The season would not be eh, the season without all-star comedy from Eugene Pack. He was back virtually on Sunday premiering a program of 3 short works to benefit Guild Hall, starring Matthew Broderick and John Leguizamo performing together for the first time, Blair Underwood and Sherri Shepherd, and Rachel Dratch, Cecily Strong, Andrea Martin, Santino Fontana and Maulik Pancholy. The talented Dayle Reyfel, Pack’s partner and frequent ensemble player, appeared in an unusual way. The playlets inaugurated the final leg of a series that will include some live, distanced, performances in the Guild Hall garden, all sold out. Reached by phone in LA, playwright/ performer, Eugene Pack said he is busy bringing actors together, but he wants everyone to know The Pack owes more to film, although it sounds more like an innovative hybrid, reflecting our current states of creativity.
The elements, familiar from his popular Celebrity Autobiography evenings, line up nicely: Broderick and Leguizamo are filmed together (but separate) in a coffee house, for the first. Underwood and Shepherd are on the phone for the second, in my view, the most successful as the actors on the phone dramatize a familiar scenario, getting a desired seat on an airplane. A desperate Underwood goes frantic in the dread of being placed on hold. Seeing him writhe up close illustrates one advantage of the medium: only in film can you get this close. The third brings Zoom home: Dratch, Strong, Fontana and Pancholy, remotely attending a cousins' meeting, remembering beloved Aunt Cora (Andrea Martin). What could be more representative of this moment?
The fun is, said Pack, “You click on the link and watch as a shared experience. Now more than ever, even more so, we can see what can be done with these actors. The big challenge was the time restraint. We have great material, but had the actors only for an hour, and they are perfect for this experience, a short comedy form, not a staged reading.”
So how does he direct remotely? “I can see everyone watching each other. I give notes to the actors and editors, stage managers and producers.” Inspired by the podcasts he makes in LA, starring the many actors he has brought together over the years, The Pack offered an experiment in entertainment, and became an excellent way to keep us laughing, and musing at the possibilities for personalized “hold” music. Eugene Pack is onto something big.
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