{"id":153789,"date":"2026-03-05T11:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T11:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/153789\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T11:20:13","slug":"comedy-meets-intensity-in-a-lunar-rhapsody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/153789\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedy Meets Intensity in \u2018A Lunar Rhapsody\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Independent<\/a> <\/p>\n

COURTESY OF CASON DOYLE<\/p>\n

Independent vignettes come together on the court in the first Mainstage production of the semester<\/p>\n

\u201cA Lunar Rhapsody,\u201d written by Jos\u00e9 Rivera, centers around a Brooklyn community awaiting the lunar eclipse on the local basketball court, unfolding through three distinct storylines that are connected through the presence of the time-travelers that appear throughout the entire show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sara Koviak directed and choreographed the play, shaping the movement and staging to reflect the characters\u2019 relationships and interactions. Koviak\u2019s version, performed at Pope Auditorium, is the first-ever student production of \u201cA Lunar Rhapsody\u201d in New York City.<\/p>\n

When the doors opened for the audience, the actors were already setting the scene, and all remained on stage throughout the entire show. Through detailed warm lighting that mimics a summer evening and the textured set design of a lived-in basketball court, viewers were immediately transported into the setting of a group of five teens \u2014 Abel, Clara, Lola, Mia and Piri \u2014 playing basketball, dancing and teasing each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their friendships felt organic as they delivered their lines with ease and confidence, showing not only strong stage presence but also genuine trust in one another.<\/p>\n

Zara Dautruche, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) \u201928, plays Mia. The role is Dautruche\u2019s first in a mainstage production at Fordham.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very collaborative, as this was a new show for us and we were building it from the ground up,\u201d Dautruche said. \u201cIt felt great to be listened to in the room and for all ideas to be allowed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dautruche spoke to the cast\u2019s harmony as an ensemble throughout the entire show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really connect off of each other\u2019s energies, even if we don\u2019t have dialogue directly with each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Among the teens gathered on the court, Abel emerges as a quiet, yet affected presence, carrying a loss that sets him apart and holds the challenge of tackling the deep emotions of grief and loss. The teens teasingly remind him of his place on this planet and stage a punching match to \u201cknock out\u201d his feelings and thoughts of doing the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In discussion of female friendships, Clara, Lola and Mia explore the struggles of being a woman, commenting on \u201cbeing touched or looked at.\u201d The group emphasizes the difference between \u201cif my future\u201d and \u201cwhen my future,\u201d underscoring the uncertainty that shapes their outlook.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In between scenes, time travelers from another planet called Dimensionals 1 and 2 constantly surveilled the scenes and often added comedic relief with their dramatic emotions and overly long physical skits, including handshakes and synchronized dances. Their silly energy drew the audience in. Their parts naturally intertwined with the scripts of the scenes, as they would react to and judge the humans for their choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dimensional 1, played by Nicholas Matos, FCLC \u201927, explained that although the role was playful at times, it was also physically demanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would come into rehearsal with some new ideas of weird, wacky movements I could do that would work with certain moments,\u201d Matos said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The cast takes its final bow, closing out a full week of performances together on stage. (COURTESY OF CASON DOYLE)<\/p>\n

Rather than continuing the teens\u2019 narrative, the play distinctly shifts into the second storyline, slowing its pace to focus on an older couple\u2019s conversation, where bickering and subtle jabs added levity. As the audience tuned into this couple also awaiting the lunar eclipse, they dove into the life the characters share and what they advocated for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scene is filled with so much on their mind, so it\u2019s good to sit and reminisce and see how things evolve through all this time,\u201d Luis Ovando, FCLC \u201928, who plays Piri, said.<\/p>\n

Ray, a former public school teacher, is attempting to settle into retirement after the death of five of his students. Due to this loss, he is hesitant to connect with Abel and his friends, who he meets through Felicity, his free-spirited wife. She gently peels back those layers, allowing the audience to glimpse the depth of their relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their storyline ends with a lunar eclipse that Felicity insists on watching with Ray, who is indifferent at first. She uses the eclipse as a way of expressing her anxiety about their time together running out. It becomes a bittersweet moment as they slowly dance, reflecting on 40 years together. Ray apologizes for mistreating Felicity while running from his grief, finally facing his emotions in a moment of growth.<\/p>\n

The next storyline follows three roommates, Isla, Catalina and Paloma, who bonded over being queer Latinas pursuing careers in law. Tensions rise when Catalina and Paloma reveal they have been secretly together, while Isla is still in love with Catalina, her ex-girlfriend. At a picnic celebrating Paloma\u2019s promotion to partner and their plans to leave the city, Isla swallows her pride, congratulates Paloma and reflects on who they once were: independent fighters for justice and equality.<\/p>\n

Catalina, played by Amanda Sofia Rodriguez, FCLC \u201926, highlighted the strain of the trio\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think the more you know about people, the more complicated it can get, but it\u2019s your job to choose whether or not you want to embrace that complexity with people,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

The scene powerfully captures the depth of friendship, reminding the audience that while relationships can be messy and confusing, growth depends on the decision to move forward together. \u201cA Lunar Rhapsody\u201d drives home the idea that everyone, no matter their age, gender or ethnicity, deals with their own inner challenges. Yet, we are all placed under one moon for a brief moment, much like a lunar eclipse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll three groups are going through such different things. At the end they come together, they all intermingle with each other and it just feels like the basketball court is a metaphor for the world,\u201d Matos said.<\/p>\n

Each character navigated personal struggles while striving for a sense of salvation and love, whether through relationships, friendships or internal battles. No matter if you were a dimensional time traveler or a high school student, you could feel the raw emotions of these characters that came to life beneath the Pope Auditorium lights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COURTESY OF CASON DOYLE Independent vignettes come together on the court in the first Mainstage production of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,63788,60561,9,24,63,63789,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-153789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-fordham-theatre-mainstage","10":"tag-lunar-eclipse","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-pope-auditorium","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}