Felix Starro

by Jessica Hagedorn, directed by Ralph B. Peña

Runs through 9.21.2019

Ma-Yi Theatre Company

Theatre Row; 410 West 42nd Street

Bottom Line: While the fervor of psychic surgery is mostly a thing of the past, the desire for comfort and refuge (albeit through unconventional means) remains painfully relevant.

Got a problem the docs can’t fix? Have no fear – Felix Starro is here! Eschewing modern science and medicine, the famed Filipino healer relies on a holy trinity of magic hands, the good lord, and of course $200 cash per session (no returns or refunds). But from the initial minutes of the play, it is clear that things are not working out well for the infamous holy man. Unsuccessful cures have lead to dead patients, causing Starro and his grandson to flee their war torn country for the dilapidated streets of 1985 San Francisco. It is here, a city that is cash poor but flush with Filipinx immigrants that Felix Starro and his grandson have come to find their marks. The numerous Filipinx patients that line his hallways are mostly elders, those who remember Starro during his 1970s television primetime heyday. They have come in hopes of a cure from everything to diabetes, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. Although many are living below the poverty line, they scrape together every cent that they can, totally unaware that Starro has already been renounced in their homeland as a fraud and a charlatan.

Directed by one of Ma-Yi’s founders and the current artistic director, Ralph B. Peña, the cast and crew is comprised from a dazzling array of Filipinx talent. The book and lyrics are written by the celebrated novelist and playwright  Jessica Hagedorn, adapted from a lauded short story by Lysley Tenorio. Hagedorn and Peña excel in creating a world where the people are desperate and the stakes are quite literally life and death.  Wisely, Hagedorn changed the story’s setting from the modern era to the 1980s, a time when the city struggled financially and long before Starro could be outed by the internet.

Each compelling character (and there are many) are allowed to have their moment in the spotlight as patients, victims and criminals. There is considerable talent in a cast which includes Broadway veterans Alan Ariano, Ching Valdez-Aran and Diane Phelan. Francisca Muñoz is particularly moving as an ailing widow, as is Caitlin Cisco who makes a scene stealing turn as an at-risk teenager.  Much of the show is carried on the skilled shoulders of Nacho Tambunting, the conflicted grandson of Felix Starro who is also his namesake.

Although it is clear that Felix Starro has talent and creativity in spades, the production never quite reaches its full potential due to a few unbalanced elements. Songs about pocket maps seem misplaced, as do a number of songs that portray inner thoughts and feelings but show little personal discovery. The pace and placement of certain numbers can feel a bit disjointed, which is especially frustrating since this is a show with so many vulnerable and impactful scenes.

The hope of a refuge from conflict, even to an unwelcoming new country is both relevant and palpable, especially during the song T.N.T., an abbreviation for a phrase that translates to “Hiding. Always hiding.” The difficult and oftentimes tragic stories of Filipinx immigration is one that is not often discussed or explored. Though it may benefit from further workshops, the story of Felix Starro’s rise, fall, and erasure into the American diaspora is certainly one for the history books.