Steve Solomon's Open 'Therapy' Session

Life can be very interesting and in some cases, very funny to look back at.  Take, if you will, Steve Solomon, who shares hilarious stories about his wacky family and the crazy characters that he meets on the road whose sole purpose is to drive him into therapy in his hit comedy, MY MOTHER'S ITALIAN, MY FATHER'S JEWISH & I'M IN THERAPY!, at The Little Shubert Theatre (422 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Aves). This show has received critical acclaim to sold out audiences from New York to Phoenix. .Written by  star Steve Solomon and directed by John Bowab (LEGENDS, THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN),  Variety said "Steve is Alan King, Billy Crystal, a smidgen of Don Rickles and George Carlin all thrown in."  The Florida Sun Sentinel wrote " Steve had the crowd roaring for over 90 minutes."  Having headlined throughout the United States and Europe for over twenty years, Steve's stories relate to the wacky side of the human condition, combining comic voices, sound effects and astoundingvcharacters  - bringing alive a myriad of people from all walks of life. The show has toured in over 50 cities around the United States, Canada and Bermuda, playing to sold out audiences and return engagements.

So I saw the show and went backstage to sit down with Steve about all the craziness and he delivered with an engaging interview interspersed with some of his amazing voices.

TJ:  You're a funny man. I mean it, you're very funny!! I think I have seen you on a cruise ship. 

SOLOMON: Very possible. I did all the cruise lines. I wrote this play on the cruise ships that management sent me on. I distract very easily. They'll tell me I need you to do this, this and this. The next thing they know, I am at the keyboard and they say, "What are you doing?" to which I reply, "What am I supposed to be doing?" I am off on a tangent or I start writing something else. They forced me to go out to sea for ten months because I couldn't get distracted. It forces you to focus and so I performed for ten months on cruise ships. 

TJ: Did you go out of Boston to Bermuda? That's where I think I saw you. I am originally from Massachusetts. 

SOLOMON:  We did two Bermuda runs out of Boston. Actually we just did the show in Massachusetts out in Pittsfield and then we did four days in Springfield. 

TJ: How old were you when you starting doing impressions? 

SOLOMON: Twelve. This is exactly what happened, Tim. I will tell you now. When I was twelve years old I realized I could do voices and get money for it. I was delivering Chinese food in Brooklyn. I would go over to the apartment houses and ring the buzzer and hear "Who is it?" And I would say "Chinese delivery." They'd never open the door.  So, as a child, I would go over and they would say "Who is it?" I would say something like "Ho Ni To wah HiNon Ki.". Then they would say "Just a minute!" They'd open the door and I got in that way. Then they'd stare at me and I'd say the guy just left. 

Or I would do my grandfather when my mother would call. She'd call the house; I would pick up the phone and say, "Hello…" And my mother would say, "Poppa? What are you doing there?" And I would say, "Oh, well I just stopped by." And my mother would then say, "What are you doing there? I don't understand. I just left grandma…" And my father would be there yelling,"It's Stevie, it's just Stevie!!"  I love to do sounds and voices. 

TJ:  It's amazing because when I was hearing the voices from the audience, I was thinking that the voices were someone else. It couldn't be you. 

SOLOMON:  It was me! All me.

TJ: When did you decide that you wanted to do an act like this and take it on the road? 

SOLOMON:  When I realized that I had to develop something that had more universal appeal than what I was doing. I was working down in South Florida in my first series of venues and within eighteen months, I became the most sought after stand-up comic in South Florida. But my average age market was 75. They loved me…I could speak Italian, I could speak Yiddish…I could do everything they related to!  But I couldn't live my life in South Florida. The comedy club business stunk unless you could get up there and go, (in a street accent)" How ya doin? Whazamatta? How ya been?" and start cursing like crazy. That just wasn't my bag. 

So what happened was Abby Koffler began to manage me. She was an arts buyer and presenter in South Florida. The biggest one in South Florida. I worked for her and she realized I had something that everybody else didn't have. She decided that she was going to manage me and she had more contacts than anyone in the business. We realized that we had to get something that had an appeal…. (His cell rang in the middle of this…"Hi. I can't talk right now. I'm in the middle of an interview. OK. Otherwise I Love You. Enjoy yourself. Bye.") I don't know who that was.  

So anyway, we came up with a title. The amazing part of this story was my name meant nothing in the business, except down in South Florida. But when we came up with titles, they didn't care about my name. They would say, "That sounds like a great idea!" So Abby convinced the people at William Morris to at least talk to me and through a zillion favors, we got to see Kenny Dicamillo, who was the Executive Vice President at William Morris.  And all they did was catch up. I was like a fifth wheel and I realized that. I said, "Listen, I'm going to go outside in the lobby. You guys catch up." And he said, "Steve, what we're looking for is a title…a show…." So I said, "How about MY MOTHER'S ITALIAN, MY FATHER'S JEWISH AND I'M IN THERAPY?" He busts out laughing, picks up the phone and, I'm not exaggerating, five minutes and we had $100,000 worth of bookings. The he looks at Abby, looks at Arnold, our other management people, and says, "This is great! We start in nine months." We walked outside and they were jumping up and down. And I said, "WE DON'T HAVE A SHOW!!" We had ten words…a title…and then they sent me out to write the damn show.  

TJ:  So how long did it take to write the show? 

SOLOMON: Almost ten months. It wasn't honed. I'd say a third of what we started with exists today. In three and a half years, we did 49 cities and who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people. It's amazing. And big venues, Tim. I was one of the few acts that was ever brought back to the major casinos in Atlantic City twice in one year! They didn't bring Tom Jones back...in fact, I was selling more tickets than the famous people. We packed them in for three weeks consecutively at the Atlantic City Hilton. They brought me back for another two weeks. We'd sold out and these were in the 1200 seat rooms. Then, the Hilton Organization, who owns the resorts, brought me back again to do a month at their main resort, which was a 1000 seater. And it was quite an experience, 

Here's a cut anecdote…I don't have an ego….yet….and I was driving down the Atlantic City Expressway. It's just billboard after billboard after billboard…James Taylor, Tom Jones…and there's Steve Solomon. I almost drove off the road! I'd pulled over in front of my own billboard. I run out of the car on the highway and I'm taking pictures for my mother!  A cop pulls in behind me. (In another voice)" Is there a problem here?" to which I said, "I just wanted to take some pictures of my billboard."  And he didn't catch on right away. SO I pointed to the billboard and said, "That's me!" He says, "Oh, man! Could I have your autograph??" And that was it!! It was a very intriguing scenario.  

TJ:  That sort of says it…you made it. 

SOLOMON:  Yeah. Or pulling up to the Hilton or pulling up to the Little Shubert and seeing your name on the marquee. My daughter at it before I did and cried. She called me and said, "Dad, you're not going to believe where I'm standing...you're not going to believe it…" She took a picture and I still catch myself.  

TJ:  Your kids must be really proud of you. 

SOLOMON:  They are. They knew I had focus. I always had focus, which is something I had always tried to relay to them. Nothing's impossible. My father use to say, "A no is not a no. It's just not a yes."  So just go for it….do what you gotta do. Or the impossible takes longer and costs more. I used to believe that and I had that goal. I mean, I was a physics teacher for fifteen years, a school administrator for five years and had no idea that I would go in this direction.  

Then my world fell apart, financially and family-wise. I'm laying out on a mattress on a floor one day and looking up at the heavens and saying, "What the hell do you want from me?" And the following day, I get a phone call from some people from where the church is asking me if I would assist in a men's club roast. I always did roasts in the community, but they were going to do it in a comedy club. I said that I was not a comedian and they said please. So I did it at the comedy club and there was an agent there who booked comedy clubs. And he said, (in another of Steve's voices), "Steve, I see a bit of greatness in you. Would you like to do this?" And I said, "No." The man chased me for four months. He finally said, "Would you mind doing it as a hobby?" I said that I would do it as a hobby. So I did it as a hobby and I was terrible. I was horrible! I couldn't get out there and do the dirt. I could do sounds, voices and characters that nobody could do….nobody was doing this. And when I would do it, nobody would laugh, they would just stare. That's incredible!! So I knew I couldn't hang around the comedy clubs. 

I targeted other markets. But I targeted them, Tim, not to make Steve Solomon famous…but to make the show famous. That, added to the net approach, was critical to make the show succeed the way it has so far. 

TJ:  So is this like therapy for you? 

SOLOMON:  Today it was. When you walk out and you've got a walk on water crowd, you know from the minute of the opening announcement and there's that right buzz. You know you've made it. The crowd makes it. I've had shows where I swear I was speaking Norwegian and the crowd was from China. No clue. Yet at the end, they clap and stand. So, I'm confused. It's really interesting. The crowd makes me do what I do best. That's the truth. 

TJ:  So you feed on the energy of the crowd? 

SOLOMON:  No question about it. You're right on the money. In fact, the show runs longer with a better crowd because I ad-lib a little bit and they laugh a little longer. 

TJ:  So, have you had therapy? 

SOLOMON:  No. Never had therapy. You know, therapy when I was growing up was the back of somebody's hand. Got a problem…(whack)...now you don't got a problem. Nowadays, kids have time-outs. When I was a kid, we had time-outs…if I got hit, when I woke up, I would say, "How much time was I out?" 

TF:  Do you have a favorite character in the show? 

SOLOMON:  My sister the smoker because she is so real, it's scary. They came to the night we opened previews and I see her in row three, staring at me coughing. I thought, "I am so dead." She came back stage and said, (In an imitation of his sister's voice which sounded a bit like Harvey Firestein) "Well, all I can say is you made famous." And half my family was there. We had forty people of family and when I was doing her, they were all looking at her going, "That's really the way she sounds. 

TJ: What was your family's overall reaction to the show? 

SOLOMON:  They loved it. The first time they saw it, they don't laugh…they stare. "Oh my God…that's Steve on stage…"  Now, I've been doing this so long that they like the new material because I am always changing material everyday. John Bowab, my wonderful director, is breaking my back. "You know that thing you wrote? Let's put it in." He pushes. 

TJ: Well the show is hysterical. I still hurt from laughing. 

SOLOMON:  Thank you. You're very kind. 

TJ: How long is the show scheduled to run? I mean, the place was packed today. You must be thrilled. 

SOLOMON:   It's really an open run. I am one of the producers, although a silent producer. I keep my mouth shut. Abby is the primary producer. The lead producer is Rodger Hess, who didn't want to get involved with us when we originally started. He was the executive producer of ANNIE. He's a real good guy and very esteemed in the business. When he first met us, he didn't want to touch it. Then, he saw it at the Broward Center in South Florida, which is like Carnegie Hall down there. And he came backstage and said, "Well, maybe we'll work together. Maybe." And then we formed a partnership and he was great! He did so much. We didn't know how to do it.  

TJ:  So, it's turned out to be everything you wanted it to be? 

SOLOMON:  Yes, it has. It's just that I am the constant perfectionist. I get madder when I walk off-stage because of things that I falter with. I say to my group, I met them all before the show, "Listen to me. I want to fail because I screw up or my material doesn't work. I don't want to know we have a lighting problem. I don't want a sound problem. I don't want anything else. I don't want an audience problem. I want to mess up. I want to fail. Because if the show goes down the tank, it's my fault. You're the consummate professionals." These are award-winning Broadway people that I am dealing with…you do what you've gotta do. And they back me very well. If I drift off script, which I do all the time, they now know that I will be back at my mark when I have to be back at my mark and don't scream. Otherwise, I could hear them flipping the pages of the script going, "He's supposed to be here…where is he?" Everybody just freezes knowing he'll be back. Then I eventually walk right back to my spot.  

If somebody comes into the show fifteen minutes late and sits in Row Three Center, I've got to acknowledge them. There's no way I can't acknowledge them. So I walk right to the edge of the stage and I'll say, "Hi. No, listen, have a seat. I was talking with the people who own watches and we felt…" And they sort of mumble a little. 

TJ:  Ok, so you were a teacher. Have you kept up with any of your students from those days? 

SOLOMON:  They've kept up with me. They pop up all over the country and here too! We had a whole group of people come out from Long Island where I taught and they were like, "You remember me? You remember me?"  I remember them vaguely but thing that kills me is when they said, "You were…You were just…oh my god, every time there was an explosion, everybody looked for you." I was the mad scientist of the building, always. Whenever a circuit blew in the building, they were looking at me. "Find him now, it's him." 

TJ:  Those days were good memories for you? 

SOLOMON: Teaching, yes. Administration, horrible memories. Bureaucracy. I hated rules. To this day, I hate rules. Rules for the sake of rules don't make any sense to me. 

TJ: You like to push the envelope. 

SOLOMON: I always push the envelope. That's what Abby says too. I'll be the first one to walk in with three ounces of liquid through security in my pocket, waiting for someone to say, "You have to empty that. Take that out of your pocke

TJ:  Ok, I am going to end this with asking you about some of your favorite things. Ready? 

SOLOMON:  Go ahead. 

TJ: Favorite ethnic food. 

SOLOMON:  Italian or Jewish? 

TJ:    You choose. 

SOLOMON:   Well, Italian is chicken parmigiana with no sprinkled grated cheese. That's disgusting.  Jewish…a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup. Very nice. 

TJ:  Favorite Holiday. 

SOLOMON: That's a tough one. Like Henny Youngman used to say that he'd like to become an atheist, but there weren't any holidays. I work on every holiday so that's tough. My birthday. 

TJ:  Favorite Vacation Spot. You must get to go on vacations. 

SOLOMON:  Never. Last year, we were on the road fifty weeks out of the year. It was amazing. We performed in Bermuda and that was gorgeous. We were at the Arts Festival in Bermuda. I walked into an audience where fifty percent of them were black and you think "It ain't going to work, it ain't going to work." It works and you think, "Hey, it worked!!" 

TJ:  Favorite store. 

SOLOMON:  Nordstroms. They have extra large and they don't make fun of me. 

TJ:  Favorite pastime activity. 

SOLOMON: I love to sit down at the keyboard and just create, with a computer. I work with a computer. I am really into it. 

TJ:  Thank you so much for your candidness and best to you and this wonderful show. 

I really endorse this show, folks.  You want to have a a great evening with a lot of laughs, go see it, Rodger Hess, Abby Koffler, Howard Rapp, Arnold Graham and Ed Frankel present Steve Solomon in his hit comedy, MY MOTHER'S ITALIAN, MY FATHER'S JEWISH & I'M IN THERAPY!, at The Little Shubert Theatre (422 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Aves). The 12-week limited engagement runs November 3rd through January 28th.   Performances are Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00PM and Sunday at 7:30PM with matinees Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3:00PM. Tickets are $35-$65 (+ $1.25 facility charge).  For tickets call Telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.  Visit his website at www.ItalianJewishTherapy.com. For now ciao and remember, theatre is my life!!