Farley Cadena, whose scene-stealing performances as Singin’ In The Rain’s Miss Dinsmore, The Producers’ Hold-Me-Touch-Me, and Bye Bye Birdie’s Doris MacAfee have made her a SoCal musical theater treasure now gets the center-stage star vehicle that has long been her due in Stroke Of Luck (or how my brain broke & I crawled my way back), her inspired, inspiring one-woman show.

It was a mere ten months ago that a Trump-induced horror of a year had Cadena suffering from one eye migraine after another (and occasional sight loss to boot) before finding herself sharing a hospital double room with an insufferable Russian mafia princess, the result of a stroke of major bad luck.

 Now, back on her feet and ready to show the world what perseverance and guts can yield, Cadena has written a song-packed solo narrative of her life before, during, and after an interruption in the flow of blood to the brain robbed her of the power of clear, coherent speech, the ability to read, and perhaps most significantly for a woman born to perform, her voice.

Saints be praised, those signature pipes are as bell-clear and stunning as ever, allowing Cadena to take audiences on a Broadway journey from the 1950s to today with occasionally lyrically-tweaked takes on Jerry Herman’s “It’s Today,” Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s “Some People,” Sondheim’s “And I’m Here,” Jason Robert Brown’s “I’m Not Afraid Of Anything,” Sara Bareilles’s “She Used To Be Mine,” Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s “The Moment Explodes,” and Pasek and Paul’s “Anybody Have A Map?”

 Flashing back to a South Bay childhood that had young Farley Henry discovering her future on the musical theater stage, Stroke Of Luck then moves forward in time to an unfortunate first marriage to a controlling, conservative religious nut, to a job at PBS that introduced her to husband Felix, to a series of ingenue roles well into her 30s, and to a chance bit of against-age-and-type casting as Oliver’s Widow Corney that has since led to one quirky character part after another with many more to come.

Working hand in hand with ace director Kirsten Chandler and some dramatic lighting effects, Cadena relives the harrowing post-stroke days and the slow, painful road to recovery during which the mere act of putting words together seemed at times an impossibility.

Cadena describes her self-directed speech therapy when insurance wouldn’t pay for professional help, days of near perfect speech following by demoralized setbacks, and finally the Farley Cadena she is today, in flawless command of her fresh and funny and touching and triumphant hour-and-a-quarter show.

Adding to the magic at the El Portal Theatre is musical director-accompanist Anthony Zediker, fresh from Celebration Theatre’s Cabaret.

 Stroke Of Luck is produced by Dion Mial Enterprises. Danté Carr is technical director. Cadena’s sons Cody and Tyler are stage techs.

Stroke Of Luck’s two-performance-only run at the El Portal is just the beginning. Expect future Strokes to inspire those in recovery, their friends and family members, and anyone else with the great good fortune to see this extraordinary one-woman show.

Monroe Forum at the El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

–Steven Stanley
October 3, 2018

Tags: El Portal Theatre, Farley Cadena, Los Angeles Theater Review