Gilroy Grange Hall provides a relaxing place to enjoy theatrical farces
Published in the September 28 – October 11, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
Taunya Barrera and Sandi Lewandowski perform in Pintello Comedy Theater’s ‘Buying the Moose.’
At a performance of the Pintello Comedy Theater’s most recent production, a marital farce called “Buying the Moose,” Bonnie and Chip Williams sat at a table in the front row and enjoyed comic misunderstanding after misunderstanding ignited when a wife is shocked to discover her husband waltzing with a blow-up doll.
The Morgan Hill couple are big fans of the comedy theater group. They know when they need a few gut-wrenching guffaws at the end of a long week, Pintello will deliver. Bonnie has seen several of the group’s shows and said that the theater group, which was started by members of the Gilroy-based Pintello family more than 20 years ago, has grown into a favorite performance pastime for comedy lovers throughout the South Valley region.
“It’s small, it’s friendly, it’s local, it’s that kind of thing,” she said. “If you look at the Pintellos, there’s a family that’s so talented — and to share that talent with the rest of us I think is marvelous. A lot of Morgan Hill people come here to watch the shows.”
Pintello Comedy Theater shows are performed in the Gilroy Grange Hall, a 19th-century school house relocated to Swanston Lane off Leavesley Road. The audience members sit at tables in the playhouse which is designed to have a casualness as if people were relaxing at a friend’s home.
Photo by Marty Cheek Taunya Barrera, Jayson Stebbins, Charley Gilmore and Sandi Lewandowski perform in ‘Buying the Moose.’
The Pintellos make sure their productions remain a family affair. Rod and Marion Pintello spent more than two decades doing local shows, including many with the South Valley Civic Theatre. Eventually, the married couple decided it was time to create their own place where they could personally introduce people to their own style of comedy theater. Their motto for their theater group is, “There’s something funny going on here!” And they make sure they deliver on that promise.
Their daughter Whitney directs and designs the stage. Son Simon greets and seats guests. Whitney’s husband, Charley Gilmore, serves as the “technical genius.” Even the Pintello granddaughters sometimes get in the act when Shelby, Mary and Cassidy welcome audiences and work concessions.
“For about 20-ish years, we did stuff with South Valley Civic Theatre,” Whitney said. “And every year they did one non-musical and every other year that would be a comedy. It was just something we really looked forward to. And we realized that for that kind of effort, it was sort of a dream of ours to give it a try. So dad set aside a little block of money and said, ‘Let’s try this for one year.’ And if we loved it, we can keep going. And if not, we can say, ‘That was fun.’”
The group’s first show was a British farce of mistaken identity called “Holiday Snap” by Michael Pertwee and John Chapman. On opening night, it brought in 100 people. “We were floored,” she said.
Photo by Marty Cheek
Taunya Barrera, Jayson Stebbins, Charley Gilmore and Sandi Lewandowski perform in ‘Buying the Moose.’
From there, the group’s reputation for hilarity grew in the South Valley. “Buying the Moose,” written by Michael Wilmot, opened up their 2016-2017 season. It stars Taunya Barrera, Charley Gilmore, Sandi Lewandowski and Jayson Stebbins.
The Pintellos puts on four shows a year. They carefully read scripts trying to find ones that make a good fit for light-hearted shows the theater group is famous for. They have to appeal to a diversity in their audience.
“We have all different types of patrons,” Whitney said. “Some love things a little bit naughty, fast-paced, that kind of stuff. Some like more relationship stuff, so we kind of try to change it up so you don’t always feel you’re getting a pie-in-the-face comedy.”
The group’s season-opening play, which ended its run Sept. 24, explored what drollery can be generated when two couples face relationship difficulties through miscommunication that leads to hilarious misunderstandings, she said.
“In the old British farces — the door-slammers — there was always someone fooling around with somebody’s secretary,” Pintello said. “But in this play, things kind of get interesting because nobody is encouraging them to fool around. It’s almost wholesome — except for the doll, of course.”
Pintello’s next show is “The Love List” which will play in November.
“It’s magical and romantic, about two fellows who design a girlfriend,” Marion said. “And it’s a little naughty.”
Charley Gilmore and Jayson Stebbins perform in “Buy the Moose.” Photo by Marty Cheek
Feb 3 Pintello will open its second world-premiere show. It’s a “Southern fried comedy” sequel to their first premiere, “Farce of Nature,” done several years ago, Marion said. Called “Farce of Habit,” the new show will feature five actors playing the wacky Wilmore family in a fast-moving comedy.
The season closes in April with “On a First Name Basis” by Norm Foster.
“It’s about a crotchety older author who has had the same maid for 28 years and doesn’t know her first name,” Marion said.
Lewandowski has seen the group’s popularity grow.
“As an actor, I love live performance,” she said. “So I think the Pintello Comedy Theater brings a unique gift to the community. It’s thriving … The comedy allows people to find things we all can relate to.”
Barrera added that the hilarity from watching Pintello’s shows provides a stress release.
“I just think it’s really important for people to laugh. It’s easy for people to get inundated by the day to day, and you get to come here and just laugh and forget about your troubles,” she said.
Many of Pintello’s shows, including “Buying the Moose,” use the old gambit of the battle of the sexes to create levity between the trials of feuding couples. Patrons often see their own lives reflected on the drama happening on stage, she said.
“We’ve had people in the audience kind of nudging each other and saying, ‘Hey, honey.’”
Gilmore said the Pintellos do not use auditions to cast part. Instead, they keep a list of actors they know and consider which of them might be right for certain roles.
“When they find one that matches, they’ll just go to that person and tap them on the shoulder and say, ‘Hey, do you want to play this?’” he said.
Stebbins has done 11 plays with Pintello Comedy Theater. He keeps coming back for the camaraderie and the fun of hearing South Valley audiences laugh.
“We can trust the Pintellos to come up with a good script,” he said. “It’s fun, it’s homey and it’s always funny.”
