The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, the latest production from Next Act Theatre, focuses on an unconventional professional wrestling duo: Macedonio “Mace” Guerra, a Puerto Rican wrestling fanatic and a “jobber” in the ring – one who is paid to lose time after time – and Vigneshwar “VP” Paduar, a Brooklynite of Indian descent.
The two form a unique bond and join forces in the wrestling world. In an electrifying turn of events, they are cast as anti-American extremists in the ring, with the crowd reveling in this narrative (audience members are encouraged to loudly cheer and boo the wrestlers throughout the performance).
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The high-energy production isn’t just about winning matches but fighting for silenced truths. Through Mace and VP, playwright Kristoffer Díaz pushes boundaries beyond the wrestling ring – addressing unspoken issues such as racism and politics and the ways in which cultural stereotypes are incorporated into professional wrestling.
Adrian Feliciano is cast in the lead role of Mace. Born and raised on Milwaukee’s South Side to parents who arrived in the city from their native Puerto Rico, Feliciano graduated from Pulaski High School. At age 40, although looking much younger, he’s appearing in his first role with Next Act.
A lifelong wrestling fan, Feliciano quickly accepted the role when contacted by Next Act late last year to be part of the production.
The lead role not only meant that Feliciano had to learn an abundance of lines but also required him to embark on grueling training as a wrestler. To accomplish the latter, he worked with Brew City Wrestling, a Milwaukee area organization launched by former professional wrestler Frankie DeFalco in 2004.
DeFalco provided technical assistance for the production and his company lent a full-size wrestling ring to Next Act for the performances. Waukesha’s Blizzard Lighting provides the lighting and two large video screens to enhance the over-the-top professional wrestling experience.
Learning the craft of wrestling turned out to be an eye-opening experience for Feliciano, who worked out with real-life wrestler Vince Nygro, who goes by the name Demented Chucky Bates inside the squared circle for Brew City Wrestling and takes on a variety of wrestling roles in the The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.
“I thought I was in decent shape and then I get there and in the first 15 minutes I’m pulling from my inhaler and thinking how am going to do this,” Feliciano said of the intense training sessions with Nygro and Brew City Wrestling. “It was a struggle in the beginning, but I’m glad it was. It made me want it more and push harder. I don’t like it when things are easy.”
Feliciano said he struggled at first to learn to “bump,” a move where the wrestler hits the mat in dramatic fashion. “It took forever to learn,” Feliciano said. “It goes against everything my brain tells me, which is to just fall backwards.”
Feliciano described wrestling as “improv for athletes.”
To get in suitable physical condition, Feliciano also joined a gym and began working out regularly in order to carry out the various moves required in the ring and to condition himself for the falls that would take a bit of a toll on his body in each performance. He began eating better, too.
“Coming from a background of military and sports, I had always been in decent shape but I had slacked after becoming a father,” Feliciano said. “It was a long process but I’m thankful for Brew City Wrestling. I trained there for a few hours every week beginning in March.”
What was the most difficult wrestling move to learn? “Not to give too much away but we end the show with a move called the “power bomb,” Feliciano said. “Because I only do it once each performance, I can live through it but I wake up the next day and I’m like ‘ouch.’”
Feliciano said his background as a massage therapist has come in handy in managing his health and fitness.
“I also stretch and use lots of ice and do what I can to maintain my energy,” Felciano said. “The show thrives on being full steam. If I’m not feeling good in my body, I can definitely feel it in the performance.”
Feliciano also impresses the crowd when he performs an impressive leap over the ropes as he enters the wrestling ring in one scene.
“There are so many things that I can do now that if you would have seen me in April, you would scratched your head and said ‘This is your guy? Really?’ But I have a motto that I live by and that’s to accept all challenges and this is another challenge. I had to physically get ready to do a run of a month of shows. At the same time, I’ve never had to memorize as many lines. It took me up until dress rehearsal to really solidify all that, with everyone’s help.”
Feliciano took a circuitous journey to acting. He contemplated attending college right out of high school but instead joined the Air Force. He later attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with the intent of following a pre-law program.
“I needed a class with no papers, no research and no hard homework, so I joined Raeleen McMillion’s acting class. “Throughout the semester, I wasn’t sure if I loved it yet, but it opened my eyes into different possibilities. The following semester I took more classes and auditioned for my first production. That started the journey.”
After graduating in 2009, Feliciano became part of the Milwaukee theater scene before deciding to move to Los Angeles with a group of friends. He remained in Southern California until moving back to Milwaukee a few years ago.
“I did a little bit of everything. Film, commercials, music videos, Halloween horror events, anything that paid the bills,” Felciano said.
Feliciano last appeared on stage locally in 2015 in a special role in Skylight Music Theatre’s Production of In the Heights.
“It’s been nice to be back on the stage, especially doing something that involves wrestling, which I grew up watching. I idolized wrestlers. It’s crazy how this all came about,” said Feliciano, who identified Bret “The Hitman” Hart as his all-time favorite professional wrestler.
Feliciano excels in the role of Mace, who is small in stature and despite his technical excellence as a wrestler he’s cast in the role of perennial loser.
Feliciano and director Michael Cotey have a bit of history together, first meeting at UW-Milwaukee. Feliciano also appeared in a few productions in a small company Cotey once ran called Youngblood Theatre. “He loves wrestling as much as anyone and put this all together,” Feliciano said.
The messages in “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” are many, he explained.
“On the surface you can say it’s an underdog story about a guy who has not been given a chance,” Feliciano said. “As you see through the spectacle, more topics are introduced. There are political and racial issues and even just the idea of chasing a dream, battling time, knowing the window for your 15 minutes of fame is closing, especially for my character Mace. Is he OK with walking away? The wrestling part of it connects with my acting part. When I left L.A., it was the same thing. Are you OK with your career if you just stopped today and you live a normal life with no acting. Is that enough? I was OK with that then, but when this opportunity presented itself, I didn’t know that I needed this. But it’s at a time in my life when I need it the most. I’m glad it worked out and that Next Act was brave enough to do this.”
The broad spectrum of difficult topics dealt with in the production carry with it a sense of uneasiness (there is liberal use of the f-word as well as incendiary terms for various ethnic groups in the production).
“There can only be growth when people are put into uncomfortable situations,” Feliciano said. “I open the doors to anyone who wants to look at a different perspective of life. If you don’t like theater, come see this, it might change your mind. If you don’t think racial issues are still a problem today, come watch this. The show was written 15 years ago, but it’s still the same story. We still haven’t figured out how to solve it.”
Feliciano has never met Diaz, but feels a personal connection to the role he takes on in the production.
“As an actor, I love the show because there are no roles that I’ve ever read for that seemed like, yo, this is written for you because the person who wrote it seemed to have you in mind,” Feliciano said. “You’re not having to pretend or fake it or act this part. You are this part. I’m very grateful to Kristoffer Díaz for writing this so many years ago. I reached out to him on Instagram and thanked him. I told him ‘You don’t know me but somehow you know me.’”
The production features a diverse and talented cast that also includes Levin Valayil as VP; Dimonte Henning as Chad Deity, who has the physique and charisma to be star quality but is a lousy wrestler; and David Cecsarini, who served as producing artistic director at Next Act for 30 years, as outlandish wrestling promoter Everett K. Olso, aka EKO.
“My castmates are beyond talented, open-hearted, kind and supportive,” Feliciano said. “It’s been such a cool experience.”
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity runs through Oct. 6 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. Visit nextact.org or call 414-278-0765 for tickets.
