A View of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE with Actor JP CANO

Actor JP Cano plays the fiercely loyal immigrant Marco in Artes de la Rosa's production of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Today he blogs to us about the experience he's having in rehearsal and how personal of a story this is for him. Also at the bottom see a sneak peak photo from the photo shoot featuring the cast of A View From The Bridge.

Every time I step onto a stage, I always remember myself, in my hometown of Parral Mexico, doing my first play when I was 11yo. Now almost 2 decades later, I feel the same love for acting that I did then. That love of story-telling is an aspect of acting that is more then just a great feeling. By telling stories we try to find out and define who we are and also what we aspire to be. On a personal level, during a performance, I love to connect with other human beings (my fellow actors) in a way that I don’t get to connect with in “real” everyday life. I get to love, hate, inspire and experience life to the fullest, like no human being can in “normal” life. This August Artes de la Rosa and director Adam Adolfo makes my acting dream to be reborn come true again.

When I read for a first time “A View from the Bridge”, I was not familiar with the script. Being born and raised in México, as an actor I grew up with writers like Lope de Vega, Garcia Lorca, Cervantes, Jose Revueltas ,and Emilio Carballido but never Arthur Miller. Director Adam Adolfo made such a great effort at research that I felt I knew Miller for years. The story could be so simple but complex at the same time; very unique, and of course full of a beautiful real life drama.

Family and Immigration are the subjects of this award winning masterpiece. Being an immigrant myself, I felt so connected to the story and of course with my character. Marco is not the good guy or the bad guy. He is just a normal person with such strong brotherhood feelings and family bonds that have put him into a very difficult situation. The main character, Eddie, has so many shades that it is impossible not to love and hate him at the same time. That’s what is so wonderful about this play, its complexity of the human condition. All the characters are so normal, searching for their own dreams or may I say nightmares; also they make mistakes like everyone else.

Immigration has been a subject and issue for so many decades and theater is not the exception in talking about it. Miller’s vision about immigration is so wonderful that makes the narration for all type of immigrants accessible no matter the nationality. Adam makes a great twist with Latinos and a good investigation of history to be believable. The cast is magnificent… actors with very different backgrounds and natural talent that make you fall in love with the story telling of Miller. Don’t miss this beautiful, but dramatic “View from the Bridge”.


Actors Abel Flores Jr. and JP Cano play brothers Rodolpho & Marco in Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge. Photo by Shannon Atkinson on location at the Trinity River Bridge in Dallas.

A View of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE with actor Abel Flores Jr.

In today's blog, actor Abel Flores Jr., who last appeared on the Artes de la Rosa stage as Father Tooker in last years Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, talks about the relevancy of the story and the importance of seeing ourselves in this story. Abel returns to ADLR as the young, romantic (and illegal) immigrant, Rudolpho. As a special treat, he's included some photos from rehearsals thus far!

When I read plays, I often find myself empathizing with one or two characters. Finding the relationship between yourself and a character in a story is important when studying a script or being cast in a role. What’s so powerful about the story and characters in A View from the Bridge is that not only is every character relatable but every element of the story is too. This play is one important story with many different sides to it. I’ve read this script multiple times and I find myself hoping for each character to achieve what they so desperately want each time. Real people exist in this story. The issues brought to light by this show and how our director, Adam Adolfo, transforms them through Latin eyes, makes them local, relevant, and applicable to where we as a community find ourselves today. Artes de la Rosa’s production of A View from the Bridge is an ambitious and important one; with the consistent dedication and hard work that each member of the company gives, it is a story worth telling and listening to.