Theatre Review: I Spy A Spy Tackles The Heart of Immigration
Synopsis: In a “melting pot” neighborhood in Hell’s Kitchen, José Rodriguez, an undocumented Mexican delivery guy, has an American Dream – to become “a someone.” Alina Orlova, a beautiful but inept Russian spy, also has an American Dream – to bring down America – and to save the family’s “Fluff N’ Fold!” Speeding through one preposterous and hilarious plot twist after another, José and Alina embark on a wild adventure to fulfilling their destinies. I Spy A Spy is a musical roller coaster ride on which our duo encounters Mexican thugs, Russian spies, a Pakistani pizza proprietor, a Korean deli owner and the Department of Homeland Security!
I Spy A Spy has taken 7 years, 6 readings, and 3 workshops to get to the stage, of which its current run at Theatre At St. Clements has its highs and lows. Yet, the lessons and potential for this production growth makes it feel like a sack of gold that needs some more shine. Its relevancy and nuance over the current, immigration debate is clear and even enlightening, but it is its outlandishness that feels like the key to its growth.
Playing Alina Orlova, the most “kidnappable” top spy I have ever seen, Emma Degerstedt exemplifies the “burden” of being a gorgeous, white, fair-skinned, blonde, and blue-eyed woman. I say “burden” because she never can hide, even though she wants to, and her beauty gives her immeasurable access and wealth but also exploitation. She works as a contrast/ love interest to Jose, a Latino, undocumented immigrant who is so invisible. There are times in the play when he is in front of everybody, stating his name and presence, but it is always ignored and forgotten. Through song he, in a way, calls out the audience for how everyone dodges their eyes away at a smile or a welcoming hand from a hard-working immigrant. Like Jose (Andrew Mayer), they are diminished into either the work or blame for lack of work by others. The tragedy of such diminishment rides on enthusiasm.
Mayer is so smiley, sweet, and wide-eyed throughout the show that he becomes a beacon for positivity during pain. He wants so badly to be seen, and his journey is making his invisibility a tool to help others. Written by Sohee Youn and Jamie Jackson and directed by Bill Castellino, I admired the music and book’s ability to add newness to the conversation over immigration. It is not easy to talk about what is right or wrong because people have the tendency to treat what is right like a simple, known “throw-away” standard. Meanwhile, what is wrong can have a laundry-list of “explanations.” With a colorful set by James Morgan, the musical feels brightly deranged, of which when it embraces its own insane scenario, it works.
Throughout I Spy A Spy, I kept on thinking of how much more it could be, and how it ran similar to the potential, up and coming musicals running in the New York Musical Fest just a few blocks away. It needed more dancing and dancers, more spectacle and splash, and a full embrace of how deranged, but strangely plausible it is to have Russian agents running a laundry mat, while fearing they will lose their jobs to hackers. There are plenty of jabs at today’s news/society that will catch a laugh, but it was the bigger musical numbers such as, “Only A Russian” that captured the perfect looniness of this musical. Moreover, characters such as, Abdul Makhdoom (Sorab Wadia) and Sunny Park (Hazel Anne Raymundo captured the biggest laughs because they were totally crazy. Yet, again, its insanity amplified its wisdom and call to care. I Spy A Spy Plays At Theatre At St.Clements until September 21. It is 2 hours and 20 minutes with a 10 minute intermission.. Buy Tickets Here.
