Dom Amore: Play takes a peak behind often sordid curtain of pro wrestling; milestone for New Haven club; being real about the NHL coming back; all in the Sunday Read
BRANFORD — One of Kurt Fuller’s first acting jobs was as one of the leads in the 1989 film, “No Holds Barred,” Hulk Hogan’s acting debut.
“I played sort of a Ted Turner, Vince McMahon, so I worked with those guys and saw a lot of interactions,” Fuller said. “So when I read this, it completely rang true to me. I just recognized so much about it.”
Fuller, who more recently was in the CBS series “Evil,” read Laurence Davis’ play, “Master of Puppets” and he quickly agreed to join a cast of well-known actors working with director James Roday Rodriguez to stage the world premier of this dark comedy/satire on the world of pro wrestling. The play opens on Thursday at runs through June 11 at the Legacy Theater in Branford.
“The fact it was about the world of wrestling, which I always have found very interesting and I think it’s underappreciated, because it’s entertainment,” Fuller said. “Believe me, the pain is real.”
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As a chronicler of conventional sports, I have to admit I was bemused when “Master of Puppets” was described as a look at pro wrestling’s “dirty underbelly.” I mean, don’t they mean “dirtier?” Maybe I just don’t get wrestling.
Be that as it may, this work of fiction, which contains mature language adult situations, such as violence and drug use, is not suitable for young audiences. It brings to life a behind-the-scenes drama of a successful wrestling operation, showing its age and struggling to stay relevant in the modern media world, and the relationships therein.
Fuller plays Victor Kragston, the wrestling ringmaster.
“I’m basing the character on just about every flawed, powerful person there is,” Fuller said. “I could never play Vince McMahon. Who could play Vince McMahon? No one. Only Vince.”
Amanda Detmer, who you’d recognize, as many around Branford’s Stony Creek area already have, from the Fox series “Empire,” plays Delia Kragston, wife of the wrestling mogul who happens to be running for major political office. That may sound a little familiar around here.
“It is a parallel, let’s say, to that (Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife who unsuccessfully ran twice for the U.S. Senate),” Detmer said. “This is a group of people I’ve worked with before; Kurt and I have played husband and wife before. I’ve seen limited wrestling, I’ve never been really into it, which kind of works for this because (the character) is really against all the violence. I certainly have a hard time watching people even pretend to fight, and wrestling isn’t as pretend as we’d like to believe.”
Michael Hogan (Fox series, “The Resident”) plays Rainey Dayes, the one-time marquee wrestler who is now the executive’s sidekick, and Dana Ashbook (Showtime’s “Twin Peaks”) plays Ted Blasendale, a TV executive putting pressure on Kragston and Dayes to produce something fresh for modern audiences before offering a new contract.
“It’s a slice of life,” Ashbrook said. “It’s an interesting slice of life and it’s funny and it has a lot of different components to it about the wrestling world. … The appeal of (wrestling) is the soap opera aspect to it, it’s an ongoing narrative.”
Hogan used to follow World Class Championship Wrestling, and is using bits and pieces from several of its wrestlers to create his character.
“It gets down to the sell of the punch,” Hogan said. “I always love watching guys lay out after a big hit. That stuff to me has always been more interesting. For some it’s the promos and the good looks of the people involved, but for me it’s always been the conveyance of pain, one guy to another guy, and how over-the-top ridiculous it is. I got into a lot of stage comedy because I love selling the blow a lot.”
The tiny Legacy Theater first opened in 1903 as a silent movie house and, through its long history, has staged plays by Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater Company productions in the 1930s and is best known for a past life as the Stony Creek Puppet House. It was refurbished in 2021.
Safe to say it has never been the stage for a play quite like this. As Fuller said, in wrestling, you don’t just imagine hitting your nemesis with a two-by-four, you get to see it happen.
“There is a wonderful line in the play,” Detmer said, “that says, ‘Wrestling, we put smiles on people’s faces,’ and the reasoning is that we provide a place where people can imagine themselves as the wrestlers. In the play, we say, ‘We don’t just fight for you, we sprinkle the magic dust that provides the force that fights as you.”
More for your Sunday Read:
Milestone for New Haven Country Club
The New Haven Country Club, established in Hamden in 1898, turned 125 in March and its present course, laid out by Scottish golf legend Willie Park Jr., has turned 100. It’s a grand history, with former members including President William Howard Taft and Walter Camp. The clubhouse, evocative of Scotland’s structures, still sets the tone when one arrives. The New Haven CC was one of the first in the nation to host a women’s club championship, in 1903.
“We still have that old school feel,” said Kara Nuremberg, who has been with the New Haven CC for nearly 20 years. “So the minute you walk into the building, there’s a lot of wood and that feel of an old-style clubhouse. The golf course is one of the few Willie Park courses that retains his original design.”
The NHCC’s 125th birthday and history will be formally celebrated on Friday.
Sunday short takes
*A little louder for those in back. Neither stealing signs, nor relaying them to a hitter, is illegal in baseball, only certain means of doing it can be illegal. When did glancing become a no-no?
*The Mets called up lefty pitcher Josh Walker, from the University of New Haven, this week. Walker, a 37th-round pick in 2017, moved slowly through their system to debut in the majors at 28 with a scoreless inning against Tampa Bay, then he was optioned back to Triple A on Friday. … The Mets have another Connecticut guy in their pen, veteran righty Dominic Leone from Norwich.
*Now that they’ve played their game as the Bouncing Pickles, it’s not too early for the Yard Goats to consider alternate identities for 2024. Why not celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas in July? One game as the Hartford French Hens, another as the Piping Pipers, then the Turtle Doves the Pear-Tree Partridges. Endless fun with logos, a dozen jerseys to sell. You’re welcome.
* Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela had two hits, two steals and four runs scored in Portland’s 14-4 win over the Goats on Tuesday night, then two more hits the next night. He played shortstop one game, center field the next.
* The Wolf Pack ended their playoff run with a loss to Hersey before 4,596 at XL. They brought crowds back to Hartford for hockey.
Last word
Speaking of hockey in Hartford, keep in mind the reasons the NHL pulled in 1997, certainly one of the main reasons, are still in place. There are too many big markets in sections of the country where there are no nearby NHL franchises, such as Kansas City, for Hartford to have a realistic chance to get a fourth franchise into this part of the country.
If they wanted to come, the current XL Center would do as a temporary home if there was a guarantee of a new arena in place. In other words, go for it, Governor, give it a shot, but it is a long shot.