With expansive imagination and confidence, a young boy has built a talk show stage in his parents’ basement. Complete with DJ booth, music segments, and special guests (his Abuela, Julia), his creation — The BQ Show — is the journal of his childhood as he processes the world through the El Salvadorian eyes of his Abuela and the El Salvadorian-American memories of his own. One of three productions in the Logan Festival for Solo Performance at 1st Stage in Tysons, Fly Me to the Sun, written by Brian Quijada and directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, overflows with creativity, resilience, and heart.
Brian Quijada as the burgeoning talk show host, BQ, was instantly disarming and adorable. Brimming with the energy of a youthful 7-year-old playing to an audience — the old family camcorder — and the hindsight wisdom of a grown man, The BQ Show was more than semi-autobiographical. Detailed, layered, and lived, each scene for BQ also seemed to trace a memory for Brian from long ago, with someone very close and very loved — whether silly and ordinary or touching and life-changing.
Bouncing from prologue-like songs and beat poetry to story time or cooking segments with his Abuelita, Brian as BQ was a master of charm, pacing, and balance. As he kept audience smiling, laughing, or breathlessly hanging on the next word, I was consistently impressed with his sense of pace and feel for the emotions of the audience.
A character in her own right even if only made of felt, special guest Abuelita Julia (a puppet also played by Brian still in character as BQ) was warm and familiar. With stubborn opinions about spoiled American kids aired at the expense of Goldy Locks and with fierce love for her favorite grandchildren, she clung tightly to her family in Chicago, as the home she knew in El Salvador was so far away. As he threw his voice in and out of her accented, musical cadence to converse with himself, it was clear Brian greatly enjoyed her part in The BQ Show just as much as BQ enjoyed having her there to talk to.
Silently but not without incredible enthusiasm, sweet dance moves, and sick beats was BQ’s brother and The BQ Show DJ played by Marvin Quijada. The most supportive and certainly the most silent older brother I’ve ever seen, Marvin literally laced together a playful and at times poignant soundtrack to each BQ Show segment.
Equally as creative as the actors onstage and the story being told was the wonderful creative team. Media design and projections by Mark Costello were childlike and playful, cheekily taking us from Chicago to California to memories and back. The original orchestration by Marvin Quijada, as executed almost entirely on stage by his DJ persona, was surprising and far-reaching, but somehow cohesively melded the ’90s with the holidays with tunes from Central America and Spanish-language radio.
Stretching the imagination was a beautifully intentional and pared-down props and set design by Pauline Lamb that perfectly matched the creativity and resourcefulness of childhood make-believe. Blinds were screens, counters were stages, suitcases were sets, all containing talismans of their family life and stories now surrounding the next generation to carry on. The direction by Raymond O. Caldwell was also to be commended for its thoughtfulness, flow, and variety; it would be easy to push a solo performance like this too far one way or the other on the scale from intense to sugary, but instead it managed the perfect balance of rosy childhood with adult understanding.
A beautiful and deeply touching production, Fly Me to the Sun at 1st Stage’s Logan Festival of Solo Performances has more heart than can be contained and encourages as many reactions from its studio audience as possible. With innocence, love, and imagination, it carries you through the simple joys of a boy, his Abuelita, and his talk show.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs through July 28, 2024, at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA, with the remaining performances of each show as follows:
Fly Me to the Sun: Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 5:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 8:00pm
Too Fat for China: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm
GUAC: Thursday, July 25 at 7:30pm, Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 2:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 5:00pm
General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for students with valid ID.
Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856 or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.
SEE ALSO:
1st Stage announces 2024/25 season (July 4, 2024 news story, includes overview of 2024 Logan Festival of Solo Performance)
