Tuxedo Joe Trivia
The idea for the script was conceived while the show's author, Michael Sanchez, was going through treatment after being diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder.
Many of Joe's monologues were, in fact, excerpts from a journal Sanchez was keeping at the time.
The name "Joe" references Michael's father and brother, both of whom he credits for introducing comedy to him at an early age. It was also the perfect name to represent the fact that the illness could happen to anyone including "the average Joe."
The "tuxedo" portion of the title came by accident. While stuck in traffic, Sanchez spotted a formal shop with a traditional black and white tuxedo in the display window. It seemed to be the perfect wardrobe for the fictional funnyman and the black and white color easily represented the two extremes of his personality.
An early version of the script was finished in March 2003. Sanchez submitted the work in progress to his close friend and frequent collaborator, Todd Klick for creative feedback. Klick, fresh from completing production on his short film The Rut, was so enthusiastic about the project from the first reading that he subsequently offered to direct the show.
The pair had previously worked together as co-writers for Milton Hershey-The Play: an original stage production based on the life of Pennsylvania's most celebrated candy manufacturer and philanthropist. The show played to sold out crowds over the course of two years in Harrisburg, Hershey and Lancaster.
The first to join the production team was stage manager/soundman Jonathan Bjorkstedt. Friends since junior high school, Bjorkstedt and Sanchez collaborated on many productions over the years. Their earliest effort was a low budget video entitled Golf for Schmucks which was shot in a single day for less than $3.00 (the cost of the video) and was completely improvised from start to finish - a method they would repeat in the many video shorts that followed.
Bjorkstedt and Sanchez also starred along side each other as Teddy and Mortimer Brewster in a high school production of the classic comedy Arsenic and Old Lace.
Alex Meyer, also a close friend to Sanchez and Bjorkstedt, joined the production as the show's chief lighting man. The trio had previously worked extensively as stage crew hands on various productions. Meyer also found himself unwillingly drafted into many improv video shoots over the years.
Though designed as a one-man show initially, Joe's character did interac at key points in the script with voices of characters from his past, particularly a nasty elementary school teacher who was the source of frequent torment. The production planned to hire an actress to record the teacher's dialogue but until a suitable could be found, Bjorkstedt read the lines during rehearsals.
On one occasion, Bjorkstedt began delivering the lines in a cartoonish, high-pitched voice that sent the crew into fits of laughter. The improvisation and interaction worked so well that they ultimately decided to forgo the original plan and have Bjorkstedt deliver the teacher's dialogue live during each performance.
The original script was written without an intermission. Klick and Sanchez had explored various moments in the show as possibilities but each was too abrupt and interrupted the flow of the story. Klick eventually asked Sanchez how he felt about playing the show straight through. He agreed. The end result left the actor on stage alone for 90 minutes without a break. Though audiences repeatedly said it was the fastest 90 minutes they ever experienced, Sanchez said he "felt like he was on stage for three days." In all, there were 15, 288 words of dialogue exchanged between Sanchez and the additional offstage voices.
After the show's second performance in 2004, Sanchez was ready to put the show aside in order to pursue other projects. He had no plans to revisit the material but Skip Hicks, owner of the Allen Theater where the show was first performed, was graciously persistent about bringing the production back.
It was after seeing Tom Cruise blast NBC's Matt Lauer on live television about psychiatry and the outspoken actor's subsequent remarks about mental illness that provoked Sanchez to revisit the script for a new production.
Rewrites for the latest production began in June 2005 in an effort to expand the show and include new characters. Principal actors Jody Lazorcik, Michael Lazorcik and Jenna McBreen each accepted their roles without even seeing the finished script.
Joe's amusing rendition of Dr. Strangelove in the play's first half is one of many references to legendary comedic actor Peter Sellers:
* The character of Peg Mendoza (Jody Lazorcik) is a combination of two names in the Sellers lineage. "Peg" was Peter's mother and "Mendoza" refers to the actor's great-great grandfather Daniel Mendoza who was in his day a champion prize fighter in Europe.
* Harry Blake (Michael Lazorcik) combines two men that Sellers joined forces with during the course of his career. The first is Harry Secombe, whom with Sellers and fellow comic Spike Milligan starred in "The Goon Show" which once reigned as Britain's most popular radio comedy series. "Blake" of course refers to the man who made Sellers a household name after casting him as a bumbling, French detective: director Blake Edwards.
*The rocky creative tension between Joe and Harry was modele after the love/hate relationship between Edwards and Sellers during the years of The Pink Panther franchise. Joe is slowly getting a checkered reputation due to his erratic behavior and often clashes with Harry as a result. Sellers, infamous for being difficult and unpredictable to work with, was a frequent source of agitation for Edwards whom like many long suspected that the comic genius was secretly hiding a mental illness.
*At one point, Harry says to Joe "compared to the last few nights, I'd rather be in my doctor's office being told I'm terminal than come to rehearsal." When asked in a 2004 interview about his working relationship with Sellers, Edwards explained "there were good times and bad times. The good times were great. I never had more fun, more joy. When it was bad it was like walking into your doctor's office and having them say we're sorry to tell you this but you're terminal and then you get the full effect of the illness."
While writing the character of Dr. Lineweaver, the sleazy school psychologist from Joe's past, (played by Michael Lazorcik) Sanchez came across a photo of ruthless Senator Joseph McCarthy. Aside from a set of piercing eyes, McCarthy also had thick eyebrows which Sanchez thought would give the Lineweaver character, whom despite being nerdy, an intimidating look. It was mentioned once early on during rehearsals but ultimately the minor make-up detail was forgotten.
That was until the night of the show when Sanchez turned around to discover that Lazorcik had entered the scene with a thick set of bushy eyebrows intact - an unsuspecting move that nearly caused him to choke on a mouthful of water in the process.
Coupled with the whiny, nasal voice that Lazorcik had created for the character, Sanchez struggled desperately to keep a straight face throughout the entire scene, where he felt as if he were "being interrogated by someone who looked an awful lot like Martin Scorsese."
Lineweaver was one of four characters that Lazorcik portrayed throughout the show resulting in multiple costume changes during the two-hour running time.
There are various references made to "dual personalities" throughout the play. The Off Broadway production Joe is involved in is a satirical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It's author, R.L. Stevenson, who was also bipolar, became the basis of the play's psychiatrist Rachel Louise Stevenson.
In his own school psychology report while still a Kindergartner, it was mentioned more than once by the school district psychologist of her "growing concern over Sanchez's obsession with comic book super heroes...specifically with what appears to be his favorite, The Incredible Hulk."
The character of Elizabeth Gates (Jenna McBreen) is actually based on a young lady named Jennifer Lentz who was Sanchez's closest friend while still a student at Palmyra Area School District.
Prior to working together in Tuxedo Joe, Sanchez and McBreen portrayed father and daughter in separate productions of The Miracle Worker. The two would eventually go on to meet the legendary actress who originated the role of Helen Keller on Broadway and on the big screen - Patty Duke.
Michael and Jody Lazorcik shared the theatrical stage with Milton Hershey - The Play portraying several key characters since the production's first performanc in January 2001 including Milton and Kitty Hershey.
Mark Cuddy, recently cast in the role of Mr. Gingrich, also appeared in Milton Hershey - The Play originating the role of Milton's stalwart uncle Abraham Snavely.
Peg Mellinger, who portrays Dr. Stevenson, is also part of the Milton Hershey cast, having portrayed Kitty Hershey when the production performed at the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The cast went through great lengths to achieve the emotional realism necessary for some of the play's most dramatic moments. Improvisation became a key tool in getting the actor's "worked up."
One scene required Elizabeth to slap Joe across the face during an intense argument. Both McBreen and Sanchez initially agreed to hold off on the actual "slap" until they were closer to the show's opening. When the pair rehearsed the scene for the first time, the fight became so intense that McBreen actually slapped her co-star clear across the face and sent him to the floor.
The film version began production on June 2, 2007. It was shot over a period of twenty days that summer for a modest budget of $5,500.00.
Film cast members Mark Douglas Cuddy, Melissa Austin, Stosh Snyder and Peg Mellinger all joined each other on stage in May 2007 for Thornton Wilder's Our Town at the Hershey Area Playhouse.
One scene involved actress Melissa Austin to be in a severe, emotional state. To lend a hand, fellow co-star McBreen relayed some of her personal experiences with depression which quickly moved Austin to tears just before the take.
One of the many shooting locations for the film included the Allen Theater where the show was first performed. The director's Schuylkill County home also doubled as Joe's house.
While shooting this production, director of photography Matthew Perdie was also hard at work completing his own short film The Uranium Project.