“The Pitch is a deeply thoughtful, intelligent, and timeless play,not to mention laugh-out-loud funny, with twists and turns that jolt you from your seat. Tom Alper is the heir to Mamet, an essential new voice in the theatre.”— Broadway World
"The Pitch is Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross for a new generation." - Amanda Callas - Discover Hollywood Magazine ‘
"For a laugh a minute, THE PITCH scores a 10!" - Elaine Mura - Splash Magazine
By: Amanda Callas Jul. 26, 2024
The Pitch is a bold, captivating new production at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles through August 4th. Based on playwright and lead actor Tom Alper’s real life experiences, this is a boiler room tale of telemarketing and desperation. For something that is fiercely realistic and edgy, with a New York fighter’s indie heart, The Pitch is also hilarious, life-affirming, and an insanely good time. It’s a sold-out smash hit at the Odyssey Theatre.
In my review of The Pitch at the Madnani Theater in Hollywood in 2023, I called it Mamet's Glengarry, Glen Ross for a new generation. It is hard for me, this time around, to find a better way to describe this lighting-in-a-bottle, smash hit play. As a dark workplace comedy, The Pitch also feels like an edgier take on classics like The Office, Dilbert, and one of my personal favorite films of all time, Mike Judge’s 1999 black comedy Office Space, which I could happily watch over and over again on loop. Newer entries in this space might include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Silicon Valley, Superstore, and Abbott Elementary. The workplace comedy is a timeless and enduring universal genre, since there are few humans on earth who cannot relate to the vicissitudes, tribalistic rituals, and family-like bonding of the shitty job. But there is something truly brilliant and unique in the way that Tom Alper has captured his real life experience on stage. The Pitch is a deeply thoughtful, intelligent, and timeless play, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny, with twists and turns that jolt you from your seat. Tom Alper is the heir to Mamet, an essential new voice in the theatre.
Among many things that elevate Alper’s dazzling writing are his nuanced compassion and real affection for his motley crew of hype salesmen and desperados. This is the rare satire with both real bite and profound heart. The performances in this play, with incisive direction by ER star Louie Liberti, are powerhouses.
Ricky Ray is a post divorce wreck, drinking and gambling away the money he borrows from Skunk for his kids, but he is imbued with a rich humanity by Tom Alper’s writing and a layered, nuanced, brilliant performance by Chris Cox that makes his character lovable and human. The Skunk is a show-off bully with zero qualms about abandoning the truth to make the sale, and who is known around the office for his weekly wank-off sessions at the local massage parlor, but even he is strangely endearing. Monty Renfrow’s youthful, golden boy vibe is a bit of an odd fit for Skunk, in a role that seems destined for someone in meaty, paunchy, regret-marinated mid-life. Yet Renfrow’s superb performance is a powder keg of dynamic energy and comedic fireworks, proving that by sheer willpower he can morph into this role. The Kid is the office’s rock and conscience, with a richly drawn, grounding, beautifully understated performance of vibrant realism by Conner Killeen. I was so delighted to see Conner Killeen reprising his role as The Kid.
Another beloved cast member returning for this production at Odyssey Theatre is William Warren as a deliciously demonic IRS agent. William Warren is sublime, and in my review for the 2023 production at Madnani Theater, I described his performance as “nothing short of genius.” It’s true, Warren is an absolute, total joy to watch on stage, and I loved every second of watching him toy with Tom Alper again.
Tom Alper plays the lead role as a lost guy in mid-life Alice, falling down the rabbit hole into a Wonderland of sketchy sales and bottom-feeding racketeering. But unlike many entry point characters who bring us into a world, Alper is far from blank. Tom Alper is a ferocious talent. Alper’s performance is deeply generous, allowing other performers to shine in the spotlight, but also fiercely realistic, poignant, and truthful. I loved Alper’s gut-punching monologue about the predestined futility of parents looking for second chances and exceptionalism in their children, needing to believe their children are special, able to finally grasp all those tantalizing things that eluded them in life. There is an audible hush in the theatre as the audience takes in this profound moment. Joseph Lorenzo, as the personable mafioso type leader of the joint, jumps in with “That’s dark” and the audience roars and convulses with laughter. Joseph Lorenzo is absolute, sheer perfection and his timing is uncannily perfect.
Isabella Dibernardino’s grungy, been-there-done-that, oddball aura does not mesh well with the warm-hearted innocence and sporty radiance required by the role of Tom Alper’s daughter 15-year-old daughter, so the role feels like a bit of a misfire, but there are some moving scenes between father and daughter. Grant Hall is a welcome new addition to the cast, shining in his role as a messenger who delivers an unwelcome letter to Tom Alper and some even more unwelcome attention to his daughter. Hall is eminently likable and charismatic, finding a surprising range of nuanced notes and comedy in this part.
I miss the cluttered, grimy, claustrophobic, very lived-in feel of the old set at the Madnani Theatre, although the new staging at the Odyssey Theatre is more polished. All throughout, The Pitch benefits from the brilliant producing of Christine Blackburn. Blackburn is an accomplished dynamo producer of comedy, including my favorite comedy show in Los Angeles, Story Smash, a long-running hit Blackburn has created and hosts, next up at the Lyric Hyperion on August 10th. Christine Blackburn’s virtuoso comedic sensibility adds a real comedic pop and bite to Alper’s textured, insightful writing.
Tom Alper’s The Pitch is unstoppable, and you do not want to miss it.
By Shari Barrett July 18, 2024
Tom prays his most successful order is confirmed in The Pitch at the Odyssey Theatre. (L-R) Tom Alper, Conner Killeen, Chris Cox, Albie Selznick. (Photo credit: Jessica Sherman)
Based on a true story taking place in Los Angeles in 2006, playwright Tom Alper plays the lead role in his play The Pitch, centering around widower Tom Allen who is raising his 15-year-old daughter as a single dad. Desperate for money, he grabs at a telemarketing job selling machine parts over the phone in a no-frills, windowless office in Torrance. Soon he discovers his job requires its sales staff to make ethical compromises, occasionally misrepresenting the products being sold. And with a large white board looming over him listing the sellers by their number of orders, Tom finds himself in competition with his co-workers, a motley crew whose only goal is to reach the top of the list. His tension builds as he discerns that his boss may be under investigation by the authorities, endangering the job that Tom needs to provide for his daughter now that she is garnering the attention of boys. So how many compromises will Tom make if he wishes to remain a moral man and a good dad?
Sharply directed at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble by Louie Liberti, whose recent performance as a self-centered Italian street-smart cop mesmerized me in the world premiere of The Witness Roomby award-winning playwright Pedro Antonio Garcia, as The Pitch scenes unfold you will start to wonder just who, if anyone, ever tells the truth about anything. Finally deciding to make a name for himself, Tom takes on a cold call challenge and surprises everyone with his ability to use his charms on a female potential customer (Rachel Butera as Angela from New Jersey) to close the deal, resulting in his advancement to the top of the all-important sales list.
It’s a perfect scene for playwright Alper to play since he knows the character inside and out, and I guarantee you will be riveted as he achieves the goal of not only selling to her but also getting her home phone number, thus gaining the respect of the entire sales team (Connor Killeen as The Kid, Chris Cox as alcoholic Ricky Ray, Albie Selznick as Scramby) and his boss Mike (Joseph Lorenzo). But tensions mount as former sales star Skunk (Monty Renfrow) struggles to regain his former top spot, with desperation affecting his temper and sales abilities.
Desperate to be sure his daughter (Isabella DiBernardino as Michelle) is studying and not out cheerleading in her too-short skirt or skin-tight short shorts, Tom is furious when gets home to find her engaging in chit-chat with a handsome young man (Grant Hall as Jason) there to deliver a letter to him from the I.R.S. But why was that letter already opened when delivered? It soon got me wondering if it was just a ruse set-up by his co-workers, especially after Tom met with I.R.S agent Mel (William Warren) to go over money owed on his past returns.
The Pitchcontains enough challenging situations, memorable characters, and twists and turns in its plot to make it a worthy pitch for your attention. And if you have ever worked in a telemarketing office as I have, this play will bring back memories of the stress when trying to make that sale. Produced by Christine Blackburn and presented by Waterfront Productions as a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles 90025 through August 4 on Friday/Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. Free onsite parking. Tickets are $25-30 by calling (310) 477-2055 ext 2 or online at https://odysseytheatre.com
July 18, 2024 Elaine Mura Entertainment 0
William Warren and Tom Alper in THE PITCH - Photo by Jessica Sherman
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Penned by Tom Alper (who is also a member of the ensemble cast), THE PITCH premiered in Hollywood in 2023. Produced by Tom Alper and Christine Blackburn, Waterfront Productions brings THE PITCH to the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles in 2024. THE PITCH explores the dynamics and ethics of the flood of telemarketing sales in the U.S. – where no two individuals in the transaction ever get to see the other while sizable sums of money sizzle through cyberspace. THE PITCH is reportedly based on a true story. It’s hard to believe, but perhaps reality really is stranger than fiction.
Widower Tom Allen (Tom Alper) is facing a serious problem. A single parent, Tom is raising 15-year-old Michelle (Isabella DeBernardino), his teenaged daughter. The bills are piling up, and his recent employment has been spotty at best. Desperate for money, Tom leaps at the chance to sell electronic parts over the phone in what looks very much like a boiler-room set-up. Although he is personable, hard-working, and beyond motivated, Tom just can’t seem to make any sales. But then his co-workers Skunk (Monty Renfrow), “The Kid” (Connor Killeen), Ricky Ray (Chris Cox), and Scramby (Albie Selznick) – and even his boss Mike (Joseph Lorenzo) – take pity on him and share the secret of how to become a sales superstar. A little nudge, and Tom is off and running. But he must still deal with his teenaged daughter, who is just beginning the journey from childhood to adulthood, with all the trials and tribulations that entails. Besides Tom’s already full plate, he is being audited by IRS. To add to his owes, Tom discovers that he might have to make ethical compromises to excel – rounding out a generally disappointing time in his life.
Sounds depressing? THE PITCH is far from it. In a hilarious poke at today’s economy and the compromises sometimes required, THE PITCH examines the ethical conundrum posed by tele-sales while introducing the audience to what may be the craziest crowd of salesmen in town. Guess how Skunk got his nickname – and what about Scramby? Nothing on the laugh meter can compare to Tom’s meetings with Mel (William Warren), his friendly neighborhood IRS agent. Kudos to skilled director Louie Liberti and the entire ensemble cast: they make a ridiculously funny and very entertaining team.
The off-the-wall cast seem to be truly enjoying themselves creating Tom’s own special hell – and the audience is clearly richly entertained by the shenanigans that follow. Set designer Catarina Piccarrdo has fun developing three scenes on one stage at the same time. Just watch an entire living room inch forward, courtesy of a conveniently placed carpet. The show might be stymied without Jackson Funke’s lighting and Ross Chait’s sound. THE PITCH is definitely a group effort, and the audience will enjoy every minute of it.
THE PITCH runs through August 4, 2024, with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Tickets are $30 (seniors and students $25). For information and reservations, call 310-477-2055 or go online.
by FRANK ARTHUR on JULY 30, 2024
There’s nothing like a fascinating story, and that’s what’s in store with The Pitch, now at the Odyssey Theatre directed by Louie Liberti. If you’ve ever done telemarketing, it can be a cold and brutal business, because — of course — the bottom line is sales, and as we have found out when our phone rings in the middle of the night to sell us life insurance (actually, if we could ever find where these cockroaches are hanging out on the globe, it is they who will need life insurance), some teenager on less than minimum wage isn’t for the job, which takes a strong constitution and personality and knowing how to bend the truth.
Playwright Tom Alper puts us in a boiler room no-frills office in Torrance which looks like the inside of a mobile truck really. Into this den of a motley crew of telemarketers comes widower Tom Allen, played to perfection by the hangdog-faced Alper, who is desperate for bucks that he needs to raise his 15-year-old daughter. He’ll find out that ethics, competition and misrepresentation are all part of the game. Who here is telling the truth as they sell machine parts over the phone?
Adding to Tom’s stress is that he finds he owes back taxes, but I.R.S agent Mel (William Warren) is ready to make a deal of his own involving Tom’s congenial boss. With a tip-top highly distinctive ensemble, I recommend this fun outing — based on a true story — because it always keeps you guessing, and the ending is quite a shocker.
-Amanda Callas, Discover Hollywood Magazine
“William Warren’s impossibly good timing, exhilarating villainy, and extravagant comedic sense are sublime. His performance is nothing short of genius. The IRS scene is a standout, one of the funniest, most thrilling scenes in the play ”
“Alper expertly plays a man in defeated mid life, whose life has been inexorably slipping away from him. ”
“Produced with a modicum of props and scenery, the renovated stage’s long stage-space and minimalist production values serve to rivet attention where it belongs: on the excellent work of the cast under the capable direction of veteran Louie Liberti.”
“The colorful characters and Alper’s sense of humor amid the situation at the office will leave audiences contantly surprised, and the pay-off at the end is nothing short of priceless.”
“The off-the-wall cast seem to be truly enjoying themselves creating Tom’s own special hell – and the audience is clearly being richly entertained – making this a not-to-be-missed production.”
“For a laugh a minute, THE PITCH scores a 10. Kudos to the skilled director and the in-tune ensemble cast: they make a great, funny, and very entertaining team.”
