[NEohioPAL] 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down opening at Weathervane

[Jan Harcar]

Weathervane Playhouse's 77th Mainstage Season Opens with

'3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down,'

a Musical Tale Exposing the Ups and Downs

of Show Business

 

Weathervane Playhouse in Akron opens its 77th Mainstage season with a boisterously hilarious musical with an equally provocative title: 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down, presented live on stage between Sept. 8 and 25, 2011.

 

But hold the phone - there's no nudity in this show! Instead, the three wild-and-crazy guys in this show are aspiring stand-up comics. Fully clothed, these men expose themselves emotionally as they mine their personal lives and experiences to supply the ample material for their unique blend of hip comedy. (In spite of no actual or implied nudity, 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down is best enjoyed by a PG-13 audience due to its adult language and themes.)

 

The show's creators - composer Michael Rupert and lyricist Jerry Colker - frame their musical around only three characters: 

 

n      Ted Klausterman is a guy from the Midwest who has dropped out of graduate school at Yale University. This attractive, charming, ambitious, leader shifts easily between the intellectually profound and the profoundly silly. He's the quintessential comedy club emcee who has gone from being afraid of success to craving it. 

 

n      Kenny Brewster is a Harvard Law School dropout described by the show's creators as "Jewish macho." An intense, volatile guy, he is constantly finding and losing his sense of humor, making him both likeable and a little frightening. He is just starting out as a stand-up comic and is torn between career and family.



n      Phil Kunin is described by the show's creators as a "Zen Catholic suicidal conceptual comic." Kenny's comedy is his sole means of communication, which makes him an expert at mime, sound effects, and strange voices.

 

The musical charts the bumpy show-business ups and downs as the comedic trio seeks fame and fortune in the 1980s. The three guys' unique blend of intellectual humor, combined with slapstick pratfalls, propels them from unpaid, neophyte performers all the way to their big break with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. What come next are instant stardom and even their own television show. But will success evaporate the previous magic?

 

Under the direction of Marc Moritz, and with musical direction by Brad Wyner, Weathervane Playhouse's 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down celebrates the bonds of friendship and exposes the pressures of fame and success. 

 

The 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down Cast (in alphabetical order) 
and their Ohio Residences
 

Rob Daugherty (of Wadsworth) plays the role of Ted Kalusterman

 

Patrick Ciamacco (of Brunswick) plays the role of Phil Kunin 

 

Connor Simpson (of London) plays the role of Kenny Brewster

 

The 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down

 Backstage Team and their Ohio Hometowns

 

Stage Manager - Richard Worswick (of Bath Township)

 

Assistant Stage Manager - Jason Bryan Maurer (of Akron) 

 

Costume Designer - Karen Burridge (of Brimfield Township)

 

Sound Designer - David Ruggles (of Cuyahoga Falls)

 

Properties Designer -  Rachel Gehlert (of Cuyahoga Falls)

 

Lighting Designer - Randall Hall (of Akron) 

 

Scenic Designer - Alan Scott Ferrall (of Cuyahoga Falls)

 

Assistant Technical Director - Kathy Kohl (of Akron)

 

About the Show's Director 
 

MARC MORITZ is a Northeast Ohio-based actor and director. He is presently enrolled in the MFA graduate theater program at Kent State University, where this past spring he appeared as Claudius in Hamlet. Local audiences also saw him on stage this past summer at Porthouse Theatre as Lewis in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. As a performer, his Broadway credits include Merrilly We Roll Along and his off-Broadway credits include A Child's Christmas in Wales and A Tale of Two Cities. Regionally, he has performed at such theaters as the Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven, Connecticut), Cornell Theatre (Ithaca, New York), Two River Theatre Company (Manasquan, New Jersey), New Harmony Theatre (Evansville, Indiana), Illinois Theatre Center (Park Forest, Illinois) and the Raven Theatre (Chicago). Local audiences have seen him on such stages as the now-defunct Carousel Dinner Theatre (Anything Goes), the Cleveland Play House (Animal Farm), Cain Park (Into the Woods) and the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland's Halle Theatre (Ragtime).

 

About the Show's Musical Director

 

BRAD WYNER is delighted to be working for the first time at Weathervane.  Credits as musical director include Gutenberg! The Musical! at Dobama, The Rocky Horror Show at Cleveland Public Theater, Bunnicula at The Cleveland Play House, Little Shop of Horrors at Cassidy, and a full season at Kalliope Stage (Christmas Carol Rag, A Little Night Music, Baby, Cabaret, Opal).  Brad often works as a musical director for educational productions (JCC Playmakers, St. Richard Theatre Company, many, many others), and has also taught musical theater at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland School of the Arts, Beck Center, and the Play House.  As a singer/rock pianist, Brad spent a year in New York performing with Piano Loco: The Rock'n'Roll Dueling Piano Show, and currently plays keyboards for Diamond Dogs: The Sound and Vision of David Bowie (www.bowietribute.com).  By day, he teaches music and drama at the Monarch Center for Autism.

 

 

About the Show's Creation and Production History

 

3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down was originally developed and presented at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the early 1980s. The show opened off Broadway in New York City at the Minetta Lane Theatre on Feb. 5, 1985, where it played for 160 performances before closing on June 30, 1985. The show received four Drama Desk Award nominations, winning one for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Actor Scott Bakula (from NBC's Quantum Leap and TNT's Men of a Certain Age) played the role of Ted Klausterman in the New York production. Since then, productions of the show have also been staged in London, Toronto, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Frankfurt and the Pasadena Playhouse in California. The show's original cast recording was released by Polydor Records in 1985.

 

About the Show's Creators

 

MICHAEL RUPERT (Music) made his debut as a composer with 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down. As a performer, he is a three-time Tony Award-nominee and a Tony Award-winner (for Best Supporting Actor in Musical for the 1986 Broadway revival of Sweet Charity). As an actor, his Broadway credits include Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Falsettos (Tony nomination), City of Angels, Mail, Sweet Charity (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award), Pippin, The Happy Time (Tony nomination).His off-Broadway credits include Elegies and Putting It Together. His other work as a composer is the musical Mail (L.A. Drama Critics nomination). He directed Breaking the Code for Weathervane Playhouse in October 2010.

 

JERRY COLKER (Book and Lyrics) made his debut as a playwright and lyricist with 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down. For this show, he was nominated for New York's Drama Desk Award for his lyrics, and he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. He also wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Mail, another collaboration with composer Michael Rupert; this show played on Broadway for 37 performances in 1988. As an actor, his Broadway credits include Pippin, A Chorus Line and West Side Story. His films include Traxx (1988) and Stone Cold (1991). As a writer for television, he served as a story editor for the ABC-TV sitcom Growing Pains between 1991 and 1992.

 

 

Weathervane's 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down
Ticket and Performance Information
 

3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down plays on the Weathervane Playhouse Founders Theater stage between Sept. 8 and 25, 2011.

 

The low-cost preview performance is Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m.; the official opening-night performance is Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.

 

Between Sept. 8 and 25, 2011, performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

 

Tickets for the Sept. 8 preview performance only are $18 each. Tickets for performances after Sept. 8 are $24 each. 

 

$21 tickets for seniors and college students are available for Thursday and Sunday performances. Tickets for children (ages 17 or younger) are $19.50 at all performances after Sept. 8. Additional discounts for groups of 12 or larger are also available.

 

The Weathervane Playhouse Box Office is open Mondays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and is also open beginning one hour before each performance. For tickets, visit or call the Weathervane Box Office at (330) 836-2626 during Box Office hours or connect online to www.weathervaneplayhouse.com.

 

* * *

 

Weathervane Playhouse and its dedicated volunteers offer vital performing arts resources for the people of Northeastern Ohio. We create exciting and thought-provoking shows with impressive production values. Through educational programs and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, Weathervane serves the theater community, our patrons and our volunteers.

 

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

 

Additional 2010-2011 season sponsors

89.7 WSKU-FM

OMNOVA Solutions Foundation

Sisler McFawn Foundation

Akron Community Foundation

Kenneth L. Calhoun Charitable Trust

The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation

Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation
Janis Harcar
Director of Advancement
Weathervane Playhouse
330-836-2323 X16
www.weathervaneplayhouse.com
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