'Hear What's in the Heart' full of laughs, love at Civic's Wild Oscar's
"Hear What's in the Heart — A Shoemaker's Tale" is so full of humor and pathos, it moves audiences from laughing out loud at the colorful antics of its Sicilian characters to inescapable tears in a scene where grandfather and grandson say their last words of love to each other.
Actor Steve Scionti, whose career has spanned from working as a Broadway dancer to a stage and film actor in Los Angeles, is the real deal in this gem of a one-man show at the new Wild Oscar's at the Akron Civic Theatre. The story of a grandson's love for his nonno, Angelo Morello, feels wonderfully authentic because it is real: This an autobiographical play full of heart, love, joy and humor.
More: One-man Sicilian family tale to baptize new Wild Oscar's performance space at Akron Civic Theatre
Scionti has the gift of powerful acting and storytelling. And boy, are the Sicilian relatives and neighborhood characters that he plays from his hometown of Middletown, Connecticut funny.
This touching and hilarious show, continuing for two more weekends, is the inaugural production to open the Civic's intimate and new Wild Oscar's performance space adjacent to Lock 4. On opening night Friday, which was sold out and appeared to have numerous Italians in the audience, Scionti received a standing ovation.
The handsome Scionti is high energy and thoroughly plugged in through it all, whether emoting as Sicilian immigrant Angelo or waxing poetic about food as Uncle Manny. The latter, who's a hair stylist, has some of the most wildly effusive lines, describing delicious espresso this way: "It's like sipping nirvana off the nipples of Venus, and I LOVE it!"
In the Wild Oscar's space, which seats a maximum of 47, the sight lines aren't perfect, as the seating isn't raked, and there's a beam in the center of the room that causes some obstruction. But Scionti, performing in front of a brick wall as a backdrop and aided by a clothes tree and trunk among his props, keeps a lot of his action at the center stage area, which I could see well from my center-aisle seat.
The Civic has renovated the long-overlooked space and added lighting, sound and seating for Wild Oscar's inaugural show. In this intimate space, Scionti didn't need a microphone and could be heard well au naturel. His show runs 75 minutes without intermission.
The Civic's Val Renner, who met Scionti through the new BOOM! Theatre for mature actors, knew the Civic wanted to produce the award-winning show by this L.A. transplant. Scionti moved to the Akron area with his wife, Green native Kimberly A. Ray, more than two years ago. He's performed "Hear What's in the Heart" for decades, including in Los Angeles, New York and his Connecticut hometown.
The play, set at a post-funeral gathering for Scionti's grandfather, flashes back repeatedly to Scionti's youth and young adulthood. The actor plays both himself and eight other characters, offering us everything from flashy disco moves as a teen to a high school sex ed class as Father Connelly, whose treatise he delivers as gummily as if this guy has no teeth.
Other characters include the cocky yet brutal Uncle Amadeo and loud-mouthed Jerry the Pizza Guy who repeatedly pounds dough on his restaurant table and yells, "Get the hell outta here!"
The play's sweetest moments happen when Scionti's either emoting about his grandfather or playing the demonstrative Angelo himself. That ranges from a scene with the grown Scionti at his grandfather's deathbed to a telling moment when Angelo eloquently advises his grandson to ignore his taunting peers as the teen hones his talents as a dancer.
Nonno Angelo encourages Steve's talent and his desire to work toward greatness, using a wonderful analogy to the ethereal work of Michelangelo that brought tears to my eyes. We first see Angelo working at Angelo's Shoe Repair, where the Italian business owner brags to a customer that "The boy is to be Broadway" when young adult Scionti has reached that milestone as a dancer.
Scionti's grandfather was not given the choice to pursue music, which was his passion, but nevertheless found honor assuming the trade of his father, who also was a shoemaker.
The ever-wise Angelo tells his grandson, "A man has no dream, has no heart. Has no heart, has no musica. Has no musica, has no life."
And we love him.
Scionti's performance reached a transcendent moment when he sang the Neapolitan folk song "Zappatore" — one of Angelo's favorites —in Italian, and it didn't matter whether you knew Italian or not. Before singing, Scionti told the song's story of a field digger whose fancy son was ashamed of him and how the hard-working field digger held his head high and danced with the rich and powerful.
When Scionti sang that Italian song handed down by his grandfather, we could feel its meaning in our hearts.
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
One-man show: "Hear What's in the Heart — a Shoemaker's Tale"
Where: Wild Oscar's at the Akron Civic Theatre
When: Continuing 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Jan. 29
Onstage: Steve Scionti
Cost: $20
Information: 330-253-2488; www.akroncivic.com or ticketmaster.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Emotive 'Hear What's in the Heart' funny, poignant at Wild Oscar's
