May 25, 2001

Funny fellow John McGivern drops into a chair and sings out with a flourish, "I'm back in the shop!"

Most Milwaukeeans know McGivern from his seven years of doing comic bits on Dave Luczak and Carole Caine's morning radio show on WKLH-FM (96.5). But McGivern has had this other life, in the Shear Madness Salon, where he's worked off and on for 13 years, cutting hair, doing 'do's, and being its owner-manager.

Well, not exactly. The salon is the setting for the phenomenally successful mystery-comedy "Shear Madness," and McGivern has built a show business career on playing its flamboyantly gay stylist-owner, Tony Whitcomb.

Can the actor cut hair and give shampoos? "I have no clue, but it looks like I do," McGivern reports without the smallest bit of doubt.

Actors dream of gigs like the one McGivern has had with "Shear Madness." In the late '80s and early '90s, he spent long stretches of time in the Chicago production, attracting a Windy City following that often returned to the show to see him and the play more than once.

As his career developed in multiple directions, McGivern spent less time in "Shear Madness," but he always does at least 12 weeks of Tony Whitcomb a year to retain his health insurance benefits. With several productions always running somewhere in the country, he has no problem finding a spot.

"I call Bruce (Jordan, the co-creator and co-producer of 'Shear Madness') and tell him, this is the time I have free, and he tells me what city needs me," the actor said.

The phone call sometimes goes in the opposite direction. When ticket sales for a Tampa production of "Shear Madness" started slowly, Jordan asked McGivern to go into the show for a box-office boost. It became such a hit, the play will return to Tampa next winter for a 20-week run.

McGivern's success is impressive, because "Shear Madness" has confounded many fine actors. "We have a very high failure rate among actors," said Jordan, who calls the play "part farce, part drama, part melodrama."

The failures usually are due to the unusual improvisational elements of the play and the interaction that takes place between the actors and the audience. "The cast must be able to think on its feet," Jordan said.

Origin of a hit "Shear Madness" is an unconventional theater piece with an unconventional background. Originally titled "Scherenschnitt" and written in German by Swiss psychologist Paul Portner, the play was created as a study tool to illustrate how witnesses to a crime recall details of what they saw. It was presented at seminars and workshops rather than in theaters.

"The original purpose of the play was to see how people perceive the events around a crime," Jordan said. "It was very, very serious. It became funny when the audience had to report what it saw."

Jordan, a former high school speech teacher, is an actor, director and a founding member of the Geva Theatre in Rochester, N.Y. He and actress Marilyn Abrams were working summers at a dinner theater in Lake George, N.Y., when they decided in 1978 to adapt "Scherenschnitt" into a light comedy for summer audiences.

"Let's have fun with it, make a spoof of it," Jordan recalls them agreeing. The original play was set in a hair salon, so Jordan and Abrams built the comedy on that. The interactive nature of "Scherenschnitt" evolved into the audience being enlisted to help police solve a murder that occurs out of theatergoers' sight.

Four of the six characters in "Shear Madness" are suspects, and the audience is allowed to ask them questions. Several different outcomes are possible.

Lake George is a popular vacation spot for people from the Boston area. After "Shear Madness" became a hot ticket, Jordan and Abrams decided to mount the show in Boston. It opened in January 1980, and still is running, making it the longest-running non-musical play in American theater history.

The Chicago production, which ran from 1982 to 1999, holds second place in the non-musical category, and third place is occupied by the Washington, D.C., production, which opened 14 years ago and still is going strong. Numerous foreign productions have included a Madrid company that played for more than two years and a staging in Reykjavik, Iceland.

More than 5 million tickets have been sold for "Shear Madness." The Boston production was capitalized at $60,000 in 1980; Variety reported last year that the show had grossed $102 million worldwide.

"Shear Madness" benefits from strong word of mouth in almost every city it plays, and it enjoys unusual repeat business. Productions are kept fresh by including continuously changing topical references and wisecracks, and the play's details are tailored to each city. The Milwaukee Shear Madness Salon is located on Downer Ave., for example, and audiences here can expect to hear comments about local places, politicians and events.

Jordan has his own explanations for the wild success of his show. " 'Shear Madness' combines the two most popular forms of theater, mystery and comedy, and it was the first play that incorporated the audience in a meaningful way. What the audience says is important to the outcome of each individual performance."

"Shear Madness" has another unusual twist. Jordan and Abrams have retained tight control of it, owning most of the productions and carefully licensing others. The Milwaukee production is licensed to the Marcus Center and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, which are co-producers.

The licensed productions must hire a director from a short list provided by Jordan and Abrams. "There are about five people who know everything there is to know about 'Shear Madness,' " he said. "We understood from the start that for this play to survive, it needed a lot of loving care.

"Because of its unusual nature, with different outcomes possible and the audience interaction, it takes a lot of planning and support. And we have wanted as many first-class Equity (union) productions as possible." Jordan said he and his partner have acted in the show, put in many long days developing and producing it, and have wanted to stay involved with its success.

The McGivern connection The Milwaukee production is largely due to the perseverance of McGivern, who is serving as associate producer as well as playing Tony.  Although he has lived in Chicago and on the West Coast for years, he often returned here to perform the one-man shows he has written about growing up gay in a large Irish-Catholic family on Milwaukee's east side. (John's radio bits with Dave and Carole have often been conducted over long-distance lines.)

McGivern, who's rented the Rep's Stiemke Theater for his solo shows, began talking with Rep officials several years ago about mounting a production of "Shear Madness" during the summer months, when the Rep company is usually on hiatus.

"We thought it was beyond our internal resources to staff a show like that during the summer," Rep managing director Tim Shields said. But sharing producing responsibilities with the Marcus Center was another matter.

"I said, why don't we each do what we do best?" Shields added. The Rep has built "Shear Madness' " sets, costumes and props as well as providing rehearsal space and stage management. The Marcus Center is selling the tickets and doing the marketing and promotions as well as providing the theater.

"It's a win, win, win situation for John, the Marcus Center and us," Shields said, adding that the Rep is interested in learning how well a summer show sells in festival-crazed Milwaukee. If "Shear Madness" is a hit, the Rep may have an interest in producing in future summers.

Casting success McGivern scored the casting coup of the year when he persuaded Lee Ernst, who usually spends summers doing Shakespeare with the American Players Theatre, to act in "Shear Madness." The recruitment process began last Thanksgiving weekend when the two actors ran into each other while Ernst was shopping for a vacuum cleaner at Kohl's.

"I want to stay closer to the nest this summer," said Ernst, who has sold his Spring Green home and bought one in Shorewood. "It was a tough decision to not be at APT this summer and I already miss it. "But I was away from home quite a bit last year. I wanted to be a dad, spend more time with my family this summer."

Joining Ernst in the cast are Milwaukee theater veterans Mary MacDonald Kerr, Tony Clements and Jenny Wanasek. Chris Tarjan, who has acted in the Boston, Chicago and Washington productions, is also here, playing the lead cop and serving as associate director.  Ernst equally is accomplished as a classical and contemporary actor, but he admits that "Shear Madness" is a real challenge for him.

"Frankly, it scares the heck out of me. It is not something I am used to, something with improv in it. It does require as strict a discipline as anything I have done," Ernst continued. "It has to be very focused and must be played for real. To create a character that has some ambiguity for the mystery, that is tricky and fun."

Jordan explained why doing "Shear Madness" can be so difficult for actors. "The seventh character is the audience, and it is not there during rehearsals." Audiences certainly have been there after rehearsals for "Shear Madness" productions around the world. Now it's Milwaukee's turn.