Steve Guttenberg’s comic and heart-warming Tales from the Guttenberg Bible is an entertaining romp detailing the actor’s rise to stardom and his remarkable career.
August 7, 2023: Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor in association with George Street Playhouse is presenting Steve Guttenberg’s comic and heart-warming Tales from the Guttenberg Bible about his meteoric rise to stardom and his remarkable career. Steve Guttenberg’s films include the “Police Academy” and “Three Men and a Baby” franchises, “Cocoon,” “Diner,” and many more. His story is an entertaining romp that takes him from his humble beginnings in Massapequa, NY to glamorous Hollywood, where he seems to stumble into success and ultimately world-wide stardom. David Saint, Artistic Director of George Street Playhouse, has directed the evening and helped shaped the play, which had its world premiere at Geroge Street earlier this year.
On stage Guttenberg brings the same likeable quality that we have come to know from his films. He always seems to maintain a down- to- earth sense of naivete, which coupled with his determination, takes him where he wants to go. He is not shy about pushing the envelope, when needed. He has a funny, wise, and enduring message about the love of home and family that resonates throughout the piece. His father always told him, “Play the game Steven. And remember, no one is bigger than the game.” These words would guide him numerous times along the way.
Near the beginning of his witty tale, Guttenberg meets the first of what will be many agents, who will advise him to forget his dream of becoming an actor. This agent tells him, “You are the last guy I would ever imagine as a movie star.” Yet nothing deters the young Guttenberg, and this is another theme in his story, the persistence to pursue your dreams regardless of what challenges might confront you.
Guttenberg makes a charming narrator for his own clever story and three actors, Arnie Burton, Dan Domingues, and Carine Montbertrand, play all the supporting roles – 90 different characters. They make hilarious over the top character switches in rapid fire succession, often while changing costumes and wigs at the same time. The effect gives the evening a zany vaudevillian spirit that is in gleeful counterpoint to Guttenberg’s simplicity. David Saint’s clever staging enhances the madcap spirit of the supporting characters as they zoom in and out of his life unexpectedly.
Along his journey, although Guttenberg displays a quick-witted chutzpah when needed, he routinely treated the stars he met with genuine affection and gratitude for the wisdom they shared so generously. There are numerous amusing antidotes with actors such as Richard Widmark, Gregory Peck, Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy and so many more.
A funny story that may be one of the evening’s most revealing happens before he even secures his first commercial. The story is about how he manages to sneak onto the Paramount lot, secure a vacant office, install a phone, and observe film making for over a year before being discovered as an imposter.
Guttenberg projects a self-deprecating sense of humor as his star rises quickly in the business. On the surface, there is relatively little struggle and what happens feels like destiny. He takes us pretty much through his career until (1987) “Three Men and a Baby,” glossing over the years afterwards when he relentlessly made one film after another, ultimately making more films than any movie star in the business.
Guttenberg sums it up near the end of the evening saying he managed to navigate his boat down the river without hitting any rocks. And maybe the best part of his story, a love letter to his family and friends, and especially his father, is that after becoming rich and famous, probably beyond his wildest dreams, he seems to have maintained that friendly nice guy quality that makes him so relatable. PC
Now playing at Bay Street Theater through August 27th, 2023
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Opening Night Photography: Barry Gordin
