[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of “Sunita: Back to Me,” written and performed by singer, actor and pianist Sunita Param at the Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2024.
Music and theatre, particularly music and solo theatre is an utterly sublime combination. The insanely talented Sunita Param has created a show that blends her two loves, acting and singing, in a truly creative and ambitious way.
She walks us through her life so far, from beauty pageant to Broadway with an artful and beguiling self portrait made of beautiful soulful acting as well as some of the most iconic songs from the American musical theatre song book.
Sunita is gorgeous…there’s no doubt about that. But her beauty is only one part of her. She is a skillful storyteller and has the very rare ability to tease and flirt while still finding the humor in herself.
She’s very, very funny in fact, slipping slickly from gorgeous vocals to hilarious or moving and brutally honest anecdote with unnerving ease.
Sunita is tough, but after a singularly tragic loss and her voice beginning to fail her, she was very nearly undone. A heartbreak can change everything and as a singer myself I could totally relate to the fear she felt as her vocals collapsed little by little. We hold our souls in our throats and to lose that unique sound, the history of ourselves in the distinctive vibrations we generate is a profoundly frightening concept. It took me years to even try to sing again after neck surgery, was I so afraid that I wouldn’t recognize myself.
But Sunita faced her fears and found her voice once again through surgery and therapy and in her recovery she must have felt reborn. Her journey continues still to strengthen and rediscover herself in that lovely emotive music within her. Perhaps all that she went through impacted her physically more than she ever could have anticipated.
The human voice is transformative. Whether the chants of monks, the operatic trills or the grooves of soul music. It can change our moods, break our hearts and help us find our courage. To be able to sing is a gift and one Sunita does not squander.
This wonderful moving joyful show is the perfect solo show to me. Deeply personal, gorgeously performed and spiritually uplifting.
By the end of the show Sunita has shared herself, made us laugh and moved us with her beautiful renditions of some of my absolute favourite songs…especially the Sondheim numbers!
She is accompanied by the brilliant pianist Derek Purdy and their connection is wonderful and real.