‘Luck’ Changes< Mcmanus Keeps Tinkering With ‘Potts’ Luck’

Just how new is “Potts’ Luck,” which opens Friday at The Met?

It’s so new that two days ago even writer Pat McManus and actor Tim Behrens didn’t know exactly what would be up on stage on opening night. McManus was still busy re-writing, and Behrens was busy wondering what he will do when the curtain goes up.

“What the audience may attend, we don’t know,” said Behrens with a laugh. He has played McManus and his characters in three previous one-man shows. “They may be attending `Potts’ Wake’ or `Potts the Phoenix, Rising from the Ashes,’ for all we know.”

That’s because three preview performances in Idaho Falls, Olympia and Boise did not go exactly according to plan. In McManus’ original script, an out-of-work actor named Durwood Potts arrives at a TV studio for what he thinks is a small part in “The Patrick F. McManus Theater of Mystery, Suspense, The Unexplained and the Downright Weird.” But then he discovers to his horror that the producers were too cheap to hire ANY other actors, so Durwood Potts has to play every role in the show.

The only problem was preview audiences weren’t quite “getting” Potts.

“Now what Pat and I are discussing is that we may bury Durwood Potts, or maybe have Potts actually be the Pat McManus character, calling himself Durwood Potts to avoid embarrassment,” said Behrens on Monday.

We won’t know what McManus will come up with until curtain time, but that may be part of the appeal of “Potts’ Luck.”

“The unknown is always full of excitement,” said Behrens. “I think the audience is going to love it because they won’t know what we’re going to do.”

Still, a few things are certainties: McManus, the bestselling humorist from Spokane, will come up with his quota of belly laughs, and Behrens will play all of the roles, no matter WHAT they are.

Also, the nucleus of “Potts’ Luck” will remain intact. Most of the production consists of episodes from the TV show, which worked just fine in previews, said Behrens. Those tales include one about a grasshopper trap, one about McManus’ abduction by aliens and one about ghosts. This is all new material for the stage, although some of the stories are based on tales from McManus’ 13 bestselling books. The core is intact; it’s only the “connecting tissue” that needs some work, said Behrens.

The show has already been booked in 30 cities throughout the Northwest for a tour that begins right after the Spokane dates.

“Potts’ Luck” is the fourth in what has proven to be a fruitful collaboration between McManus and Behrens. The first show, “A Fine and Pleasant Misery,” debuted in Spokane in 1992, and became an immediate hit on tour throughout the country. Then came “McManus in Love” in 1995 and “McManus, Endlessly Grousing” in 1997. The three shows have played to a combined 120,000 people.

Even while the fourth show is being prepared, the first one still lives on. Behrens will take “A Fine and Pleasant Misery” to Alaska and Nevada next year.

This sidebar appeared with the story: ON STAGE `Potts’ Luck’ “Potts’ Luck” will be staged Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at The Met. Tickets are $14 ($5 for children 12 and under), available at the door or in advance at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or by calling (800) 325-SEAT.