“I’m Not a Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce,” starring Ronnie Marmo as the most controversial comedian of all time, will take the stage at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada for one night only, on Friday, March 21 at 8 pm. The show about the pioneer standup comic who took his fight for freedom of speech all the way to the Supreme Court is directed by Joe Mantegna. TV and film actor Marmo, who wrote the critically acclaimed one-man show and has performed it over 450 times, was kind enough to answer a few questions.
Q. What was the biggest surprise in researching or putting the show together?
The biggest surprise I found while researching Lenny was just how little there was out there! A lot of what is in the show I found by going through the attic literally and figuratively of Lenny’s life. I found myself just absorbing as much as I could- reading, watching, listening, learning and then wove it together in a way that tells his story with grace. There was so much about this man that I continue to learn and be surprised by even to this day.
Q. What proved the most difficult aspect of it?
The most difficult aspect for me was doing the show for Lenny’s daughter Kitty that first time. Kitty Bruce has become very dear to me. We’re really like family and I’m so proud to be able to tell his story. But how do you play someone’s DAD!? I wanted so badly to do the man justice and it took Kitty a long time to be able to come and see it. The night she did, she sat in the front row with my director Joe Mantegna holding her hand the whole time and she gave me the best compliment I could have hoped for. She said that my performance was the best portrayal of her father she’s ever seen.
Q. Toughest audience you’ve faced?
The toughest audience I’ve ever faced has to be the one where they aren’t giving me much back. I can see the looks on their faces and them leap to their feet but sometimes for whatever reason they are quiet during the show and that’s hard because when it’s just me up there, the audience becomes my scene partner. Their energy is important to help carry me through. When the audience is involved emotionally, they unlock a whole ‘nother level in me and it goes from great to magic.
Q. What do you do if you find you’re not connecting with an audience?
The play switches back and forth between storytelling and flashbacks to a nightclub so I have the luxury of being able to break that fourth wall in certain points, incorporate a good deal of improv and really genuinely speak to and connect with people. I know a few lines into the show on the line that generally gets that first big laugh whether or not I’m going to have to work a little harder for their trust but I have been really fortunate with all of my audiences. We always find our way to each other. People don’t come to the theater to see you, they come to see themselves in you. It is my personal mission to make sure everyone who leaves the theater walks away with a little bit of a deeper connection not only to Lenny but to their own perspective of the world.
Q. What does it take to keep a solo show going for seven years?
Insanity. Just joking! It takes finding a piece that is deeply personal to me and it turns out it resonates with many other people as well. Something that is timely and relevant and holds the attention of the audience. As the writer, this project was a labor of love and it it’s always evolving. As a performer, it is a BEAST of a 90 minute monologue so I always feel like it hits me at 150 mph. I’m constantly humbled by and inspired by this show, the audience on a particular night, whatever I have going on in my life at a particular point in time, you name it. So, I think it takes passion, dedication and an openness to watch it grow and evolve along with me. So many people have told me that Lenny’s voice is needed now more than perhaps ever.
Info: www.LaMiradaTheatre.com.
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