“I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” is coming home to Southern California with a stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, March 18 – 23. The show premiered in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre, playing to packed houses from October of 2011 to February 2012 before moving on to Chicago and eventually (April 2013) touring theaters across the county to rave reviews.
“I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” is coming home to Southern California with a stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, March 18 – 23. The show premiered in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre, playing to packed houses from October of 2011 to February 2012 before moving on to Chicago and eventually (April 2013) touring theaters across the county to rave reviews.
The LA Examiner calls it “An absolutely brilliant and utterly engaging tribute to that iconic television show” and from the Chicago Sun-Times, “Those nostalgic for 1950’s America will have their internal time clocks rewound.”
Sirena Irwin as Lucy and Bill Mendieta as Rickey play the legendary Ricardo’s. The likable pair has been with the show since its L.A. conception and continue their ‘tongue in cheek’ antics on tour.
But it wouldn’t be “I Love Lucy” without lovable landlord cronies Fred and Ethel Mertz. I had an opportunity to chat with Joanna Daniels, who plays the character Ethel, joined the cast in Chicago, and is now on the road playing Lucy’s wacky sidekick.
In “I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” spectators are taken back to 1952, as members of the Desilu Playhouse studio audience, viewing live tapings of the show in real time. A host explains how TV, which was in its infancy back then, works and the sequences are interspaced with commercial jingles.
As director Rick Sparks explains, “We wanted to honor this great legacy and yet do more than simply put ‘Lucy’ on stage and so we used a bit of artistic license – occasionally tweaking the on-camera action and creating an in-studio world that includes commercials, a trivia contest and other things that make people feel part of the show.”
“I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” started as a cherished tribute to the beloved Television show and has grown to fill all sizes of theatrical venues.
According to Joanna Daniels, “the production has evolved to suit bigger houses and it’s exciting to travel from city to city to see what their theater offers.” It’s also important to retain the intimacy of a small TV studio with a live audience – what Sparks labels “a valentine to the ‘I Love Lucy’ show.”
The show is billed as a play with music. The storylines are, of course, pure Lucy-style; comedy but there is a live band on stage, representing Ricky’s Band as well as back-up for the singing commercials. According to Daniels, “the episodes, ‘The Benefit’ and ‘Lucy Gets Her Eyes Examined’ were chosen because of the music.”
She continues, “Another consideration was episodes that prominently featured the Ricardo’s and Mertz’s. By using less well-known segments of the show, the producers felt people would be more open in their ideas of what to expect and better able to involve themselves in the stories.”
The actors strive to represent the iconic characters remembered by fans. To this end, Daniels studied, as did the other actors, old episodes of the “I Love Lucy” show.
“None of us are impersonators, we’re actors, Daniels said. “I watched the old shows to get Ethel’s mannerisms down pat. She looks down a lot, raises her eyebrows and puts her hands on her hips. Our job is to stay true to the originals without becoming carbon copies. Sure, I bring some of myself to the role I play while keeping my character familiar and this can be tricky as well as challenging.”
After 300+ performances, Daniels has found herself acting like Ethel after hours. She says, “In my home Lucy reigns. I’ll find myself inadvertently acting like Ethel and my kids (ages 6 and 10), who have seen the show many times, will parry with Lucy-like riposte.”
The interaction between the Ricardo’s and the Mertz’s was as important to the success of the sitcom as it is in the stage production.
The principles in the show have become friends onstage and off, Daniels said.
“I work really well with Lucy (Irwin) because we are both similar to our theatrical counterparts. We are comfortable with one another. It’s the same with the guys. Fred and Ethel bicker, that’s the part, but we have great camaraderie when the lights dim. We have a wonderful working environment and the relationships are good on and off stage.”
Daniels believes that the characters would make terrific friends in real life because they are so much fun.
“With Lucy as a friend there’s never a dull moment and I love Ethel’s personality,” Daniels said. “She’s always up for adventure, spontaneous and can be talked into anything. Ethel is more than a ‘sidekick.’ She’s funny and witty in her own right. Playing her is an honor and reasonability – I get the chance to show her true colors.”
Daniels likes so much about “I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” that she has a whole list of reasons to see the production, starting with the cast.
“I’m really fond of everyone from the host to the Crystaltone Singers to the band.” She continues, “the costumes are signature fifties style, the set is such a good studio reproduction – so reminiscent of that ‘new-fangled’ thing, Television, the fans and their positive reaction and the sharp, comedic writing that has stood the test of time.”
Audiences attending “I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” can expect to have a good time. The show delivers.
“We, the actors don’t take this lightly,” Daniels said. “Lucy is Americana at its finest. It has meant so much to so many over the years. We want to make it special to those who come to the show.”
“I Love Lucy, Live” is light hearted entertainment to be enjoyed by all ages, what Daniels calls “comfort food, a big TV dinner, lovingly bought to audiences in living color.”
“I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” is at the Segerstrom Center For the Arts from March 18 – 23, 2014. For tickets and Information contact the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, California 92626; by phone 714-556-2746; or online at SCFTA.org.