Product Description Tales from a Ghetto Klown profiles the renowned actor/playwright John Leguizamo and his unorthodox rise to success, while capturing his struggles to mount his latest one-man show on Broadway. .com John Leguizamo's 20-plus years in showbiz got the soul-searching treatment when he presented his one-man show Ghetto Klown on Broadway in 2011 (his fifth solo theater performance and third time lighting the Great White Way). You won't get to see much of the show in this behind-the-scenes documentary, but you will discover a great deal about the tortuous creative process that goes into self-analytical entertainment. Director Ben DeJesus's camera follows the impish, manically charmed performer through every phase of his craft in bringing the show to fruition. Leguizamo talks to the camera about the writing phase, the funding phase, the physical preparation, and the fine-tuning of a piece that is extremely personal yet filled with the pugnacious humor that has defined all aspects of his career. In addition to the interview segments, we also get to follow along as Leguizamo interacts with his director Fisher Stevens and various members of the production staff to hone individual elements into a cohesive whole. The show includes elaborate use of ingenious sound cues and a multimedia rear-projection screen, which makes for some tricky choreography, especially when Leguizamo's hyperactive dance moves and multiple character changeups require precise coordination. Hassles with finding a venue, the out-of-town tryout, and unforeseen acts of God are all intriguing documentary plot points. But the most interesting portion comes when Leguizamo decides to take the show on the road to Bogotá, Colombia. Though he was born there, the native language didn't really stick into his New York City childhood, so he had to transform his pidgin Spanish into the real thing. More daunting was translating the script and transforming himself into a native so that he could make the show as authentic for his audience in Colombia as it was for those in New York who gave Ghetto Klown its run of 120 performances. He works closely with collaborator Rosie Berrito to make Pelado de Barrio a reality, and the process is clearly more personally affecting--not to mention physically taxing--than staging the show in English for Broadway. Tales from a Ghetto Klown was originally seen on PBS TV stations and at 60 minutes it whizzes by in tightly crafted fashion. There are a bunch of outtakes, extended segments, and impromptu comedy bits included as fun extras on the disc, which will be icing for Leguizamo fans and anyone interested in how nuts-and-bolts creativity transforms into great theater. --Ted Fry
C**M
Brilliant
John is so funny my sides hurt. This is a making of film and even this formate was hilarious. It also revealed how this project came about. Very interesting for those that love his work or theater nerds. I am both so it was perfect. Learned so much about his process, getting a project to Broadway, his brilliance and the importance of sharing these works of art with the world.
D**Y
Enlightening, Educational & Enjoyable....
Loved seeing this eye-opening documentary of John Leguizamo's life story of his career unfolding throughout the years and how he broke through many barriers when returning to theater. He is an amazing, hardworking, exceedingly multi-talented, intelligent, warm hearted, actor/comedian.
C**O
Love the man, Love the show, avoid the documentary
I love John Leguizamo and I love Broadway so I thought this would be a great fit. I missed the original run so I was really looking forward to seeing some of the show. It's a documentary about making the show, which I knew going in. I had assumed that because PBS did this as part of a promotional event for the show coming out on HBO they would show at least small parts of the performance. Key word- small.... this is ALL documentary, the few moments from the actual performance are so chopped up and so edited that they are hardly worth the time this documentary goes on for- not when the actual performance is available on HBO. It was interesting but a little annoying as the few moments taken from the performance get shown over and over again as funny snippets, was there a copyright issue maybe? Who knows. PBS produced, not their best work. But do seek out the actual performance on HBO or when it comes out on DVD because THAT was really awesome.
J**E
Heavy Bio Time, Medium actual Comedy time
Funny man but just" another" bio(maybe better for Latino audience) About 25% -ish funny show, the rest is bio.
W**R
A tight, useful documentary
Acting is hard, hard work, physically, mentally, intellectually, spiritually.Live theater is the hardest acting work of all.This documentary does a wonderful job of including us, showing us some of what goes into the work.I'd especially recommend it for anyone considering a career as an actor, comic, singer--any type of performer or somehow involved in the process.
A**R
Inspirational artist
A natural talent who works his *ss off and keeps on growing and givingInspirational!!!!
R**D
it,s Formulaic PBS, casually entertaining
It's entertaining but it's PBS so it's not very gritty, it' really doesn't feature many clips from Ghetto Clown. If you are a hard core fan you will be somewhat disappointed , if you are new to johns work you will find this very entertaining and should be inspiring you to find out more.
J**E
Comedy has it's king and he's called "John Leguizamo!
He is the most under rated actor of his time. A pure Genious in his own right. He has earned the most actor awards that can be given or earned by his Actors Alumni!...
A**R
but enjoyed seeing the process just the same
I bought this thinking it was the full performance, but enjoyed seeing the process just the same. I hope I get to see him live one day. He is one of my inspirations as I develop a one-woman-show.
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