History of The Talented Talent Bros -- Chapter IV

It was done. Abnormal Stew had opened. As we put all of our costumes and props in their proper homes stuffed in various places in my office, listening to the others speak about what they thought worked and so forth was very helpful. With all the costume changes I had (getting in and out of He-Man was a bit of a pain) I hadn’t been able to listen in and pay attention to scenes I was not in very well. However, I had made a few observations.

First, the show ran too long. Period. Our first performance was over two and a half hours. The major culprits were the films. Only one film, Rev Balki’s Holy Sh**, ran under three minutes. I had mistakenly assumed we would need the length of the others so that we could make costume changes, but I was dead wrong. This was something we would’ve learned had we ever properly run the show.

Second, the He-Man Cocktail Party routine, which I had very little confidence in, was actually pretty strong … so long as Andy, Laz and I strayed from the script, riffed a bit and just had fun. As written? Eh. As we did it? Weird riot!

Third, Laz and I could be a terrific twosome. Rehearsals certainly had hinted at this, but actually having an audience (small as it was) amplified things a bit. We could riff, listen to one another and move a comedic scene along. Weeks later I would even contemplate how good we would be as a modern Felix and Oscar … in fact, he and I should re-write The Odd Couple and just do it. Neil Simon be damned.

Finally, the sock monkey shouldn’t talk. Not that Socko ever was meant to talk. A snafu at intermission and then again at the end of the show (thanks Playstation!) got us into a bind and Jillyn, trying in vain to cover, spoke. It was bad … really bad.

That Damn Day Job

The biggest obstacle to my creativity (outside of my innate laziness) has always been the need to make a buck. Working a “normal” job, especially with the commitment and number of hours I was putting in, just drains me and makes me want to spend what little free time I have watching hours of mindless television and sleeping when I could be writing and creating.

Typical of the time in my life, I would have to go back to work immediately after the show to meet a deadline for the next day. So, instead of going out and celebrating with the cast (who socialized outside of rehearsals too infrequently) I had to say my goodbyes and sit in front of the computer for another five or six hours.

Just before 1am an email popped up in my Inbox. It was from JB. In a matter of seconds I was pissed beyond all belief.

Another One Bites The Dust

Without quoting the email, JB informed me that it was his intention to leave the show after the Labor Day performance, which would be our third show. He expressed that he was miserable, particularly around a “few select people,” and felt that he didn’t want to put anymore time or money into this show (he had more than held up his end financially to this point, for which I was extremely grateful) and that he felt it was going nowhere.

My breaking point had finally been hit. My first reaction? “Well, F*ck you then,” might sum it up. Suddenly thoughts of just quitting and canceling the show were racing through my head. I had said all along that The Talented Talent Brothers was going to be my last, best shot. I had been pursuing this dream of a career for nearly two decades with little success but I knew that this concept, this idea was golden. I had promised myself that I would pour everything into it and its success or failure would determine my own personal success or failure. Pay attention to that little detail … it will come into play later in our story.

Pride and determination won out, however. I had put way too much of my own money, time and effort into Abnormal Stew just to do one performance and walk away. Others had also put in time and effort and I felt I owed it to them not to walk away and risk them feeling that they had simply been wasting their time.

We would continue without JB. But not in three weeks … we would do it now. No need in escalating already strained relationships with the rest of the cast. We would cut ties now and Stew would rest squarely on my shoulders … the last place I wanted it. I replied to JB my thoughts and feelings, expressed my disappointment and anger and told him that there was no need to prolong this … we would sever ties now.

But What About Everybody Else?

The next evening we had a rehearsal already scheduled. Kat Castaneda would, by circumstance, be eliminated from the show as well. She had appeared only in JB’s scenes and (just to show how disorganized we were) I didn’t even have her contact information – JB had always notified her and Giselle and I notified Laz, Andy and Jillyn of rehearsals, schedules and film shoots. I felt bad ... I personally liked Kat and thought she was very talented ... we just fell out of touch.

There at that rehearsal stood the five people that would decide the fate of Abnormal Stew … Laz Viciedo, Giselle Hyland (billed as “Baby G Talent”), Andy Jacobs, Jillyn McKittrick and the guy that brought them to the party, me. I informed them that JB had decided to leave the show in three weeks and that I had made that arrangement immediate. I then left it in their hands … it was up to them whether or not the show would continue. It was unanimous … we would make this work.

Immediately Laz and I set to work rearranging the show, adding a few new skits, removing some of the films, editing others to be shorter. Jillyn would start in She Said Maybe then change into the sock monkey. Rev Balki was removed but the scene would stay … only now re-worked to be a more Wagstaff-ian scene. Everybody found their roles increased.

As Laz would write in his blog at the time, “The 5 of us got together and hashed out a solution to our missing main character. Needless to say we pulled it off without a hitch. We actually ran a smooth show that was actually funny. It was tighter and everyone seemed to have more fun with it.” He was right. Maybe it was the nerves, maybe because the mood was lighter and less tense, maybe it was a sense of camaraderie … whatever it was, that second show kicked a$$.

Our third and fourth performances saw respectable-sized houses laughing to the antics of five talented individuals. Personally, I was happy with the quality of the show and thrilled to have established real relationships with Laz and Giselle. I was also drained. I wasn’t putting the time I should’ve been into promoting the show. After the fourth performance, attendance started to dwindle.

I hadn’t even come up with a proper solution to having somebody to run lights and sound, hand out programs and take money. Most of the time Jillyn’s husband Chad would chip in but he wasn’t always available. Tony King and Melissa McCulloch, who I had worked with on Hamlet, were periodically recruited to come in and take charge when Chad was stuck at work.

A note on Chad McKittrick

… at least an observation … from all that I could tell (and many, many people would second this) he is a thoroughly decent and good man who was devoted to his wife. He put up with a lot … coming to Jillyn’s rehearsals, supporting her career, driving out to Jersey or wherever to get his wife to a performance and then sit there and watch her make out with me onstage. What happened between them behind closed doors is anybody’s guess and none of our business. All I can say is having worked with Jillyn on two shows (Hamlet and then Abnormal Stew) he appears to have won more fans than she did. No one (besides Jillyn, that is) that I am aware of ever had a bad thing to say about Chad McKittrick. Loyalty, to me, is an invaluable trait … near as I could tell, Chad had it. Probably still does. Too bad he couldn’t impart that trait to his wife.

Cold Stew

Near the end of October our audience was next too nothing (sometimes it was nothing) and I received two pieces of news: Laz would be moving to the West Coast and Giselle would be taking a trip to Mexico to visit family. They would both be leaving the show at the end of the month. To me, the writing was on the wall … we had a good run, but it was time to wind this thing down.

One problem, though. I was committed to producing performances in November for a Fall/Winter Festival that the theatre was holding. I would need to produce four more shows without Laz and Giselle. Jillyn expressed interest in staying with the show under the conditions that she would take over Giselle’s roles and would not put that sock monkey suit on again. I didn’t have to think twice about it … no way. Not worth the effort. I wanted to keep Andy, but his allegiance to and relationship with Jillyn would make that awkward.

The hell with it. Abnormal Stew and The Talented Talent Brothers would honor their commitments … but with only one returning performer … me.