Edward Thomas-Herrera loves fantasy and invention.
So he knew he was wading into dangerous waters when he decided to launch an autobiographical show.
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Not that he hadn’t done shows before involving episodes from his life. His “Tango Edwardo” and “Color Me Edwardo” — both one-person shows — did that.
“But I knew I was running the risk of self-indulgence with something so distinctly autobiographical,” he says, referring to his new work, “Mondo Edwardo,” which opens this weekend at Live Bait Theater.
Besides that, “Tango Edwardo” and `Color Me Edwardo” had been built on pre-existing poems stitched together with thin little through lines. The poems, most of them well-known to regulars at the Green Mill, were personal and touching but also campy and over the top, driven by the kind of creative license afforded poets.
But what Thomas-Herrera was thinking of doing for “Mondo Edwardo” was a theatrical piece — which told the chronology of his life and therefore required some sort of narrative.
“The whole thing started out as these little postcards from all over the world, and poems,” he says, “and then the postcards sort of overwhelmed everything.”
The postcards are actually vignettes — absurd little fantasies about a round-the-world trip in which Thomas-Herrera meets the late Coco Chanel, three Russian sisters with Hollywood dreams, and gets some sexual healing from a studly Canadian mountie after a bout of cabin fever.
Not many true-to-life experiences there, that’s for sure.
“I wanted to have real fictional parts and real factual parts,” says Thomas-Herrera, laughing.
The facts come into play only in the most cursory way — in short interludes in which Thomas-Herrera, using a projector and slides, shows scenes of his life and tells quick little stories.
“I’ve seen so much performance art that went over, I wanted to be very, very careful,” he says. “I didn’t want to see my life as a giant metaphor or interpretation. I didn’t want to fall into that pitfall.”
No need to worry. “Mondo Edwardo” is hilarious, autobiographical in its detail perhaps, but pure fantasy most of the time. And instead of a one-person piece, “Mondo Edwardo” features a supporting cast of five (the Edwardettes), including Josh Brewster, a hunky sport who plays all of Thomas-Herrera’s dream men.
In other words, “Mondo Edwardo” is much more complex than anything Thomas-Herrera has attached his name to before.
And, oh yes, the name.
“It isn’t legal, it’s pure affectation on my part,” says the man whose birth certificate reads John Edward Thomas.
He changed it, he says, because he wanted to honor his Latino half (his mother is Salvadorean) but also because of a Monty Python skit.
“It was about all these words and phrases that mean `penis,’ ” he says. “And there was my name — John Thomas — along with all those other vulgar words.”
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A couple of years back, HotHouse invited Munequitos de Matanzas, one of Cuba’s premiere rumba groups, for a Chicago stopover. But fans were mostly disappointed with the group’s abbreviated performances. Those who got a taste for rumba then and want to see a full show may want to check out AfroCuba, another acclaimed rumba folklorica ensemble from the island.
AfroCuba performs an Iberian-African hybrid style — chanting and singing over a bed of drums and percussion. The group’s dancers take on Lucumi, Arara, Bantu and Carabali movement forms, creating a multisensory spectacle.
The group performs Saturday at the new HotHouse and Sunday at the Du Sable Museum.
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You may know him only by his byline: as a fearless Tribune staff writer armed with just pencil and paper. But in his real life, Lou Carlozo rocks. As front guy for Them Apples, Lou shows off vocal and guitar skills rarely used in the office. Around here, we’re proud of him. Come watch him and Them Apples play at a record company showcase Friday’s at Hog Head McDunna’s. There’s a free buffet dinner to boot.
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Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m., through Sept. 15, “Mondo Edwardo” by Edward Thomas-Herrera. Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark St. 312-871-1212. Live Bait is wheelchair accessible.
Friday, 8:30 p.m., Lou Carlozo and Them Apples, Hog Head McDunna’s, 1505 W. Fullerton Ave. 312-929-0944.
Saturday, 8 p.m., AfroCuba, HotHouse at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St., $20. 312-235-2334. Chopin Theater is wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, 6 p.m., AfroCuba, Du Sable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. $15 for members, $20 for non-members. 312-947-0600.
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Achy Obejas can be reached at [email protected].