'Boleros' close to director Godinez's heart
Henry Godinez has directed about 30 plays in his career from his days as a college theater student to his current role as resident artistic associate at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
"Boleros for the Disenchanted," he says, holds special meaning for him.
The play opens Monday, June 29, at the Goodman, but Godinez had already directed it at its world premiere in April 2008 at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Conn.
"It was a huge honor to be chosen for that," said Godinez, who is 50. "It's a special play because it's such a wonderful play, but also because (playwright) José Rivera, for me, is one of the great heroes of my career, one of the great American playwrights."
It also hits a very personal note, he says.
The play revolves around the love story of a man and woman who meet in Puerto Rico and move to Alabama. It is inspired by the lives of Rivera's own parents, and Godinez, who moved from Cuba to the United States at age 3, says he sees parallels between Flora, who is based on Rivera's mother, and his own mother.
"That adds even more meaning for me, it adds resonance," said Godinez, who lives in Evanston and works as an associate professor at Northwestern University's Theatre and Interpretation Center.
In Chicago, Godinez worked with two of the same actors from the Yale cast - Joe Minoso and Felix Solis - plus the same set and lighting designers. Despite some similarities, there are major changes for the Goodman staging, such as a turntable set in the first act, he said.
"That gives it a very different energy," he said. "And, of course, working with different actors makes me look at the parts in new ways, which is also energizing."
The Chicago cast includes Elizabeth Ledo and Sandra Marquez in the roles of Flora at different stages of her life, as well as Lisa Fernandez and Rene Rivera.
At the Goodman, Godinez has directed Karen ZacarÃas' "Mariela in the Desert," Regina Taylor's "Millennium Mambo" and "The Cook" by Eduardo Machado, among others.
He has also worked with the Chicago Children's Theatre and Victory Gardens Theater, where he directed Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Anna in the Tropics."
Godinez said that working as a theater director is all about incorporating the input and creative suggestions that come from set designers, actors and everyone else who participates in the production.
"I see it in my imagination, I visualize it in my head, and then you keep adding the ingredients," he said. "It's like working on a stew."
"Boleros for the Disenchanted"
Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
When: Previews staged until Sunday, June 28; opens Monday, June 29, and runs until Sunday, July 26
Tickets: $25- $70 at goodmantheatre.org, (312) 443-3800 or at the box office. On the day of the performance, half-price mezzanine tickets for the general public and $10 tickets for students are available at noon at the box office, and at 10 a.m. online.