Production plays with celebrities, personification

An emotional play centers around loss incorporates love, teenage infatuation and a personified apartment who seems to be crumbling into pieces physically and figuratively.

The imaginative play "Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)," directed by Cal State Long Beach alum Jeremy Aluma, will premiere at the Sacred Fools Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 11.

A year after the loss of her father, 11-year-old Janice and her mother spend Christmas struggling to cope with the idea that the father of the house will not be present that holiday. The only comfort they have are the dreamlike visitations from their celebrity crushes, Justin Timberlake and Harrison Ford.

Although the title includes the name of the famous singer, Justin Timberlake, he is not an actual member of the cast but a fantasy character played by John Halbach. In addition to playing Timberlake, Halbach also performs Ford's character and the ghost of the Janice's father.

Because the fantasy characters are presently famous actors, director Aluma felt that impersonations would make the play cheap or cheesy. Instead, Aluma focused more on the quality and essence that these famous characters represent and had Halbach embody these qualities.

As strange as it sounds, the apartment is an actual character in the play. He transforms from the floor to the window, to the closet, to the radiator, and is upset by what he has turned into. One of the most intriguing points of the play is the apartment that was once a glorious mansion, and how it symbolizes the loss felt by the mother and daughter, according to Aluma.

"He [the apartment] just wants to be fixed," Aluma said. "He needs love and care like we all do."

Performers, including the understudies, have been rehearsing for this production for eight weeks, and all have impeccable talent, according to Aluma.

"I wanted to make sure that my understudies were just as talented as the main cast and also give them a chance to perform," Aluma said. "So, I guaranteed them two performances in the fifth week of production."

Aside from being able to transform the character of the apartment, the physical set of the apartment was conjured up by set designer Staci Walters, a CSULB alumni with an MFA in scene design.

"Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)" will open on Friday, Nov. 11 and will run until Dec. 18. Performances will be held on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 13 and Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. The location of this production is at the Sacred Fools Theater at 660 N. Heliotrope Drive in Los Angeles. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $16 for students and seniors. For more information, visit sacredfools.org.

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