Steve Solomon on His One-Man International Hit

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Steve Solomon

Steve Solomon began performing his one-man comedy, My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!, 12 years ago. In that time the show grown from being performed at the Little Shubert Theater and Westside Theatre in New York City to touring internationally in countries like South Africa and Bermuda.

Over the years, Solomon has also enlisted other actors to go on tour. One of them is Peter Vogel, who will be performing at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway) Oct. 10-28. We spoke with Solomon about the show’s longevity and how he continues to iterate the material for new generations.

What’s the show all about?

It’s essentially the story of me going to my therapist’s office. I’m waiting for an appointment and he never shows. As part of the group therapy I’m talking to the audience. It goes through everything. In the show we do about 20 different characters. We do the accents and dialects. My mom is from Italy. My father is from Russia. All of those voices come in. You don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to enjoy the show, you just have to know what it is to go to a family dinner and come home with heartburn and a headache. Then you realize why you left home in the first place. It's constantly being rewritten. It had a major rewrite in 2014, so everything has been updated. Now we talk about dad and technology, mom and technology, iPhones, iPads and how they can’t figure it out. It’s one of the strongest pieces in the show.

What’s behind the decision to continually rewrite the show?

It’s partially because the show does very well wherever it plays and the major venues ask us back every two years. So it needs to be fresh. My biggest problem is that I have to retrain my actors for the new stuff, but they’re great guys and they learn it. I do keep it fresh, especially because we do a lot of work in south Florida and the grumpy old people go, “Hey we heard this already. What’s going on?” They don’t remember what they had for lunch, but they say, “I heard that joke already.”

You perform this show all over the world. What is the reaction like from foreign audiences?

We did three years in South Africa and it was very well-received. I think the first year and a half was sold out. We did Bermuda and Canada. It works well. It really does. Yes, it’s politically incorrect, but we haven’t gotten one complaint in 8,000 performances. I remember one time someone came backstage and said to me, “You know, not all old Italian women wear black dresses and sit and stir sauce.” So I looked at her and I said, “Every Italian woman in my family did.” Those are the people I do. Not all old Jewish guys are cheap, but every old Jewish guy in my family was. That’s what we talk about. We’re not saying it’s on the entire Earth. We’re talking about my people, my family, my cousins, my neighbors, the people I grew up with. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about life. It has universal appeal.

What’s it been like working with Peter Fogel?

Peter is terrific. Peter wants to work. He wants to learn. He used to want to be me, but I’ve convinced him that his talent and gift is that he’s more facial and I think that he is a better actor than I am. What I had to do is train him to work the stage. This isn’t standup. They don’t stand behind the mic and look at people. This is working the stage, going from right to left looking up in the balcony and making everyone in the audience think that you are talking directly to them. Peter is terrific. The audiences are going to love him.

What’s one takeaway from the show that you would want audiences to have?

Enjoy life. It’s a lot of fun. I’m telling you, they will belly laugh. It depends on the day of the week, though. Friday night crowds are hard because the guys didn’t want to go. The women said, “Come on, we never go out, and the guys are sitting there thinking, ‘I worked all week. I want to watch the game tonight.’” They sit with their arms folded and the women are laughing their heads off. If you go to a comedy play, like mine is, most of the people who pay the money want to have a good time. They get a good time. They’re going to get a belly laugh. They’re going to identify with characters in the show. Everybody does.

My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy! runs Oct. 10-28 at the Broadway Theatre Center. You can purchase tickets at www.broadwaytheatrecenter.com or by calling 414-291-7800.