With the flair of a linguistic troubadour, Flaco Navaja seemed born to be on-stage as he presented his one-man show titled “Evolution of a Sonero.” Navaja both wrote and performs in the show – but much more, he sings in it. He took the audience on a thrilling ride from his parents first date, through his own life as a troubled teenager all the way through becoming a father himself, all while making comparisons of his life to the composition of salsa. His pride in his Puerto Rican heritage, and being raised as the youngest in a family of five (his parents are still married 59 years later, he announced to thunderous applause) was evident through-out the performance which skillfully blended Puerto Rican culture with living in the Bronx in New York.
He adeptly takes the audience through the ups and downs of everyday life. Some moments hilarious, and others, intense, like the day he ruined his mother’s birthday by being caught smoking weed on his high school campus. He describes her as he sings,”5 feet tall, 80 pounds, all gangster.” Through his performance, the audience shares his fear of his diminutive firebrand of a mother, and empathizes with him as his Puerto-Rican proud, hard-working father’s blow provides a fitting crescendo to the dramatic scene.
Directed by Miranda Gonzalez, the show has a libretto arranged by Carlos Cuevas. It was produced in the NEIU Auditorium at 3701 W. Bryn Mawr by the Urban Theatre Company in conjunction with the National Puerto Rican Museum and was backed up by a powerful band called “The Razor Blades” that never missed a beat. The band was totally in sync with the performer as the pianist directed from his place on-stage. To find out more about Navaja and his work, go to the National Puerto Rican Museum’s website.
Poetry in Chicago 