It’s a pretty sad commentary when a trip to Disneyland is a
constant reminder of the death of a family member. That’s about how it was for
Philip Dawkins’ family after the death of his grandfather Phil in his 90
-minute tribute to the man in his solo play “The Happiest Place on Earth” now
showing at Diversionary Theatre through April 15th.
Always in the background of his families yearly trek,
Disneyland in all its glory, all its parks all it adventures that in 1955 formed
the basis of Dawkins’ memory play with the use of photos, transparencies and
music.
 |
| Jacque Wilke |
How to tell one’s own story for a little over 90 minutes, no
intermission without boring the rest of those listening? I know I was always
cautious when the home movies came out. Still sliding baby pictures of
grandkids playing soccer, swimming laps or playing tennis across a cell phone
face can be a show stopper but for how long?
Dawkins wrote the piece for himself. It debuted in 2016. It’s
clear throughout that the passing of the family patriarch left lingering hurts,
awkward memories as when his Mom got lost in The Magic Kingdom of Fantisyland
and was found and rescued by Cinderella who, as it turned out, tried to bring a smile to the
little girls face.
Making its west coast premiere at Diversionary Theatre under
the direction of Jonathan L. Green, who helped Dawkins with the piece and then
went on to direct the world premiere production of it in Chicago and with the
versatile and gifted Jacque Wilke standing in for Dawkins, “The Happiest Place
On Earth, according to Dawkins, ‘is the story of me retracing my families
journey from Albuquerque to California in a time of great sadness.’
D: “Between the ages of fetus and 18 I visited Disney’s Magic
Kingdom in Anaheim, CA. over 20 times. Always with my family. Always at
Christmas.
And so begins the business of sharing. “Alright. Is everybody
neat and pretty? Then on with the show.
After Wilke assures us that she is standing in for Dawkins, she
tells how his grandparents, Betty Lu and Phil met, got married and together had
four daughters, Karen, Mary Lou, Beth and Nan. Phil was a sports announcer and
when he heard of Disney’s Park opening, he decided it would be a grand place to
take his daughters when he wasn’t on the air. The Park opened the same year
that daughter # 3 Beth, was born, 1955. Beth was Dawkins Mom.
Wilke weaves Dawkins’ story with such authority and assurance
that if she didn’t tell us…well never mind on that one, just trust me that she
seamlessly threads the needle between family, park visits, life altering
stories and colorful tid- bits about the family and the sisters, the park and
some of its secrets that yours truly, who also traveled that road by taking our
family to Disneyland for the better part of my three young’un growing up years,
never realized.
Disney always called his employees ‘Cast Members”. No cast
member could answer a question with a simple “No” or “I don’t know”. “I’ll find
out”, was the correct response to every question that could possibly be asked
if the ‘cast’ did not know the answer.
Female employees could not wear earrings in pierced ears and
always had to wear leggings and male employees could not sport a moustache and
vomit was called ‘Protein Spill’ and ‘Pixie Dust’ was the stuff used to clean
it up.
The Disneyland RR circles the Park every day at 8:AM Pacific
Standard Time and admission to the Park was $1.00 with tickets marked from A to
E rides additional. The E ticket was for the Matterhorn Mountain ride. It
scared the bjesus out of you.
With Wilke at the helm, Dawkins story never gets bogged down
but yours truly thought it could have been a tad shorter and did have some
difficulty sorting out the sisters even though pictures of each were shown from
an overhead projector, perched on a table, on to a screen on the back of the
theatre (Kristin E. Flores).
What I did find fascinating were the transparencies of early
park renderings and just what the early park looked from above. Divided up into five distinct lands each
having its own special flavor (Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Main Street, USA, and
Frontierland) Disneyland is still almost on everyone’s ‘to see’ list when
visiting California, or for that matter it’s always a place to take visitors.
When my late husband and I visited the park in 1959 it must
have looked pretty much the same as it did to young Philip, who appears in the
family album seven years after Beth and husband were married.
Every picture of the family at the park was taken in the very
same spot in Frontierland ‘where Davy Crocket sang about his gun.’ There are
fifty years of pictures from the very same spot. The group was waiting to take
the raft to Tom Sawyer’s Island.
Coming full circle Philip understands that nothing is
promised, and no one lives happily ever after.” But at the end of the day in “The
Happiest Place Ever”, happiness (in this setting) is an idea, created by a man
called Disney, in a park in Anaheim, CA where it’s OK to let your hair down and
escape on a pirate ride, fly on elephants, see children from around the world, meet the Mad Hatter, come face to
face with Sleeping Beauty, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Pluto, tell your
dreams to Cinderella and for sure “Wish Upon A Star”. Why not?
Completing the picture is Wilke in charge at all times making
the most of the long stage expertly changing out one picture for another
dressed simply in striped blouse, black capris with lavender sweater, easy on
the eyes, designed by Elisa Benzon and with a bevy of facial movements to let us in on her thoughts. Curtis Mueller’s lighting design, Michael
Huey’s sound design and composer and Bonnie Durben’s properties designer
complete the and enhance the picture.
Hats off to Jacque for an excellent tour de force
performance, no doubt about it.
See you at the theatre.
Organization: Diversionary Theatre
Phone: 619-220-0097
Production Type: Comedy/Drama
Ticket Prices: $15.00-$50.00
Where: 4545 Park Blvd. University Heights, San Diego, CA
92116
Web: diversionaey.org
Photo: Simpatika
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