Master-piece theater
Re-Run Theatre stages a one-night show based on ‘Seinfeld’ episode
It’s adorably resourceful filmmaking: When Junior McClane diffuses a bomb at the end, for instance, he’s simply pulling the yellow and white AV cords out of a home electronic device, and the whole thing is intercut with real footage from the movie, captured by simply turning the camera toward the TV screen.
It’s nearly 20 years later and not much has changed: Tucker is still recreating famous pop culture scenes, but this time he’s doing it on a stage and with one of the most famous half hours in television history. Tonight Tucker and his friends, a makeshift troupe dubbed Re-Run Theatre, will stage a live re-enactment of an acclaimed episode of the landmark NBC sitcom “Seinfeld.”
“I posted on Facebook that I thought it would be cool if my friends acted out my favorite TV episodes,” Tucker said, and the response was immediate. “Somebody said, ‘Well, I’d do that,’ then a couple more people. And within a week we figured it all out. … I thought it was just a weird thing that I had in my head. But I think the element of ’90s nostalgia being at an all-time high right now is pretty important.”
Tucker wanted to tackle a “Seinfeld” episode that required limited set changes – something like “The Chinese Restaurant” or “The Parking Garage,” both of which strand the characters in a single location – but ended up settling on “The Contest,” which is frequently cited as the apex of the series.
“We all decided that ‘The Contest’ was one of the most iconic episodes,” Tucker said. “People reference it the most.”
The episode, which originally aired in November 1992, won writer Larry David an Emmy Award and was notable for playfully skirting the taboos of primetime comedy. The titular contest develops between Jerry (played by Tucker in the Re-Run Theatre production), George (Casey Strain), Elaine (Jeanette Bocook) and Kramer (Jon Brown), who each bet that they can go the longest without any kind of sexual activity.
This results, of course, in all kinds of carnal temptation: Jerry is taunted by a woman who walks around naked in the apartment across the way. Elaine is romantically propositioned by John F. Kennedy Jr. George is witness to an attractive nurse administering sponge baths in a hospital room. The episode is never explicitly dirty, but it leans heavily on double entendre and winking suggestions, turning phrases as seemingly innocent as “master of my domain” and “king of the castle” into racy punchlines.
You’ve no doubt seen “The Contest” in syndication, and the Re-Run Theatre production will be accompanied by the show’s well-known musical interstitials (cue slap bass) and will feature pre-recorded commercial breaks during transitions. Because the comedic timing of the “Seinfeld” cast is so impeccable – they were, after all, one of the best comedy ensembles ever assembled – there are some challenges in staging a piece of comedy that’s entirely dependent on keeping up the pace.
“They’re a tight cast – they definitely had their flow down,” Tucker said. “But I think a lot of humor from this production will be that we’re not that tight.”
That seems to be part of the charm of the entire enterprise: It feels kind of shaggy and homemade, a production that a bunch of friends threw together because hey, it might be kind of fun. If you think about it, it’s not too far removed from being a precocious kid with your parents’ camcorder, play-acting scenes from your favorite movies and TV shows in your childhood living room.
“It’s exciting to do something that nobody has ever really thought of doing,” Tucker said. “It’s kind of a weird thing, but it’s super fun and everybody knows it. It’s awesome that everyone has reached out to be a part of it.”