The successful off-Broadway launch of the "The Court Martial of Almirante Montojo" would not have been possible without the excellent performance of the NYC actors at Manhattan Repertory Theatre.
Thus, we decided to ask some of the actors about their experience preparing for the December 8, 2018 off-Broadway play.
"The Court Martial of Almirante (Admiral) Montojo" is partly based on Admiral George Dewey’s 1913 Scribner autobiography where he mentioned that he came to the courtroom defense of his former naval foe at Manila Bay, Almirante Patricio Montojo.
The Battle of Manila Bay happened one hundred twenty years ago on May 1, 1898 and is said to be America’s first overseas naval victory. To prepare for the off-off-Broadway Spanish American War historical courtroom drama performance last December 8, 2018, the actors took different approaches.
For Jordan Allen Bell, understanding the protagonist lead role of Almirante Patricio Montojo, the Spanish commander at Manila Bay, meant extensive research and immersion into his character.
Bell says that finding the essence of Almirante Patricio Montojo’s character was a trying experience as he felt his character was a man fighting for Spain’s dying empire and yet ultimately was betrayed by his government at home.
“Montojo had to deal with the anguish from this betrayal as after devoting his life to the good service of Spain. The corrupt politicians in Madrid dared to accuse him of cowardice (during the famous Battle of Manila Bay),” said Bell.
Andrew James Bleidner is no stranger to military roles. His previous credits include a role as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in the Fox television miniseries Legends & Lies: The Civil War, and as a Marine in the 2015 Shia LeBeouf film Man Down.
Being a former Norwich senior military university cadet also helped him understand the military mindset of the politician antagonist Ministro Santander, formerly an Army man.
To prepare, Bleidner spoke frequently with the Director Ken Wolf and with the Manila based playwright Dennis Posadas.
“I often use music as one of the tools as a way of gauging a given character. Ministro Santander, the bastard Machiavellian politician of this 19th century play, finds solace in classical music, which I listened to in order to develop his character. He was a man who received and granted favors, who was dedicated to the demise of Montojo and didn’t want the blame of the loss of Manila Bay placed on him. So that’s what I played when I played the part. I just tried to play this man who was thinking in these political terms,” said Bleidner.
For Puerto Rican actor Kelmi Bermudez, growing up in a family of lawyers helped him greatly with his role as prosecutor Capitan Sanchez.
“My own country was under Spanish control for many centuries before America took over. This story is perfectly relatable to how I grew up, it is rich in languages that I'm familiar with, and presents human beings struggling with their loyalties,” Bermudez said. His character was a man who sought to go after Almirante Montojo, and jousted with the defense lawyer Teniente Rivas, played by Kenneth Laboy Vasquez.
Fellow Puerto Rican actor Nefti Boyer says he felt connected to the play from the moment he auditioned for it, and ended up playing two parts – that of Enrique Montojo and Marinero Rojas.
“I spoke to Ken (the Director) about the importance of your work to me as a Puerto Rican. Puerto Rico, as a colonized island struggled too with Spanish domination. However, the story touched me as the parting of ways from old views to newer ones.
Aside from the love story, this is what made me feel connected to the plot, fighting to break away from the norms and traditions that others expect us to believe in. I much enjoyed playing Marinero Rojas, who had the human touch in all of the seriousness of the military environment,” said Boyer.
For Archil Gugberidze, playing someone with a secret like Coronel Cancio that required a lot of alpha male explosive rage meant also looking at modern but similar characters. He also took his Director’s advice seriously.
“I tried to base it on someone with power but knew how to play a dirty game like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. The script helped a lot, as most of Cancio's lines in the end were of a man in rage, and the Director said to just ‘go nuts,’ even though it is a court room drama,” said Gugberidze.
Anastassia Krainik played the damsel Evita Mallorca, who was never in distress. Her take on the role was shaped by how she viewed the play.
“Although it happens in a courtroom, the stakes are extremely high for every character. Beyond Almirante Montojo, there's an entire empire that's collapsing, reputations being made, and true love testing its limits. I loved seeing how each actor, including myself, raised the stakes to get it to a place where all that mattered was communicating our ideas and fighting for what we wanted,” said Krainik.
The fully packed one night performance of Admiral Montojo last December 8, 2018 at the Manhattan Repertory Theater was directed by Ken Wolf and was produced by Dennis Posadas, Ken Wolf, JB Dimayuga and Robbie Jacinto. Aubrey Downing was the stage manager.
The cast was composed of actors Jordan Allen Bell (Almirante Montojo), Kenneth Laboy Vasquez (Teniente Rivas), Kelmi Bermudez (Capitan Sanchez), Anastassia Krainik (Evita Mallorca), Victor Hazan (Coronel Castaneda), Andrew James Bleidner (Ministro Santander), Nephtali Boyer (Eugenio Montojo/Marinero Roxas), Martin Goldberg (Javier Mallorca), Tony Bozanich (Capitan Ricafrente), Archil Gugberidze (Coronel Cancio), Lukas Baeskow (mailman/sentry/junior officer), and Dan Lerner (Admiral George Dewey).
