Somerville Resident to Star in Ordinary Days: A Modern Musical

The Opposite of People, a new theater company in the greater Boston area, presents Ordinary Days: A Modern Musical, opening next week at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown.

One of musical theatre’s most exciting new composers, Adam Gwon, creates a score of vibrant and memorable songs, capturing with stinging clarity that uneasy moment in youth when doubts begin to cloud hopes for a future of unlimited possibility, and the connections that, knowingly or not, help you find your way. Ordinary Days is a refreshingly honest and funny musical that tells the story of four young New Yorkers whose lives intersect as they search for fulfillment, happiness, love, a cab, and a lost notebook.

Starring as a male lead in the production is Somerville resident, Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia as Jason.

“Personally, I’m a fan of the modern musical, the kind that not only focuses on pretty songs and flashy dance numbers, but also on the storytelling,” Mancinas-Garcia explains, “I’ve always thought that the musical part of the term should be a tool to create the story, to do theatre, and not the other way around. And that is what I like about Ordinary Days. Each song has the purpose of advancing the characters, of letting the audiences know what makes them tick and at the end, hopefully, they will find a connection with them through knowing their life stories.”

Throughout the show, one of the characters hands out flyers to passersby imprinted with inspirational messages. These messages, though occasionally kitschy, speak to the characters as they go through their own personal ordeals . In the spirit of the show, Mancinas-Garcia shared his own message that speaks to him.

“There’s this line that Deb (one of the characters) sings:

And I know that I’ll never grow

As tall as these buildings

I’ll never quite reach the sky.

But God, Warren, I want to try.

Don’t ask me why.

I love the idea behind it. Even if you think that your goals are out of your reach you should keep trying. Because, who knows? You might prove yourself wrong.”

No stranger to the theatre, Mancinas-Garcia has been featured in numerous productions in the greater Boston community. “I’ve been very fortunate to play some of my bucket list roles,” he says, “The most recent one has to be The Emcee in Cabaret. It’s one of those musical theatre roles that also gives you a chance to “act”, to explore the psychology and setting of the piece and really sink your teeth into it.” Mancinas-Garcia has also been featured in Jesus Christ Superstar (Pontius Pilate) and West Side Story (Bernardo). “ For some reason I keep getting the darker roles,” he laughs, “ that is another reason why I’m excited to play a normal, happy go lucky guy like Jason.” This fall, Mancinas-Garcia will portray Pablo Picasso in The Wellesley Players’ Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Also in Picasso is the director of Ordinary Days, Cara Guappone.

When he’s not on stage, Mancinas-Garcia is a Software Administrator for John Hancock Financial Services and likes to read, work out, and play cards (though not at the same time).

Ordinary Days runs July 30 - August 1 at 8pm and August 1 - 2 at 2pm at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA.

Tickets are available for all performances through Brown Paper Tickets: http://theoppositeofpeople.brownpapertickets.com or on The Opposite of People’s website: http://theoppositeofpeople.org

The Opposite of People (TOP) is a newly established theater company that is dedicated to bringing accessible, unconventional theater and little known shows to the Boston-area community.