shouldn't really be mixed up with the first one. That theme is the difficulty immigrants from Europe have when adopting the North American way of life. It is not uniquely a characteristic of first-generation Italian-Canadian families that communication with their Americanized children is often difficult. However, Mr. Gallucci is Italian and uses his own birthright as fodder for his views.
Gordon McCall has directed the play as if it had a plane to catch. Nearly everything is shouted at top volume, including the eardrum-shattering juke box music which opens and closes each act.
Andreas Apergis is excellent as the tormented son. He is one of the few members of the cast who is as convincing when he's talking quietly as he is when he's shouting. Ellen David is also excellent as his pill-popping sister and the relationship of the two siblings is well and believably portrayed.
Joseph Gallaccio is well cast as Nino, the object of Angelo's affection. His commitment to a gay life is not as strong as that of Angelo and his mother's attempt to bring him back into the traditional family mould provides a great deal of the fun. Nino's mother is played to the hilt by Penny Mancuso. She solves her son's dilemma by introducing him to the vacuum-packed Pina, brought to life convincingly by Suzanna le Nir.
That leaves us with the parents. Michel Perron plays Gino the father. He struck me as being more French than Italian, but he is a skilful performer and knows how to get laughs. Finally we come to the mother, played by Mary Long, who was almost entirely incomprehensible throughout the play as she shouted her lines into the wings. Why on earth weren't the performers miked? Nevertheless, a large and enthusiastic audience laughed contentedly throughout.
Mambo Italiano plays at the Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge Street, until February 23. Tickets can be purchased by phoning 416.872.5555.

Publication Date: 2003-02-09
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2347