This weekend The Stepping Stone Players, a community theatre group in Glendale, California, gave two performances of a play called “On The Air.” The show was written by me and my good friend, and Nickelodeon co-worker, Ernie Gilbert. Ernie also directed the show and accompanied himself on ukulele as he sang some great hot jazz numbers. The musical director was Dan “Soybean” Sawyer, an amazing musician and composer with a list of credits as long as your arm.
“On The Air” is a comedy in the tradition of old time radio shows like the Jack Benny Show. The show was actually originally concieved and written as a radio program, but since the story contains the “show within a show” device it lent itself really well to being staged as a play.
After we thought we were finished writing the show, Ernie and co-producers, Tom Camp and Belinda Howell, began casting. Based on the performers who showed up with their various talents and personalities, we decided to re-write some scenes, or create completely new ones. Ernie and I both went into this with the attitude that the show on the stage is the final product, not the script, and so we remained flexible throughout the process, and Ernie made subtle changes to refine the dialogue, all the way up to opening night.
Early on, Ernie invited me to be a part of the production, but I felt it would be better for Ernie to be free to realize his own vision of the show without the inevitable interference of another writer on the set. This distance also gave me an objective viewpoint when Ernie wanted advice. Another reason I didn’t want to see the rehearsals was that I wanted to sit in the theater and experience the final performance like any other member of the audience. And I’m glad I did.
Words can’t truly express what an experience it is to watch actors, musicians and technicians come together and devote so much of their time, effort and talent, to produce a piece of entertainment that a short time before was nothing more than vague humourous notions floating around in your skull. Most of what ended up in the show started out with Ernie and me cracking each other up during our lunch hours, saying, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this?”
Between Ernie’s love of vintage jazz, his irrepressible sense of humor, and our desire to write a show that was as entertaining to today’s audience as the the classic radios shows were to theirs, we thought we had a pretty good thing. But then as it got closer to becoming a reality we began to wonder if we were just amusing ourselves, and whether or not anyone but us would find this stuff funny. On the drive over to the show, with my family and friends, I was a nervous wreck. And I actually had sweaty palms all the way through the first act.
But, I’m happy to report that the show was a success. We had an audience that ranged in age from single digits to eight decades, and they loved it. What a feeling to hear people laughing at something that you had thought up during a lunch hour two months ago. And after the show folks came up to us and were telling us how much they enjoyed it and how they liked the way such and such bit of dialogue referred back to an earlier scene, etc. I realize that this might sound like boasting, but I do temper my elation just a bit by telling myself that the audience was comprised mostly of friends and family of everyone involved, so you couldn’t ask for a more friendly crowd. But, fortunately everyone in the theater those nights came away with a smile on their face and a spring in their step.
[cliche] And, that’s what really makes it all worthwhile; knowing that you had a part in making someone’s day just a little bit brighter. [/cliche]
Now, which freeway do we take to get to Broadway?
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