“Blocking My View” Stage Play Opens at Paramount

By Journalist Dr. Ms. Jones

MIDDLETOWN – On Saturday, November 16th the “Blocking My View” Stage Play debuted at The Paramount Theatre. It was written and directed by Bishop Robert J. Bolton, Jr., pastor of One Accord Christian Church, Inc. The play is based on his remastered novel.

“The Lord told me to give the book wings. He said he wants it to be in as many hands as possible,” said Bishop Bolton who is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Christian Ministry. “The plot is basically about a young girl who her mother named Amura because her name means that she’s sharp-sided and smart. But, a lot of her life, she’s had challenges, starting at her home. Her mother was a Christian, but she was mean. Her father was Agnostic… but he was very nice. He was always confusing her… Her dad died… but she didn’t really want to know God because of what her mother represented. And as she went along in life, she kept getting let down by people. And so, it’s called “Blocking My View” because people blocked her view from the God that was calling her forward. And so eventually she was able to get past the trees, through the forest, get past the people, so that she can get to God.”

Amura’s dramatic journey included conflicts and big moments which made the play amazing. The character was played by Dominique Telesco.

“So, I grew up acting and I grew up in theater. I studied theater in school as well. It’s always been a passion. So, I’m just grateful I had [this] opportunity… It was very surreal,” said Telesco who has starred in several Netflix shows and played her character Amura as a teenager and young adult. “I found it kind of difficult at first because you have to be childlike and then very mature. But emotionally, she was not mature, even though her age was. It was difficult to embody all of the different emotions and things. But I found it very fun, because I can be very dramatic with it.”

Telesco definitely brought something special to her role. Other crowd favorites included Lady Sherell Ferrer who played her drinking and smoking Christian mom Brenda and gave incredible singing performances. Elder Johnnie Durrell played her fun-loving, dancing dad Jimmy. Bishop Jeffrey Woody played Charismatic Preacher Pastor Ron. Overseer Yolanda King played “Amura’s Blocker” Ms. Nancy who had to be present during her meetings with the fine preacher Pastor James Tuff played by Pastor J. Gooding, Jr. It was hilarious when the audience even tried to warn Pastor Tuff from dating Amura. The character who received the biggest audience reaction was Jason Tomlinson who played the villain Thomas.

Amura’s best friend Sandy was played by Carmen Deshon, aka Deshon MVORE. Deshon also helped produce the play.

“Bishop called me… He said, ‘I’ve gota play. You read the book? What do you think about the book?’ I said, ‘You know, I love your book.’ ‘He was like, ‘So would you mind working with two others as a producer?’ ‘I’ll try. Sure. Whatever you want. I’ll do it for you.” said Deshon. “It feels wonderful [to have a packed house]. I’m so glad because we got to see what God can do.”

The community came out to support. One could barely see the sidewalk in front of The Paramount Theatre as the ticket line was down the street. The theatre was filled to capacity!

“I’m grateful for the Hudson Valley…. I want to bring more to the Hudson Valley. I want to bring conferences, stage plays, things like that. And this really showed me that they will support, that they will come out, that they will buy their tickets. And so, I want the Hudson Valley to have these kind of things. I want the Hudson Valley to have more…. Biblically based, faith-based programs I want to put on, whether it be a stage play, whether it be a conference, whether it be a comedy show… This shows me that they’re hungry for those kinds of things,” said Bishop Bolton who has big plans for “Blocking My View” Stage Play and already has received interest in taking it to additional venues. “I want to take it to Broadway. I want to clean it up a little bit, maybe shorten it a little bit, and take it to Broadway. That’s why I wanted to do a lot of reviews because I want to begin to market and do it.”

Journalist Ms. Jones