There was once a Dominican-born man named Porfirio Rubirosa. It wouldn’t be a surprise if you haven’t heard of him; his is not a household name. But in the mid-20th century, he was a notorious playboy, a successful diplomat, a champion polo player, one of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husbands, cozy with the Kennedys and a familiar acquaintance to author Ian Fleming.
Yes, “James Bond” author Ian Fleming.
Actor and writer Christopher Rivas talks all about Rubirosa in the DNAWORKS production of “The Real James Bond … Was Dominican,” running through Feb. 16 at City Theatre on the South Side. But the 70-minute one-man show is so much more than just a history lesson about a fascinating figure.
Near the beginning of the show, Rivas greets the audience, saying that he preferred to see the experience as more like a church service or a conversation than a performance. And it really does feel that way — while the actor’s delivery is lyrical, infused with humor and emotion, he also makes every person sitting in the intimate space of the Lillie Theatre feel like a friend that he’s excited to talk to.
That intimacy is furthered by how personal the script is. Many tales of Rubirosa’s exploits are laid out, and they are fascinating. But the show is fundamentally about the half-Dominican Rivas, a native of Queens, N.Y. His anxious childhood, his desire to be seen, his family history and his philosophy on dating. All of those facets of his life are filtered through the lens of prejudice.
“The Real James Bond … Was Dominican” heavily discusses issues including whitewashing, code switching, colorism, the ingrained self-hatred non-white people face and the push-pull of attempting to succeed no matter what when you’re already at a disadvantage. Rivas puts two individual faces to these struggles: Rubirosa’s and his own.
And Rubirosa himself was a complicated figure during his life. Rivas takes care to detail both the good and bad of the man who intrigues him. He also stresses his own frustration with Rubirosa’s erasure from history, and with the fact that Fleming wouldn’t write about the clear inspiration for Bond as he looked in reality. When attendees find their seats before the performance begins, a quote from author James Baldwin is projected on the screen behind the stage: “My heroes are skewed, and not merely because of the movies, but because of the land in which I live, of which the movies are often a reflection.”
That all makes the production sound super-serious and preachy. It’s not at all! Rivas is effervescently charismatic, and there’s an ease to the way that he offers these stories and jokes to the audience that pulls you in immediately. Whether he’s letting one attendee fix his crooked tie or urging everyone to their feet for a brief Bad Bunny-soundtracked dance party, Rivas gets the crowd involved.
While he is riveting, he doesn’t do it all alone. Daniel Banks directed, pulling many multimedia aspects together into a kind of theatrical alchemy. Soundtracking the show (besides the aforementioned Bad Bunny) is Jonathan Gomez, whose live instrumentation brought another dimension of flavor. Projection designer Kelly Colburn provides eye-catching visual aids, especially useful when one performer is shouldering an entire production.
Theater is about connection and widening our horizons. and the artistry with which Rivas presents these stories onstage is an excellent example of the power performance can wield. And yes, let’s get Christopher Rivas cast as the new Bond immediately — but, as he notes, not the first Latino Bond; that title belongs to Rubirosa.
“The Real James Bond … Was Dominican” runs through Feb. 16 at City Theatre on the South Side. To get tickets, visit citytheatrecompany.org.