Miguel Perez Performers Dale Rehfield,
Eugene Pack and Saratoga
Ballatine read from autobiographies of famous stars in "In
Their Own Words."
By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Perhaps somewhere, in some far off land, one confused individual
decided to purchase the autobiographies of celebrities like Vanna
White and Mr. T.
And everyone should pity da fool who opted to do so.
A new theatrical piece, “In Their Own Words,” shows
every Sunday at Bar F2 in Farfalla Restaurant on La Brea Boulevard.
The play hopes to bring these celebrity autobiographies to a wider
audience than ever before by performing live readings of some of
the more idiotic passages.
“We like to just bring this “˜literature’ up to
the mic and read it out loud. We just read the words as
they’re written and let the audience decide what’s
funny,” said creator/producer/performer Eugene Pack.
A troupe of nine actors, comedians and writers take turns
reading passages of these books in front of the audience. Through a
simple word-to-word reading of the text, the troupe hopes audiences
will find comedy in the absurdity of the celebrities’
writings.
“I think people seriously cannot believe anyone writes
this, that it’s actually on paper and they think this is
something we would want to read,” said Dale Rehfield,
co-producer/host of the show.
And the formula seems to have worked thus far. The performance
has earned itself a “Best Bet” in the Los Angeles Times
and praise among its audiences.
“We find that people of all different ages will like it.
There’s something in it for everybody. Even if you
don’t know who we’re reading about, you can appreciate
the absurdity of what they have written,” Pack said.
The play includes a wide variety of autobiographical passages of
celebrities from all generations. In their respective novels, David
Cassidy talks about his night of sexual conquest, Vanna White
discusses the intricate details of turning letters around and Mr. T
talks about his audition for “Rocky III.”
Each passage read evokes interesting personalities of the medley
of superstars included in the show.
“Mary Lou (Henner) gives every detail literally down to
her underwear, she describes every bit of underwear she wears
before she has any sexual activity. Diana Ross is almost
Shakespearean … I believe she thinks she’s God,”
Rehfeld said.
Aside from the the mockery, the producers insist that they are
not doing celebrity impersonations. They simply read the passages
as they are in the books.
“We don’t imitate … but it’s amazing how
people start to sound like (the celebrities) without trying,”
Rehfield said. “They write almost in the way you imagine them
to be.”
They also never read passages that are meant to be comical.
“We don’t read anybody who are really intentionally
funny people,” Pack said.
This idea came about when Pack was working on a comedy routine
for a show he had to do one night. Having read numerous celebrity
autobiographies, he decided it might be funny to simply read
portions of these books to an audience.
After running the idea by his friends and receiving a good
response from them, Pack decided to perform in front of a live
audience.
“We just did it for fun and the audience went crazy. They
went nuts with laughter,” Pack said.
And even the show’s atmosphere is very different from most
theatrical performances around.
It takes place at a restaurant and the performers read the
excerpts on a stage as the audience members enjoy their food.
“It’s sort of like a party when we do the show. You
can eat, you can drink … it’s sort of a festive atmosphere
and a fun thing for groups of people to do.”
Contributing to the party atmosphere, some famous friends of the
troupe drop by every once in a while to catch the show.
“You never know who you’re going to see in the
audience because people just pop in,” Pack said. “Molly
Shannon has come, so has Andy Dick.”
Apparently everybody who is anybody is turning out to hear
various absurdities of the celebrity novel. Yet the performers
insist that it is all in good fun.
“It’s not like we’re trying to be
mean-spirited at all. We just thing it’s fun,” Pack
said.
But what would the celebrities think if they knew about it? If
Mr. T were to see the troupe’s performance, would he send
these suckas flyin’?
“I think they would be in on it and applaud,” Pack
said. “I just don’t think any of these people would
angry … it’s just humor that’s untapped material that
when acted out is so funny.”
THEATER: “In Their Own Words” will
run Sunday at 8 p.m. and every Sunday thereafter in Bar F2 above
Farfalla Restaurant. Reserve tickets by calling (323)769-5511.