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‘Chuckleball’ takes a look at sports through satirical songs and skits
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CommentNEW YORK — George Foreman croons. Jason Giambi lyrically laments. Tiger Woods boogies, not bogeys.
They’re all on stage, or at least being parodied on an off-Broadway stage, in “Chuckleball,” a hilarious and very up-to-date musical revue that spares just about no one in sports.
They’re all on stage, or at least being parodied on an off-Broadway stage, in “Chuckleball,” a hilarious and very up-to-date musical revue that spares just about no one in sports.
The 90-minute musical at the Snapple Theater, which actually is on Broadway in the theater district, is the brainchild of Jason Goldstein and Ian Nemser. It’s not their first shot at skewering sports figures, and the latest production has the working title “Jailhouse Jocks.”
That hardly limits the four actors (three male, one female) from portraying athletes who walk the straight and narrow, such as Foreman, Woods, David Beckham and Maria Sharapova. But it also lets them needle Giambi, Barry Bonds, Pacman Jones and Isiah Thomas, among others. Many others.
That hardly limits the four actors (three male, one female) from portraying athletes who walk the straight and narrow, such as Foreman, Woods, David Beckham and Maria Sharapova. But it also lets them needle Giambi, Barry Bonds, Pacman Jones and Isiah Thomas, among others. Many others.
“I like to do comedy that is smart and more sophisticated,” says Goldstein, who also produced “Jailhouse Jocks” and its predecessors under the “Chuckleball” heading: “Performance Enhancers,” and “There’s Always Room for Balco.”
“You must have material that does not offend people. These are celebrities, high-profile people. We don’t get into the really personal.
“You must have material that does not offend people. These are celebrities, high-profile people. We don’t get into the really personal.
“I ask, ‘Would they enjoy it if they came and saw it?’ “
Goldstein’s revues follow the path set by “Forbidden Broadway,” which makes fun of Broadway hits and stars and became something of a cult favorite among actors — so much so that they would ask to be parodied in the show.
“I would really love that if the athletes would come see it and say: “I got to get myself roasted.”
If Foreman came to the show, he’d probably get more than a chuckle out of seeing his character singing “My Grill” to the Temptations classic “My Girl.” And Woods proclaims “I Am Tiger” to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” with hilarious results.
There’s also a brilliant rendition of “Me and Pacman Jones” that had the entire audience howling with laughter during one presentation.
“We go for the smarter joke,” says Goldstein, whose show will run through Dec 30. “We are a pure fun show, but with some sort of commenting on sports and what goes on.”
Such as Bonds doing his best Tony Bennett to “I Love to Play in San Francisco.”
“It says something: ‘The world is changing in terms of sports and people are willing to forgo the rules and take steroids, but San Francisco doesn’t care,” Goldstein explains.
The four actors — Katey Daniel, Noah DeBiase, Mike Mitchell Jr., and Justin Senense — are not particularly big sports fans. DeBiase says he likes boxing, but rarely watches other sporting events. Senense admits his roles in “Chuckleball” now have him searching the Internet and reading the sports sections.
“Before I went to college and focused on my acting career, I was a basketball fan of the Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon, way back when,” Senense says. “This has made me appreciate sports more, and I’m also gravitating back to watching sports.
“We can also draw on much of the fact that theater and sports are similar. That energy you can use throughout a show is something you also use in sports. They kind of are parallel.”
Senense also bears a striking resemblance to Woods, which makes the “I Am Tiger” skit even more entertaining. Mitchell is a dead ringer for Isiah Thomas, whom he portrays in another number.
One challenge is keeping the material current. During a recent performance, one day after Joe Torre signed to manage the Dodgers, Goldstein and Nemser updated the show with a song about him to “California Dreamin’.”
It’s also critical that the songs be familiar to the audience. Most of them are either Broadway show tunes, Motown or well-known and recent pop hits.
“You have to find songs that have the right tone for the number, but also are popular enough,” Goldstein says. “We feel 80 percent of the audience should know the song.”
The production itself is minimal, with many of the costumes being team jerseys. Pianist Meg Zervoulis accompanies every skit.
Goldstein hopes to eventually regionalize the show so that a company in each city could concentrate on local teams.
“Sports is such a broad topic, and there’s probably another hour’s more worth of material we could do in the show,” he says. “We could do just a whole show on one team, roast the Red Sox or Celtics in Boston, do the Yankees in New York.”
He’s not likely to run out of material.
The athletes make sure of that with the headlines they keep making.
“Sure,” Goldstein says. “That’s why we love sports.”
Goldstein’s revues follow the path set by “Forbidden Broadway,” which makes fun of Broadway hits and stars and became something of a cult favorite among actors — so much so that they would ask to be parodied in the show.
“I would really love that if the athletes would come see it and say: “I got to get myself roasted.”
If Foreman came to the show, he’d probably get more than a chuckle out of seeing his character singing “My Grill” to the Temptations classic “My Girl.” And Woods proclaims “I Am Tiger” to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” with hilarious results.
There’s also a brilliant rendition of “Me and Pacman Jones” that had the entire audience howling with laughter during one presentation.
“We go for the smarter joke,” says Goldstein, whose show will run through Dec 30. “We are a pure fun show, but with some sort of commenting on sports and what goes on.”
Such as Bonds doing his best Tony Bennett to “I Love to Play in San Francisco.”
“It says something: ‘The world is changing in terms of sports and people are willing to forgo the rules and take steroids, but San Francisco doesn’t care,” Goldstein explains.
The four actors — Katey Daniel, Noah DeBiase, Mike Mitchell Jr., and Justin Senense — are not particularly big sports fans. DeBiase says he likes boxing, but rarely watches other sporting events. Senense admits his roles in “Chuckleball” now have him searching the Internet and reading the sports sections.
“Before I went to college and focused on my acting career, I was a basketball fan of the Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon, way back when,” Senense says. “This has made me appreciate sports more, and I’m also gravitating back to watching sports.
“We can also draw on much of the fact that theater and sports are similar. That energy you can use throughout a show is something you also use in sports. They kind of are parallel.”
Senense also bears a striking resemblance to Woods, which makes the “I Am Tiger” skit even more entertaining. Mitchell is a dead ringer for Isiah Thomas, whom he portrays in another number.
One challenge is keeping the material current. During a recent performance, one day after Joe Torre signed to manage the Dodgers, Goldstein and Nemser updated the show with a song about him to “California Dreamin’.”
It’s also critical that the songs be familiar to the audience. Most of them are either Broadway show tunes, Motown or well-known and recent pop hits.
“You have to find songs that have the right tone for the number, but also are popular enough,” Goldstein says. “We feel 80 percent of the audience should know the song.”
The production itself is minimal, with many of the costumes being team jerseys. Pianist Meg Zervoulis accompanies every skit.
Goldstein hopes to eventually regionalize the show so that a company in each city could concentrate on local teams.
“Sports is such a broad topic, and there’s probably another hour’s more worth of material we could do in the show,” he says. “We could do just a whole show on one team, roast the Red Sox or Celtics in Boston, do the Yankees in New York.”
He’s not likely to run out of material.
The athletes make sure of that with the headlines they keep making.
“Sure,” Goldstein says. “That’s why we love sports.”
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