An indie ‘Misery’ sparks up the local theater scene

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A: It’s essentially the same beats as the film but it makes adjustments to make it work onstage as opposed to film. But all the iconic William Goldman dialogue is in there: “I’m your number one fan,” “He didn’t get out of the cockadoodie car,” “Darling, trust me it’s for the best,” all the lines that made the film so iconic.

Q: Who plays your Paul, and who plays your Annie? What qualities do they bring to their roles?

A: Joseph Portela plays Paul Sheldon and Kelsie Oba-Spence plays Annie Wilkes. Both young actors I have been itching to work with since I worked with them both previously as an assistant director on CMT’s Chicago. What led me to go with a younger cast was that whenever I’ve seen the show performed the older actors have always felt miscast to me as they didn’t bring the energy and flare required for the circumstances of the play. However, not only do these two do that but they also allow for us to toy with a different side of the story and themes with younger actors: that being what happens when one person gets fame too quickly and the repercussions of that. They don’t just try to repeat what the film does but they bring their own voice and personality to these roles people know and love. So, while the audience gets to see the iconic scenes and dialogue onstage they also get to see fresh performances of these roles.

Q: You want to give a contemporary edge to this classic title. Can you give an example of how you’re doing that?

A: The biggest example of our contemporary edge is in the sound design. Thanks to our sound designer, Jorge Romero Vaca, we were able to create an original score (all created by Vaca) for the show. While we do use some Liberace tracks like in the film, for a lot of scenes there’s underscoring for the entire scene and it gives it a very modern feel but keeps it the same timeless feel of the story. The second biggest example is really in the performances. In Misery, so much of the story hinges on psychological tension and power dynamics, and our cast taps into that with a grounded, contemporary approach by stripping the melodrama and rooting it in emotional realism, making the horror more personal, more unsettling, more thrilling.

Q: It’s rare for a piece of theater to be independently produced in Fresno. What made you do it?

A: Oh, there are several reasons that come to mind. One is it has always been a dream project of mine. I’ve always wanted to produce a show, and having seen friends and mentors such as Miguel Gastelum, Joshua Slack, and my uncle Gary Goldstein (who had to produce several of his own plays) do it, really pushed me to take the leap and do it myself. In regard to this title, I really have wanted to direct this piece, after the reading I wanted to do it with Joe and Kelsie, and so we just went full steam ahead and made it happen. Second reasoning was to really help build my resume. For me, and I know for many others, it is difficult getting your directing career started in the early stages, so in order to help me not only learn the ropes of putting on a show from the business side but also help build my resume, it was something that I really felt passionate in doing. My final, and most personal reason, was getting to work with several previous collaborators of mine who are not only dear dear friends of mine but also some of the most professional, passionate, and creative designers in the Valley who have had the same passion for this show as I did. Everyone in the team and cast when I brought this show to them had the same intrigue and passion in producing it and it has made this a project already one for the books.

Q: Is this production a prelude to forming a new theater company?

A: Not anytime soon haha. I’m still currently a student at Fresno State and I currently plan on applying for graduate school in Directing. However, for me, it isn’t out of the question. I have so many ideas of what I would like to bring to the Central Valley theatre community and so many shows I think that have so much value and would be great pieces for audiences so if the opportunity arose to do it I would absolutely take it but as of now I don’t have any plans. I just wanted to bring this passion project to life.

Q: Between Fresno State theater and your work in community theater, it seems like you’re always working. Just for fun, tell us all the shows you’ve been involved with in the past year.

A: Well, 2024 marks probably the busiest year for me. I started off the year with Amadeus at Good Company Players, which went straight into Spring Awakening at Fresno State (both with J. Daniel Herring directing, who has been my biggest mentor and someone I look up to greatly as an artist), which went immediately into directing Seussical Jr. at CMT, and then into Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at CenterStage Clovis, back to directing with God of Carnage at Fresno State’s Experimental Theatre Company, and then rounding out with Red Velvet with Brad Myers at Fresno State. This year has probably been my quiestest year., having only been in Mr. Burns at Fresno City, directing A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney at ETC, and Misery. My friends always keep telling me I need a break and their probably right but despite all the stress and long hours, I LOVE what I do and I hope to continue doing it for a long time.

Q: Of all those, which was the one you felt the best about in terms of your personal contribution?

A: As a performer, it is a hard tie. As a performer, it would be Joseph & Spring Awakening because not only were both of these shows dream roles and I had the best directors supporting me, but every night of both of these shows someone came up to me and would tell me how touched they felt by my performance and the show in general and that always means so much to me that I was able to be a part of bringing an emotion or feeling out of an audience member. As a director, it would be Death of Walt Disney because it was a script that allowed me to really play with how I could tell a story and what I could do in a space, but I had a cast of excellent actors who gave me exactly what I wanted to do in telling the story presented. That one will always hold a special place in my heart as an artist.

Q: I’m not saying that you would ever trap someone in a cabin, but is there an author/playwright/celebrity that you wouldn’t mind getting to hang out with?

A: Well, I’m a director so a playwright I would love to hang out with would be Martin McDonagh. Just to get more insight on his sense of humor (and maybe get some tid bits of advice on writing). But a celebrity, definitely Paul McCartney. I’m a Beatles nerd to the core.

Q: Anything else you’d like to say?

A: I’d personally like to thank every single person who has contributed to this project. This project has been the dream of a little boy from Fresno forever and thanks to the amazing theatre community they made that dream come true and I’m truly overwhelmed and eternally grateful for the support of this community. I hope everyone will join us in the beautiful Bullard Theatre and enjoy our take on this classic Stephen King tale.