Richard Paige — It was originally intended to be more dramatic. A change of direction just a week before curtain left the Gentlemen Callers back at square one. At least they had a title.
“Check Your F*#!ing Email!”
What came to life in a mere four days was something far more humorous. A smart, self-aware, and hilarious comedy about the unintended consequences of technology loosely based on collegiate experiences was the result for IndyFringe festival audiences.
“It was tons of fun,” said director Patrick Kvachkoff ’15. “I loved working with the guys. My job was to get them to create stuff and that was easy. They love creating.”
The creativity might best have been referenced in a skit featuring wrestler Chris Diaz ’19 that centered around Vanessa Carlton’s bouncy 2002 hit “A Thousand Miles.”
The skit depended upon a carefree tune, and Diaz originally picked a song that he knew the lyrics to, but the group decided that audiences wouldn’t understand the song or the reference. So he picked one that everyone knew…”a friendly song,” says Diaz.
“The funny thing was I didn’t know the lyrics,” Diaz chuckled. “I knew the melody, so I kept humming it and soon it was, like, ‘hey, I’m singing.’”
For Kvachkoff, an actor carving out his niche in Chicago, such creative focus was the most rewarding part of assisting with the project.
“We cycled through different ideas for the show and seeing somebody realize they had a good and funny idea – that moment where they come into their own – in putting the show up is pretty cool.”
Through the Callers’ run at IndyFringe, Diaz admitted to nerves, especially in the first few shows, but credits Kvachkoff with helping him work through that.
He helped me to be more social with the audience and who I’m interacting with,” Diaz said. “He gave me courage.”
A member of the first Wabash Gentlemen Callers troupe that first performed at IndyFringe in 2014, Kvachkoff said his job in this incarnation was simply facilitation…to make sure it happened. It was about editing and helping them put on the best and most stageable show they could.
And it made the commute from Chicago worthwhile.
“To be able to meet a fun group who really came together – they love hanging out with each other makes it easy for me,” he said. “I like doing this, I like acting, whatever the specific show needs of me, I’m there.”
