GILROY
– Anyone who says there’s no place for a love story in comedy
theater needn’t look any farther than the Pintello comedy theater’s
new show,
”
Nobody’s Perfect.
”
GILROY – Anyone who says there’s no place for a love story in comedy theater needn’t look any farther than the Pintello comedy theater’s new show, “Nobody’s Perfect.”
The show, which opens at 8 p.m. today at the Pintello Theater, 8531 Church St., and runs through Feb. 21, is a heart-warming comedy about a single father who finds love in the strangest way – while he’s impersonating a woman.
In the play, Dave Leon plays the part of a lonely statistician who poses as a woman to gain notoriety as a writer through a woman’s publishing company. When the editor actually chooses the script as a contest winner and wants to meet him … err, her, the father finds himself in danger of having his identity revealed.
“In the second act, he gets decked out,” Director Rod Pintello said about the opening of the act when Leon emerges in a dress and a wig to fool the editor. “He’s the ugliest woman ever.”
The Pintellos made creative use of space to make the play work on their small stage. The single stage the Pintellos usually use for one room in a play was turned into four separate places – the house, the front door, an upstairs bedroom and an office on the other side of town.
“It calls for a much bigger set, so we had to prepare for four different scenes,” Rod Pintello said.
The plot ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ takes yet another twist when Leon’s character realizes he’s falling in love with the publishing house editor, played by his real-life fiancee, Jen Volturno, and includes several phone conversations that include mistaken and false identities.
Director Rod Pintello said that having a couple in the play helped make the love story – and the kissing scene – look real.
“It helps that the two are in love already,” Rod Pintello said.
Volturno agreed.
“I think it makes things a lot easier,” she said. “There really is no introductory part (where you have to get to know someone you kiss onstage).”
While the couple’s story about falling in love doesn’t at all mirror the storyline (“There were no dresses involved, unless she was wearing them,” Leon said.), they’re reason for meeting does have a theatrical tie.
The couple actually met online through the Internet on a Web site where people keep journals. At the time, Leon was acting in ‘My Fair Lady,’ and Volturno, then living in Pennsylvania, was intrigued by reading about his experience.
“We weren’t really looking for each other,” Volturno said.
The two hit it off and Volturno eventually moved to the Bay Area. The couple was engaged in August and plans to wed in May of 2005.
They said they had no problems playing lovers on stage, either. Leon said he wouldn’t choose anyone else.
“Maybe she wanted one who looks like Keanu Reeves,” he joked. “But he doesn’t look that good in tights.”
The play also features a young South valley theater veteran in David Sandhu and a former Morgan Hill Mayor in John Varela.
“We were reading and reading and reading until we found a script for David,” Producer Marion Pintello said of Sandhu, who plays Leon’s son in the show.
Rod Pintello said they made the part fit for Sandhu, even though the original script calls for daughter instead of a son.
“It was written for the part of a girl,” Pintello said. “It was DeeDee instead of Danny. We switched it all up.”
With the rewritten role, Sandhu plays a character that fits him pretty well, a typical high schooler. He even got to wear his own clothes for the part.
“It’s much more relaxed and it’s comfortable,” he said about his part. “It think the role’s pretty cool.”
For Varela, taking part in the play meant making a return to the theater after a nine year break.
“It’s been a hobby of mine since I was in school in Los Angeles 40 years ago,” the former mayor said. “It’s fun.”
After a 20-year hiatus, he got back into the theater with a South Valley Civic Theater production of “On a Clear Day,” and now after nearly another decade, he’s back again to play the role of Leon’s conniving yet goofy father.
His reason for taking part in the show was simple – taking part in a Pintello play.
“Working with the Pintellos is a gift,” he said.
Sandhu, who has helped with lights for Pintello shows before, agreed.
“This is my first show with the Pintellos, which I was honored to do,” said Sandhu, a Gilroy High School student who has been in nearly 20 shows in the South Valley while playing in several bands.
The Pintello Comedy Theater presents “Nobody’s Perfect” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights through Feb. 21 at the Pintello Theater, 8531 Church St. Tickets to the show are $15, and reservations can be made by calling 776-8004 or by e-mailing pi******@****ic.com.
