The show is the productof Cialdini’s fascination with the wildly divergent baby-boomer culture.
“They were hippies orhedge fund managers, country club blue-bloods or tree-huggers, Glenn Beck orBill Maher,” Cialdini says. “I think one of their legacies is the extremes.”
Cialdini says that hewanted to work with a subject that allows for a broad canvasand he’s found it.“The boomers cover everything,” he notes.
Cialdini’s harshcritiques should make for some dynamic comedy. “The baby boomers shaped thelast 50 years of mainstream American culture,” he says. “Their hypocrisy iswell documented, but more interesting is their 100% belief in their ownentitlement.”
The show opens with aparody of Rebel Without a Cause(“It’s one of the worst/best movies,” Cialdini says) and closes with an agingboomer couple discussing the possible purchase of a Harleyevidently attemptingto regain a sense of the vitality they felt in the ’60s, when Woodstock ruled. The couple’s neighbor ismoving to Floridato retire. “Some problems just can’t be solved by rolling around in the mud,”the neighbor says.
Judging from Cialdini’sdescription, the show’s depth should go beyond traditional, light comedy. Thisis social satire in sketch comedy format.
Cialdini, who hails fromMilwaukee and studied philosophy at Marquette, has worked with Chicago’sSecond City. This debut production features aninteresting mix of other local talent. Dylan Bolinbest known for his work inlocal morning radio and his one-man show Peace,Love and a 30-Year Mortgageand Tim Higgins of ComedySportz join CynthiaKmak of Bye Bye Liver and SecondCity’s Grant Collins. Kristina Felske, who wrote part of the show, appearsonstage as well. Felske, a Mequon native, metCialdini at Second City. Milwaukee piano-bar maestro Joe Hite servesas the show’s musical director.
Nicholas Cialdini’s Boomtown! runs July 15 and July 22 atthe Alchemist Theatre in Bay View.
