TALES FROM THE CAST OF SHEAR MADNESS
Tony, Barbara and the salon’s customers -- socialite Eleanor Shubert, antiques dealer Eddie Lawrence, and cops Nick Rossetti and Mikey Thomas -- have become improv experts. The clues, topical humor and audience’s questions change daily, so with eight performances a week, surprises are always just around the corner. And speaking of surprises, here are a few of our quick-thinking cast’s favorite anecdotes.
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Happy Birthday To An Original
One night during intermission, the actor playing Tony noticed an elderly woman wearing a large corsage. He asked her the occasion; she said it was her 80th birthday and her grandchildren were taking her out. She told him her name and added, “but you probably know me better by my professional name. I’m the original Betty Crocker.” At the end of the performance, Tony stepped forward in the curtain call and asked the crowd to join in a chorus of “Happy Birthday” noting, “We’ve all eaten her birthday cake!”
The Power Of Laughter
Shear Madness cast members say the production’s most moving moment happened one night when Tony struck up a conversation with some elderly people sitting close to the stage. He noticed they spoke with accents, and asked where they were from. “Poland,” said a woman in her thick accent.
Then her husband asked Tony, “Did you see the movie?”
“What movie?”
“The Schindler’s List movie.”
“Yes. It was very moving.”
“ We were on Schindler’s list,” the husband said quietly. “Mr. Schindler saved our lives. If it were not for Mr. Schindler, we would be dead now.”
Tony struggled to stay in character, but the wife put him at ease. “You are doing a wonderful thing here,” she said. “I am very serious. Laughter kept us alive…if it were not for laughter, we would not have survived. If someone could tell us a joke or make us laugh, we felt we could live another hour.”
Isn’t It Romantic?
One night the head detective asked the audience if they had any more questions. A young man raised his hand, saying “I have a very important question.” “Go ahead,” the detective growled, and the young man turned to his date and asked, while the whole audience looked on, “Susan, will you marry me?” Then he got down on one knee and waited for an answer. The woman was speechless. The detective finally had to say, “Well? Whaddya think?” Happily, she said “Yes!”
Shear Madness
July 11–September 3, 2006
By Paul Pörtner
Produced by Bruce Jordan and Marilyn Abrams
Directed by Chris Tarjan
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