GILROY
– The seven cast members in Pintello Comedy Theater’s production
of
”
Right Bed, Wrong Husband
”
have spent the past six weeks painting, memorizing lines and
making each other laugh. Tonight, the public has the opportunity to
join in the fun.
GILROY – The seven cast members in Pintello Comedy Theater’s production of “Right Bed, Wrong Husband” have spent the past six weeks painting, memorizing lines and making each other laugh. Tonight, the public has the opportunity to join in the fun.
The outrageous comedy, written by Neil and Caroline Schaffner, stars Jeremy Lafferts as a Florida bachelor who has just inherited his mother’s estate. Unfortunately, the executor is his stingy Uncle Martin, played by Rod Pintello. In order to get more money out of the old man, he pretends to be married to his best friend’s wife.
Marion rates the show PG-13. Although there is no inappropriate content, the show appeals mostly to an adult crowd.
“You are guaranteed to come and laugh for two hours,” said Marion Pintello, who directs and co-produces with her husband. “This is knee-slapping stuff. It’s our intent to first make people comfortable. There is soft light and music,” she said. “Then we expect them to be carried away by the show’s hilarity.”
Rod has been performing in shows since 1982 and finds satisfaction is making audiences laugh.
“With a musical, you get a response when you’re done,” he said. “Here we know if we do this thing right, we’ll get a response immediately.”
Although a veteran to the stage, Rod says this show is challenging him in new ways.
“I’m trying to maintain an accent through the show that’s not British,” said Rod, talking about the difficulty of maintaining the southern drawl of Uncle Martin throughout the show.
He also has enjoyed working with son, Simon Pintello, and daughter-in-law, Stephanie Pintello. The two play the bachelor’s best friend and best friend’s wife.
“Acting together is fun. We get to have spats on stage that we don’t have in real life,” Stephanie said.
This is the couple’s second play together as husband and wife. They are eager to experience the audience response.
“I want to know how funny it is. Mom laughing is so biased,” Simon said. “It will also be a good test because my dad’s so funny it’s hard to keep a straight face.”
Stephanie is currently arranging a sign-language interpreter to attend the show during the last few weekends. Stephanie herself has gained much of her stage experience while interpreting for other productions, including “West Side Story.” While some interpreters will simply stand on stage and sign, Stephanie acted out the story just as much as the actors.
“During ‘West Side Story,’ we couldn’t take our eyes off the interpreters,” Marion said.
The Pintello Comedy Theater holds 104 seats arranged around low, round tables.
“Everyone really likes it. The atmosphere is friendlier; people come as a group or see people they know,” she said. “It’s also nice for the cast because the audience is right there.”
Rod agreed.
“We wanted to create an up-close feel,” Rod added. “The stage is almost in the round, (with audience surrounding the actors on three sides).”
This will be the fourth show at Pintello Comedy Theater, which opened in January. The founders are pleased with the community’s reaction.
“There are five shows this year because we wanted to see if we could do it. There has been an incredible response,” Marion said. “People are signing our guest book. When Rod and I come home there are five or six messages every night about our shows.”
The Pintellos will continue with the company and expect daughter, Whitney Pintello, to direct in the future.
“It’s what we enjoy, what makes six weeks of rehearsal fun, what we do best and what we like to see,” Marion said.
“Right Bed, Wrong Husband” will run Fridays and Saturday, Aug. 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30, Sept. 5, 6, 12 and 13. Tickets are $15 each. The theater is located at 8531 Church St. All performances begin at 8 p.m. For tickets or more information call 776-8004 or e-mail pi******@****ic.com.
