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On the Fritz - An Evening with Fritz Coleman, presented by Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman, III. Opens Jan. 22; plays Tues.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 2 & 7 pm; through Jan. 31. Tickets: $35-$45. Hermosa Beach Playhouse, corner Pier Ave. and Pacific Coast Hwy; 310. 372.4477 or hermosabeachplayhouse.com.
No matter what programming trials and tribulations the NBC Network has been going through during these stressful economic times, it has not stinted on the work load imposed on Fritz Coleman, the KNBC weathercaster who has been reporting on the seldom varying climate of the Los Angeles basin for 26 years.
“You might say the network is getting their money’s worth,” Coleman chuckles. “Along with doing three different local area weather casts nightly, as of six months ago, I also became the weekday weathercaster for KNBC San Diego. I am working on two separate stages here in LA, reporting on the weather in two different cities, five days a week.
“It was a cost cutting measure for NBC but it works for me. I used to joke I had a job reporting on the weather in a city that doesn’t have any. But San Diego weather is like LA weather on Prozac. It is the same climate but nicer.”
The easy-going, folksy charm that has made Coleman an LA-area television news favorite for a quarter of a century also follows him to the stage. On the Fritz, opening this weekend at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse, simply moves the former standup comic-turned newsman from one stage venue to another.
“This is, for the lack of a better term, an evening with me,” he affirms. “I want to take a compilation of all the comedy I’ve been doing for the last 25 years and just present it to an audience. It doesn’t have a theatrical arc like my previous three shows. But it’s all the topics I’ve talked about over the years including the weather and life in Southern California. The show also probes some additional topics, like aging and reflecting back on the difference between post World War II America and now. I also talk about the technology revolution and how the pace of our lives has accelerated forward but our ability to grasp it slows down. All these things are wrapped up into a low keyed theatrical evening.”
Originally from Philadelphia, Coleman perused the radio airwaves on the East Coast for almost 10 years, including broadcasting on Armed Forces Radio and TV during a stint in the Navy. He made the usual forays into stand-up comedy, working in jazz and comedy clubs in New York. Finally, in 1980, he made the leap to the more hospitable weather of Southern California.
“In 1982, I was performing at the Comedy Club in Hollywood,” he recalls. “After my set, a guy who introduced himself as a television news director asked me if I would be interested in auditioning for the job as weather reporter on NBC4.” Coleman auditioned on a Tuesday and he was on the air that weekend. This last Christmas day, he celebrated his 26 year anniversary on KNBC.
“I came out here to be a comedian and fell into weather casting by accident. The great thing for me is I never had to really give up comedy to be on the news. I have been on the Tonight Show eight times. I opened for Ray Charles in Concert. I did the Bob Hope Show. I still do the work I came out here to do.”
In conjunction with juggling his fulltime weatherman duties and comedy forays, Coleman has written, produced and starred in three previous one-man plays. His first production, It’s Me Dad! (1997) offered a humorous and poignant recounting of an insecure but earnest father attempting to explain his life to his young children by way of a videotape. The production also was produced by KCET for local PBS broadcast.
His second stage outing, The Reception was a hilarious but deeply probing survey of human relationships as manifested at a wedding reception where Coleman’s character has a more than passing interest in the participants.
“My last show was called Tonight at 11,” says Coleman. “I did that a year ago at Garry Marshall’s theater, The Falcon. It was a show about the local news business. I expanded the concept of a local half hour news broadcast, starting and stopping it in order to explain to people what was going on. It was really ‘theater of the mind’ because my only prop was a television that was mid-stage, facing up stage. People couldn’t really see what was going on but they could hear it. And I would periodically inject my comments into the process.
“The over-arching theme was how news people react to the same situations that affect everyone else. People often think of us as just coldly reading copy but we are the people, too. We have emotions and families and are affected by the same things everyone else is.
“On the Fritz is a much simpler concept than my previous shows. I just get out there and project my particular sense of humor which is observational. I paint word pictures. I think this is a great time for audiences to enjoy some escapism. It is an easy hour and 15 minutes of people witnessing my take on things. After the regular performance, we take a 15 minute intermission. Then we all return and I take questions for as long as the audience will bear me out.”
Fritz Coleman is well aware that, given his name and face familiarity, he could probably take his shows on the road for a successful tour or extended engagement at a high profile venue. “My problem is, I have a full time job and my free time to perform is limited. I can’t get investors because they want to know if I have a show that is successful and can run, they want it to run. And they want the possibility of touring the show, which logistically would be easy because I’m self-contained. Well, I can’t guarantee I can do that. My job on the news always comes first. For the foreseeable future, I am a weekend performer. But I tell you, it is such a joy to periodically get out on a stage and talk to some real folks instead of to a camera.”
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