Home Show The Play That Goes Wrong

Aaaah,
Greetings, Empire Member, and or Members, if you are hearing the sound
of my voice, it means you are a proud member of the Empire, at least tell us you are, make
us feel better about ourselves.
It means you check out the Clubhouse Podcast live every Sunday night, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific
on the Vocal Now Network, the OKALNow.com, or something of its help.
Book Market, download the app, get all the great content on the Vocal Now Network, because
it's time for another home show.
Number 464 for those of you playing the home game, welcome, my name is Rob, I am the executive
producer of the Clubhouse Podcast, and if you're not a fan of slapstick comedy, then you
are not American, sitting in the Clubhouse chair tonight, is a man that kind of gets
to sit back and relax on this one a little bit, and find out what all of this is all about.
He is Alex, what's going on, sir?
I will say I am quite jealous, I did not get to make this play.
I almost said screening, but I realize this is not a screening.
Finding out the day is a good official fact check out this show, and a man that has slipped
and fallen more times than I can count, sometimes he does it on purpose, sometimes he doesn't.
You don't know, you may know him as Igboonu, but his mama named him Don Ford, I'm a calm
dog Ford.
Hey brother, actually I'm pretty good at walking on ice now, I'm really good at walking
on sunshine, well, walking on sand, well, you're welcome, whatever we do one of these,
it is to review something and this is no exception, we're going to talk stage production,
we're not talking musical, because what we're going to talk about is not a musical, it
is a stage production, it is the touring company of the smash Broadway hit, the play that
goes wrong.
For some of the whole thing, yes sir, we've got to thank Cindy and everybody at ATT Pack
in the windspare, we love the windspare opera house, we love the AT&T Performing Arts
Center, and we love our vendors.
They let us see stuff in advance, and in this case opening night, so we can talk to you,
because this has a real quick run, and I was talking to Cindy at this press night, I
got there a little bit before you did, and she was saying, these quick runs are kind
of becoming the norm, really, so we got to make sure that we get all these reviews so
they can post them and they can get what they need, because we love our vendors and we
want to make sure they're taken care of, so let me tell you about this thing, production,
what's the thing?
So we are whisked away, if you will, to the Cornley University Drama Society Theatre,
I'm sorry, the Cornley?
Cornley, yeah, okay.
As they are presenting the murder at Havisham Manor, okay, it is the director's first
director, first play he's ever directed, it is a murder mystery, and they just happen
to have enough parts for the number of people in the company, which I call shenanigans
on.
So you're taking Umbridge with the basis?
Yes, you're taking Umbridge with the basis of a play within a play.
Yes, I will talk about why I'll fair.
I will talk about why I'll fair.
So the production gets underway, you have a couple of stage hands involved.
One of the stage hands actually is in his booth, which is audience right, with a very
beautiful Doran Duran poster on the wall.
My name is Rio.
Easy, easy.
As Don so eloquently puts it in his written review, currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
Murphy's Law takes over.
It's the only way to put it, and that's really all we can say about this, because now I
will say the production starts before the production starts because the cast is roaming
amongst the audience.
Someone has second tears.
Yeah, there will be a lot of the second and third tear yelling at people across the theater.
Oh, wow.
Now Don, I will tell you, and I don't know if you noticed this, that one of the stage hands
was wearing a t-shirt that's referenced in the opening.
Remind me off air.
So the female stage hand, if you go see this, watch the back of the shirt she is wearing
in the pre-show, because it comes up in the opening sudo monologue.
This is wonderful.
First of all, the wind spear, what a great room for a production like this.
Oh, excellent.
For a production like this, there were times, and I know Don can agree with me on this.
How are times where we were wondering, is this actually in this script, or is this being
improvised at this point?
The thing is, it's a simple set.
It's inside a mansion.
Well, even more than that, it's just basically a guy's quarters and his study.
Yeah, and the study.
An elevator, really.
An elevator.
An elevator.
An upstairs study.
So it's like the walls cut off and you're looking into the house.
So it's sections of a manner.
Yes.
Okay.
There's prop issues as all we can say.
Everything.
So you're saying things don't go right?
No.
What?
I will say, one of the brilliant pieces of this is the program, because the program has
the listing for the murder of Havish and Manor with all the characters, and the characters
have real files and fake files in the program.
So the program itself is part of the show.
That's the fake bio.
Look at some of this stuff.
The only way I can put this is if the three stooges tried to put on a murder mystery at
a college, that is what this play is.
Oh, this is delightful.
It is.
And one of the really neat things too is the wind spear has kind of up their game with
their tech even more.
Like when we went and saw Percy Jackson a couple of weeks ago, the chandelier had already
been pulled into the ceiling.
And when we looked up, the lights from the chandelier were forming the lightning bolt.
Oh, cool.
With this, the chandelier was already up.
And the word wrong in the font of the logo was scrolling across.
Now something was going on at the intermission, but I could never quite figure out what it
was.
And I think it might have been the word wrong just completely obliterated.
There is not a, I will tell you this.
And I say this in my written review, currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
P before you go in, P at the intermission.
This runs about two hours.
Okay.
And there's a 20 minute intermission.
It's a longer intermission than normal.
Because if you don't, you will pee on yourself.
It's that simple.
Because there is not, I mean, Don, can you name a 45 second period of time from start to
finish where you weren't laughing at something?
No.
It's not possible.
And here's the thing I loved about this play is they tried to always improvise when something
goes wrong in improvising the funniest way.
But again, I don't know how much that really was.
No, no, no.
The play, when you watch it, it's the play.
I mean, everything they did is scripted it.
Right.
I would say 97% scripted.
But when you watch it, it's like you were watching this play where everything that's
going wrong.
And it's funny to watch them try to improvise and still do the play like nothing is going
wrong.
Right.
The improvisation in the script is what you're saying.
Exactly.
Like, even at one point, one of the characters comes in at the wrong time.
And as he walks out, you hear him backstage and you hear him go, it's okay.
They had no idea.
I was improvising.
And it's, I like to say, as I love what they use for different
props.
Yeah.
This is cool.
Really.
What they use for the snow.
Now, my plus one was a friend of the show Rachel Wimberley, who had seen this on Broadway.
Oh, wow.
So, I was really interested in what she thought of it, and she, comparing, compared to
that.
Right.
And she said, it's pretty close.
She goes, but there's things about this version.
I liked better.
Really?
There's, there is not a, I mean, there's a local reference in it that I know they do
probably.
They didn't do that on Broadway, but you can do that in a touring company because most
of the people in the auditorium are going to be locals, with Broadway, it just doesn't
work that way.
But there was not a piece of this.
I did not absolutely love.
I mean, I would even go almost to say it's like there's a dash of money pith on to this.
Interesting.
Because you have the guy playing the butler who writes the big words on his hand and
he always mispronounces them.
He's like, he's my cousin.
Yeah.
And you know, it's pretty, it's like, it's this guy related to Don.
Rachel bought a magnet set with all of his words on the magnets.
Oh, really?
She did at the end.
You could buy that.
Yeah.
Sayonini.
Sayonini.
Um, I know this is going to terribly mis-timed, but how, you said it's a short run.
How long do we have this?
Like a week.
It's not long.
Yeah.
It's not long.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was I need.
Yeah.
And be ready for bourbon that's not really bourbon, that's all I'm saying.
I'm telling you, it's like, it was like when they wrote this thing, they're like, okay,
here's the scene.
What can we possibly screw up for these people?
And it all happens.
See it all happens.
There's an issue where the bourbon gets lost is all I want to say.
And they have to improvise with something else and so we're not going to tell them.
Yeah.
It runs through the whole thing.
Yeah.
They improvise with something that's not drinkable and then they have to act like they're drinking
it and enjoying it.
Yeah.
And I'm telling you, there's so much going on here.
There were points of it that reminded me of Black Dynamite.
Really?
The stage directions are being read.
Oh, no.
It's...
Oh.
And my thing about it is I really loved how the issue when people, there was one
scene, I'm going to say this is spoiler free.
Yes, sir.
It reminded me of...
Is this like a female grudge match in WWE?
I mean, it was like...
I know what you're saying.
Is this a hardcore WWE...
And there is some incredible physical comedy in this.
Just as...
Just as much as the verbal comedy and some of the intellectual comedy, the physical
comedy in this is nothing short of amazing.
And the thing that I love the most, I can't say it is how they just try to complete the
play seriously and then even the stage hand is screwing up.
It's like he's listening.
He's supposed to...
They're waiting for him to give the cue and he's kind of like, he's on his phone.
Oh, it's supposed to give...
Oh, you know...
Oh, yeah.
There's a point where they're like, they freeze and they're waiting for a lighting cue
and they're just sitting there and there's the stage hands in his little booth on stage
right.
Do you see him swiping right?
A lot.
Oh, see.
And here I was going to say, is it something like we know with Candy Crush?
Yes, of course.
He was swiping right.
A lot.
Yeah.
And I was just like...
And he had a funco pop on his desk where I couldn't get close enough to see which one
it was.
Okay.
But there's nothing about this production that's not brilliant.
And Don says something in his written review that I'm going to let him say because he was
here in the green room as I was editing because I'm still editing because we have
a ton of stuff.
So he knows what you're referring to.
Yes.
Okay.
Go for it.
Because I looked at Don and I went, that's kind of a bold statement, sir.
There...
Well, there's a couple of things.
I don't know which statements.
So one at the end.
Hold on.
When I said, dude, are you sure because I asked you to compare it to something else?
Hold on, hold on.
Let me give you a sec.
So, while he's looking that up, I do have a question.
You said that it...
Quick jump back.
The physical, intellectual, verbal, comedy and a lot of times that fumbles over each
other.
So would you say that it sits into sections where like this is our physical comedy and then
it...
It all interweeds in a very zucker brothers kind of way that thing as a comedy is always
throughout.
But the big thing is I said, I just cannot say how much I enjoy this performance and I cannot
recommend it enough.
Play in simple, no matter what takes, go see this thing.
That's not even what I'm referring to.
Let me quote it.
Let me Michael Cole this thing for you.
In my defense, I did ask.
This is simply one of the best productions I have ever seen.
That comes from Don Ford.
Yeah.
This is up with once.
And nothing touches once in his lexicon of...
Yeah.
I have to equivilate to like superhero movies that be like the Dark Knight.
This is up there.
We've seen some incredible shows.
It's just enjoyable, something fresh, something new, not some boring production where the
bunch is singing.
I'm still stuck on the, okay, the Butler says things wrong.
Was that on purpose?
Yeah.
No, no, no, no.
But I mean, when you said it equivilates.
Oh.
Yeah.
I was just wondering if you were doing a bit.
He did say that the Butler could be him.
That is fair.
Our cousin.
That's what he is.
Let's be honest.
This guy related to Don when it comes to his vocabulary, I mean, it is, there's nothing
about this production I didn't love.
Nothing at all.
I'm still mad that I wasn't there.
And it just is so good and it's so well done and everything folds back on itself.
There are certain gags that happen in the beginning that come back and happen again at the
end.
But you have to remember when it happened.
There's nothing I want to say, if I can, I'm sorry.
The set, that is its own character.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Which I put in my, again, in my written, me, W-W-W, dot the clubhouseblogcast.com.
That's our website.
That's still our website.
And by the way, the set itself is its own character when it comes down to it.
And even in the pre-show, like there's, there's a part in the pre-show there.
Or they bring somebody from the crowd up.
Yeah.
There's a crowd participation part of it.
But there's also like two of the floorboards aren't quite in yet.
So the stage-hound gets it and you guys just, let's step it down and it smacks them
in the head.
I mean, it's what can go wrong will go, nothing goes right.
And they try to improvise and finish to play as if nothing is going wrong.
And I even love right when they start after the intermission.
The curtain goes up and let's just say it was a little early.
Yeah.
And the curtain goes down, I mean, I can tell you this.
The curtain goes down, comes back up, everything's set.
I don't know how they did what they did as quickly as they did.
But curtain, and I mean, everything is a sunder.
And the curtain comes down, curtain goes up, everything's good.
It's the strangest thing.
Anything else that you want to ask for?
I'll get to the final one.
We're good.
No, I just want to see it.
See it.
I don't know what.
Well, we do have a question we're coming up to.
Okay.
We'll get there.
Well, I do want to point out in the program, Chris Bean is the director, he plays the
inspector.
He is also the character, not the actor.
He is also the director, the designer, the costume designer, the prop maker, the box office
manager, press and PR, drama turgy, voice coach, dialect coach, fight choreography, rehearsal
role as Mr. Fitzroy, all of those things.
Just saying.
All right.
So the way we're going to do this, so let me do our final analysis.
We're not going to give you thumbs up, thumbs down.
We're not going to give you numbers, letter grades, and volts, anything like that.
Two questions.
Question number one is, would we see this again?
If the answer is no, then we're done here.
But since this is a stage production, it's a little bit different.
If the answer is yes, it's how much would we be willing to sit?
Where would we sit if we saw it again because ticket prices are more expensive as you get
closer to the stage?
Don't forward.
Yeah.
Would you see the play that goes wrong again?
Definite.
How?
How?
Where you want to sit?
Get in the building.
Yeah.
No matter what.
See it.
I don't have to push the buttons.
I agree with them.
I mean, I don't care.
There.
Again, there's not a bad seat in the entire Winspir Opera House because it's an amazing
venue.
But I'm saying, if this thing comes within 100 miles of where you live, make the trip.
This is so well done.
It's so much fun.
And I can't think of anything wrong about it.
And out here's a problem I have.
Usually I give a shout out rule.
Usually does so well in their own personal things that I can't give a shout out rule because
everybody has their own little unique thing to add to it.
Right.
I just, I can't give a shout out rule.
I had a weird moment on the pivot where you're like, I can't say anything wrong, but
I do have a problem.
It's like, wait a minute.
Oh, that's a good problem.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And I will tell you, you said in the pre-show that you wanted to try to do something with
Sean this weekend.
Cancel that.
Do this.
Yeah.
Okay.
I had to tell you.
Why do you hate to tell me?
Why do you hate to tell me?
Do I understand like, I know she's a comedy fan.
If you're any, in any form of comedy, if you just like to laugh, this will do that for
you infinitely.
And you can even take the family to this.
Oh, yeah.
It's so nice.
There's a couple, maybe if you don't, but nothing major that would be like-
But they're more of a reference versus like-
Yeah, where you can, you, you won't have to cringe or something.
I mean, the kids would even love it.
It's just-
Dear God.
See it.
I mean, it's-
It's everything.
It is at the WinSphere Opera House, but this, this is the national touring company
for the play that goes wrong.
For Winselving?
The Asian, the Grethic City, everybody at WinSphere and the ATT Pack.
We love the ATT, the ATT Performing Arts Center.
We are so fortunate in this town because it's such a beautiful facility, a group of facilities
that all work together to put on amazing shows and we love our vendors because they take
care of us.
All right, boys, let's do the plugs and get out of here.
Visit our website, the aforementioned www.theclubhousepodcast.com, find out everything you need to know
and some stuff you don't.
Follow us on social media if you would like, we would appreciate it very much.
Twitter is at ClubhouseShow.
Everything else is at the Clubhouse Podcast.
All three words in that order, or you will wind up somewhere else.
You can follow me if you would like, I would like that as well.
Everything is yes to that Rob Irvin that has built ERVIN and my normal co-host for the
show is Chad Warmeck.
You can follow him at ChadNPG69.
I have vexplit on all social media.
Remember to catch our regular shows on the Vocal Media Network every Sunday at 430.
Seven Eastern for Pacific.
Working off the other show, I apologize.
So now you can't make fun of Don Lee, that's because you just did it.
I lost my ability to make fun of Don Ford, who is?
Of course, the cheap pop cask, I remember you and we got that too.
Our counterpart show, absolutely.
Exactly.
On Twitter, you can follow me and I, boom, boom, I G, B, U, N, U, U, U.
Also email me dot clubhousepodcast.com.
Email Don for information on how we can come do a live show for you.
We love doing live shows and hanging out with the Empire.
Email me questions, comments, concerns, I'm going to go pound sand, I'm Rob at ClubhousePodcast.com.
Chad is Chad at ClubhousePodcast.com.
Currently he is taking care of Shannon.
Sean waiting on Alex faith waiting on Don.
She loved it.
She and Ron could not be with us tonight, but we shall be back with us soon.
Our normal show every Sunday night, seven Eastern Ford Pacific is your one stop shop for
all things pop culture.
And subscribe to your favorite podcast app too.
So until next time, for Don and Alex and the Empire, I'm Rob, Clubhouse is closed.
Brittany Palmer reference.