This is Gulf Coast Live Arts edition from WGCU Im John Davis, thanks for joining us.

Player Circle Theater in Fort Myers is just opening its eighth season with a production of Larry Shue hilarious Broadway farce The Nerd.

It's a comedy about William, a young architect who feels indebted to Rick Steadman, a man who saved his life during the Vietnam War.

When Rick unexpectedly arrives at William's home, he's initially thrilled to finally meet him, but soon discovers that Rick is obnoxious, socially inept, and kind of the quintessential nightmare of a houseguest who disrupts both William's personal and professional life.

Torn between gratitude and frustration, William struggles to find a way to deal with Rick without betraying the man who once saved him, and the result is a fast paced farce chock full of comic chaos, physical comedy, and escalating absurdity, but still grounded in the exploration of thoughtful themes like gratitude versus personal boundaries, the difference between being a good person and being a people pleaser, social conventions, and the tyranny of politeness and appearances versus reality.

The play premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 1981, with the playwright himself in the role of William.

In the mid to late 80s, The Nerd ran on Broadway, starring Mark Hamill for 441 performances and players.

Circle theater's production opens this week and runs through November 15th.

Joining me now for a closer look as players Circle Theater co-founder, artistic director and director of this production Bob Cacioppo Hello, John.

And we're also joined by the company's associate artistic director and actor, Ted Wioncek, who plays the title role of Rick Steadman, the nerd himself.

Ted.

Welcome back.

Happy to be here.

So, Bob, I know you're a fan of the late Larry Shue players.

Circle.

Closed the season in 2023 with his play The Foreigner.

What made you want to introduce players circle audiences to this perhaps lesser known work of Larry's?

Well, you know, he's just a great writer, and and he died tragically, I think, at 39 years old, while The foreigner was running off Broadway and would go on running Off-Broadway for a couple of years.

And while the nerd was on Broadway and he was getting ready to act in a Broadway show, some famous critics said it was the the worst loss to the theater since the death of Joe Orton.

So I just think it's nice to introduce our audiences to a great playwright.

And also, I like to give audiences plays they probably have never seen.

And the nerd doesn't get done as much.

You know, it was done a lot in the late 80s.

All regional theaters were doing it, but I thought it was worth a revisit to see a work of a great playwright.

It's 45 years later.

How well does it hold up?

Like, are there aspects of the play that feel timeless versus elements you may be approaching differently for a contemporary audience?

Well, you know, you know, you really said it.

You have to set it.

It's like rumors.

Neil Simon's play.

It's pre cell phones because everything is revolving around phone calls.

You know on an old rotary phone.

And in this play it takes place in 1978.

Or sometimes people set in 81.

It doesn't really matter but it revolves around the characters are smoking cigarettes.

We're using electric cigarettes.

There's no cell phones.

There's no rotary phones.

And it just when phone machines have come out.

Okay, it's the late 70s and it's new and, and so and actually, there are seven actors in the show, but the eighth character in the show is the phone machine.

Those messages and people not knowing which buttons to push on the phone machine.

So and then there's a ninth character, the audience you never like when you do your comedy like that, the audience is everything and you play off them.

That's that's the reason we do previews.

That's why we're doing it Tuesday night or Wednesday night or Thursday night before we open.

And we're opening tomorrow night.

Because, you know, the audience will tell you where the pause.

The audience is always right.

Yeah, I'm the audience of one in rehearsals because I'll say, oh, yeah, I think this is funny and that is funny.

But ultimately we are there keenly looking for the audience.

Their laughter, where they're not laughing.

Why, they're not laughing.

I mean, for instance, sometimes someone moving on a joke line will ruin the joke line.

So it really is, I love I think we all love that we have these three previews, and we're rehearsing for five hours a day each day to learn how to play with the audience.

All right.

And the premise, it's this guy.

He feels indebted to someone who saved his life, only to discover that his hero is just this absolute nightmare.

Does this feel kind of universally relatable?

Like, I mean, I'm not going to name names on a hot microphone, but I've certainly out a few Ricks in my life over the years.

Yeah, well, you know what?

It's a theme that has been used in many plays.

I guess I'll go back to George Kaufman and Moss Hart when they did The Man Who Came to Dinner, like a really horrible theater critic who breaks his leg and now stays in a house for a month and ruins these people's lives.

And then you can go on to other plays and other movies that have this theme.

I once heard, I don't know if you ever heard of this, that there's a book that has the 40 basic themes that all books plays in movies are.

Okay.

And so, you know, man against, man against society, that's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

But this is a a very recurring theme.

I bet it goes back to the Greeks and the Romans house.

You know one person and you're right.

I'm glad you brought it up.

I mean, I think the play holds up incredibly well because it's really, you know, once you get past, you know, that is 1978 and and there's different values.

It really is about selfishness versus unselfishness and, and I so and it's the difficult thing we you know, I found in directing it in some respects the show gets very farcical, gets very wild.

They play a large scene with paper bags on their head.

They, they there's so many crazy things in it yet it really is a play about three people.

It's about William, who is a sweetheart of a guy and a relationship with his girlfriend Tansy, who is leaving to go.

And it's interesting about women in that period because, Tansy is going through that.

She grew up in a world that a man was one and a half and a woman was a half, and now she wants to break that mold.

She wants to be, you know, a new, independent woman, and she's fighting for that.

But that's very interesting.

I think of Mary Tyler Moore on leaving town and being an independent woman.

So I think it's the themes that all of our audiences, but a lot of our audience, older audiences, will remember and connect with.

Yeah, you know, this really depends on timing, escalating absurdity, physical comedy.

Is it a challenge to kind of build that rhythm and rehearsal without making the production feel forced?

Yeah, I would say okay.

No, no, no, it's.

Very tricky because, you know, the, the, the I would say the spine of the play is a serious spine.

It's about three people.

And then in comes this nerd that up ends everything.

But it's still, you know, you're going.

It's a romantic drama that used to be an old candy called razzle.

And razzle was famous for.

The question is, is it a candy or is it a gum?

And with this play, is it a romantic comedy or is it a farce?

And you never want to take the farce so far that it doesn't believe the situation is not believable Because I think the core dramatic relationship of our three protagonists are the key.

All right.

And plus, I love this play and I can't tell anyone, but it has this fabulous twist ending that you would never expect.

Ted, your character, Rick is the person everyone in this play is trying to escape.

Story of my life.

Yeah.

How do you approach playing a character who was so seemingly oblivious to the fact that he's driving everyone crazy?

I mean, I mean, the fun part seems fairly obvious, but like, what are the challenges?

The physical comedy, perhaps?

Yeah.

Well, you know, to to second what Roberts said, it's it's several different plays in one.

My role very much is the farcical aspect of the play.

First of all, I'm so lucky because the cast is incredible.

I mean, they're just a stellar cast to work off of and bounce off of and support each other's humor and and setups.

But I think in that I also get to work against my wife on stage and my best friend, and so I get a special little joy of finding new and creative ways to get under their skin.

And that's that was always a joy in rehearsal between Robert and I. An aspect of this piece, especially this role, is creating new things that happen throughout.

So you're not necessarily just doing what scripted.

It's supported by the script.

But what little things do we do that are unique to our production that make this version of the nerd live in, you know, my body versus it being Jerry Lewis or a Rick Moranis type.

Right?

And then I think, you know, with the humor, the trick of it is we've found that you have to play it sincere.

Yeah.

I mean, he has to be a good person.

He he's not trying to be obnoxious.

He doesn't know he's obnoxious.

You know, he thinks he's clever and kind and, you know, a perfect houseguest, frankly.

And so I think through that sincerity, the obliviousness just sparkles even more.

He really doesn't understand the chaos that he's creating throughout.

But of course, for the audience, it's a wink and a smile because they know, you know, they they see it happening.

So that's really the joy.

It is very physically demanding.

My wife and I joke quite a bit because in rehearsals, I tend to go 150% and I'll jump off couches or I'll do crazy physical things.

And then Robert laughs, and then I go, great, we're going to keep it.

And then Robert.

Cuts it, and then Robert cuts it, and then I cry.

And then eventually we put it back.

And then I'm like, sing my knee at night.

And Kimberly says, you have no one to blame but yourself.

You know you.

But that's part of the joy.

I mean, I think we described this character as a golden retriever or a child.

You know, there's a wonderment and there's an excitement there.

So physically that has to be embodied.

And of course, in any comedy, the backdrop of that is that the others are more rigid.

So we have a character wall grave, who's sort of a businessman.

He's the opposite of Rick, you know.

And so that juxtaposition, like Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont, is classic comedy.

And I think one of the reasons, I must say I knew Ted would be good.

But Ted is great in this play, and I Ted's a big guy.

He's he's muscular, strong.

Normally you cast someone a little smaller, but this show is so perfect for Ted because Larry, who loved comedy.

He loved the Marx Brothers, he loved Abbott & Costello He loved that.

And Ted grew up loving that.

So it's totally intense.

Wheelhouse.

Throughout the rehearsal process for the cast, was it kind of important to have like a, I don't know, like get the giggles out moment?

Because as you were emphasizing before, you have to play it straight because the characters aren't in on the joke.

The audience is, you know, everybody loves it when somebody breaks in a Saturday Night Live sketch, but that would just not work here.

No, you can't turn this into a Carol Burnett show, right?

You know, and that is so important.

And I must say, this cast, they they have been laughing until like, the day before we got in front of an audience.

I don't think we had one run through that.

They weren't just cracking up because I gave Ted sort of comp carte blanche to sort of like the Marx Brothers to do what he wants and surprise us.

And he does all the time.

So but the, the cast is pro, so in performance they have not broken.

There's a 10% leniency that Robert has given me with the role to sort of not rescript, not not change the dialog, but give a little freedom and interpretation and won't give much away.

But there's maybe a little musical aspect in there, a little song that is done differently every night and little gags and things like that.

But that's what, you know, that kind of keeps it fresh, too.

Yeah, yeah.

There's a famous story of George Kaufman, who I mentioned earlier, wrote, I think coconuts of some Marx Brothers play and then movie, and he was backstage on a Broadway on Broadway, and he was listening to the play, and he was wait a second.

SHH!

Everyone would be quiet.

I think I heard a line that I wrote.

You know, in the spirit of actors needing to find something about their character that they genuinely like or personally relate to.

Ted, is there something about Rick that you maybe find endearing, sympathetic, or maybe even admirable?

Yeah.

I think all the above, really.

I mean, truly, it's interesting stepping into that, because I know my objective as an actor, you know, the foil of the piece is to be farcical, to be funny and be a backdrop.

But myself walking onto that stage.

You know, I find him to be incredibly eager, you know, and, and and and looking for connection and looking for friendship and looking to fit in.

And he thinks that he does.

You know, and I think that's really it.

I think one of the things that makes this piece work is as funny as an absurd.

And I'm sure 99% of the audience is sitting there going, oh my gosh, this this character is a goofball.

This guy's got.

But we've all been that person in some social circle at some point in time, whether we realize it or not.

And we've all been Willum and we've all been Axil so we've all been all these characters of the piece.

So it's kind of universally connective.

All right.

And Bob, when we were talking a couple of weeks ago, you had mentioned Rowan Atkinson was in a production of this in London and that Rick was, you know, influential in his creation of that iconic character, Mr.

Bean.

I was doing more digging on that.

And in that production, the role of Thor was played by a young Christian Bale.

And he he credits watching Rowan Atkinson transform into Rick as being, you know, quintessential in developing his own approach to acting.

That's fascinating.

I knew that he was in the play, but I didn't read that.

No, it.

Was like effusively about how much he loves Roman Atkinson Oh, that's.

Well, you know what?

And I did research, too, because I thought I knew that that London production was was the biggest hit in London that year.

It was a gigantic hit.

But I said, did Rowan Atkinson I thought, have the character Mr.

Bean before this?

No, he did not.

So I guess Rowan Atkinson owes his career partly to Larry Shues.

Brilliant writing, and he was so great that production was so great with Rowan Atkinson as Ric, that afterwards he continued that persona of the nerd.

Yeah.

I wanted to talk a little bit about that character, Thor that Christian Bale played, because you have read Wylie in this show, how does having a young talent like Reed in the cast maybe change the dynamic and the rehearsal process, or does it not?

Is he just kind of like a professional tiny human?

This kid is incredible.

I really do.

He has great parents.

Both his older twin brothers played lead roles in Over the Tavern.

With that we did, which was the biggest hit of last season, and I had such respect for these kids.

They were so professional all the time.

And this, this is the 8 or 9 this boy Reed I just think, you know what?

Someday we're going to hear something about Reed Wiley or his brothers because, you know, these kids do eight nine shows a year.

They're doing they're going from one show to other.

But Reed is incredibly mature.

He's always spot on.

He never forgets a thing.

And in fact, it's it's like we have another adult in the room and it's really quite amazing.

He takes it seriously.

You know, they all do his his whole family.

And I think it's really funny because we caught him last night saying all the lines to everyone else's role, not on stage, but off.

He knows all of Willums monologues.

To have the mind of a sponge at that age.

But no, they're just.

I can't say enough about that family.

Really wonderful.

Tell me about some of the other cast members in here.

I mean, you did mention your wife, Kimberly and AJ These are very familiar faces and company members with players circle.

But then you've got some other prominent actors in the local theater scene who I cant recall seeing on the players circle stage.

We brought an actor that I've known for 25 years.

He acted.

His name is Greg Weiner He's a an equity actor.

He lives in New York.

He's done movies and television and and so on.

And we've tried to hire him before.

It never worked out, but he did two shows for me or three at Florida Rep.

But he he's just as perfect for the character Axel.

And Axel gets a lot of the sarcasm.

Peter Riegert Some people may remember him from Local Hero with Burt Lancaster, but Peter Riegert is so funny and Greg Weiner just absolutely nails this theater critic role.

You know the role of Axel, who has once had a relationship with Tansy.

But Axel is sort of like there's a famous post of George Bernard Shaw holding like puppet strings, and there's Alyza and and and who's Henry Higgins?

But he is moving.

You'll find out.

And I don't want to give anything away, but he is the actually the one initiating it.

And I'm glad we brought in gray, because Greg is absolutely sensational.

And what's great is he almost immediately gelled with everyone every like it was almost he immediately became a member of the family.

It's a really unique thing at Player Circle because we are an ensemble, so we have very similar faces that work together hundreds of times.

And Robert and I think we're on our 15th show together or something that just just on a director actor basis, not even counting, producing and directing, and there's a second hand nature and a level of trust in the direction and the trying things and then knowing who you're working with, the physical comedy.

And so when you bring someone new into that, and that's a great cheat sheet, frankly, because you basically start on week two of the process, not on week one, because the familiarity is already there.

But when you bring someone new into that environment, it almost becomes a real question mark of are they going to gel and feel?

And this cast just from minute one, and we knew it was going to be a ball, and it really is.

I mean, we're talking pretty esoteric about the piece, but the truth is it is laugh out loud funny.

I mean, the audience is crying the amount of times we had to hold for laughs.

It reminds me a little bit of you, said Mary Tyler Moore.

A little bit of Three's Company.

It has a little bit of a 70s throwback sitcom nature to it, which I think is really great for our demographic.

Those Double Wednesday shows are starting to sell out pretty quickly, because I know that this is just so right for the demo and the audience we have.

You said bags over the head.

I have something over my head.

I won't give it away, but I could see out of the corner of my eye in this one costume I have, I could see the audience's reaction, and they're on the edge of their seats.

I mean, tears in their eyes.

And we're only ten minutes into the play, you know?

And you've got Lucy sunbae in the cast as well.

I just saw her in a play where the cast was battered and bruised from all the physical comedy they were doing, so I imagine she fits right in with.

And Lucy's a great improv, you know, she has an improv troupe for a true.

So she's really perfect.

She's so alive.

And, you know, I have to say, the worst thing that audiences can say to you after the show is, boy, you guys are working hard up there.

And in reality, this is one of the hardest shows I've ever directed.

I compare this to Noises Off.

How complicated a lot of the physical things are.

But, you know, if the audience says, boy, you were having fun up there, it means you worked hard enough.

And I think everyone's worked incredibly hard to get that slickness.

I'm glad you said Noises Off, because I think that's important.

Like Noises Off and rumors.

These other lend me a tenor, these kind of this is what it's akin to.

So if people are really looking for a true belly laugh, and I think we all are right about now at this time, this is the perfect medicine.

Absolutely.

You know, the play raises an interesting question about gratitude.

Like how much do you owe someone who has done something so extraordinary for you?

Do you see a deeper message beneath the forest, or is the comedy itself the point?

I don't know if there's a deeper message.

I think we do see William, who deserves happiness, transform from being meek and so unselfish that he's really not getting the most out of life.

So it's really it's his play.

And I think we see him from beginning to end, become a different man because of what Axel and Rick, as the nerd, make him have to confront.

Well, that is about all the time we have for today's show, but I want to thank my guests.

I've been speaking with Players Circle Theater co-founder and artistic director Bob Cacioppo, who is directing this production, and associate artistic director Ted Wioncek who is playing the title character.

We're talking about the company's season opening production of Larry Shues Broadway farce The Nerd.

The show opens this week and runs through November 15th.

Weekend through Saturday evening.

Performances are at 730.

Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee are at 3:00.

For more information or to secure your tickets, visit Player Circle theater.com, or call the box office at 239 800 3292.

Bob and Ted.

Always a pleasure.

Thanks for coming by.

Great being here, John.

Thanks for having us.

And if you missed any of today's show, you can always hear episodes in their entirety on our website.

WGCU.ORG/GCL Or subscribe to our podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

Our show today was produced by yours truly, with audio production by Matthew Krause and video production by David Oquendo For now, thanks for listening.

I'm John Davis, this is WGCU FM Fort Myers 90.1 WMKO Marco Island 91.7 and NPR for Southwest Florida.