Review: 'Name Game' showcases troupe's singing

Take facts from here and there about Richard Nixon and Green Bay. Put them in a bottle with a bunch of songs with names in their title. Shake them up and make them into a musical. What you get is showbiz the Let Me Be Frank Productions way in "The Name Game."

The colorfully sung show has kaleidoscopic elements — a vice president, Hotel Northland (backdrop), a collective bargaining dispute, a certain sexual simmer, CIA agents, undercover operations, a chef with a mangled French accent, a gold digger and character development in a tongue-in-cheek story.

At one point, Eleanor Roosevelt is an object of desire.

"I just made that up so I can get this song in the show," troupe namesake Frank Hermans says to introduce "Elenore." It's one of his brightly sung songs.

Songs of the '50s and '60s pop, R&B and rock 'n' roll come with light shows and springy choreography, mostly among the women. Jokes tumble, plenty of times playing with Nixon's nickname.

The singers shine all night in front of their four-piece band. Emily Paulsen owns the saucy "Lola." Ditto Amy Riemer in the achy "Alfie," Kelly Haddad in "I Wanna Be Bobby's Girl," Lisa Andre in "Baby, Don't Leave Me," David Gusloff in "Oh, Carol" and Pat Hibbard in "Rosemary."

Tom Verbrick gets a lot of mileage out of playing Nixon. That starts with a code name for wife Pat Nixon, "Chantilly Lace," as an excuse to break into the Big Bopper's song. Nixon in the show has an Elvis doll to inspire him as he sings Elvis songs into a reel-to-reel tape recorder.

Couples in the group have fun with each other — the married Hermans and Riemer and the engaged Gusloff and Haddad. One bit: Haddad's character says to Gusloff's, "Hi, I'm Carol. Will you marry me?"

Friday's opening-night audience included a tour bus group from Kentucky. Those in the group who were asked said the singing impressed them. A lot of folks around here are, too.

— wgerds@greenbaypress gazette.com

"In The Spotlight Interview" # 1 Frank Hermans talks about his recent trip to Israel and more!

Frank Hermans is our first “In the Spotlight” interview.  Frank is the founder and managing partner of Let Me Be Frank Productions. 

We asked Frank about his recent trip to Israel, his hobbies, and what is most important to him.  What we got was a very candid and emotional response.  Frank began by talking about his wife, Amy Riemer.

“She’s the girl of my dreams,” he says, and immediately gets choked up. “I’m 47 years old and I’m with my soul mate.” Frank and Amy were good friends and performed together for many years before getting married in 2010. Frank describes his family as being like The Brady Bunch. Together, he and Amy have five children: Darien, Austin, Blake, Katrina, and Harrison, their newest addition. 

This month they move into what Frank describes as their dream home.  “Family is big—really important”, said Frank, and this house has room enough for all five kids and the space to host Christmas and other holidays with friends and extended family.  

When asked about his hobbies he doesn’t hesitate to exclaim “theatre and music…We have the best talent around working for us…I still pinch myself every time I walk into the Meyer Theatre…I keep thinking someday I’m going to wake up from this dream...this dream that is Let Me Be Frank Productions.”  Does Frank ever do anything that doesn’t involve music or theatre? Yes, although he creates entertainment opportunities in whatever he is doing.

If you pair Frank’s knack for comedy with his interest in history and travel, you get what Amy refers to as the “History Bluff”.  Frank isn’t limiting his creative talents to the stage alone; he also has aspirations for television. He and his wife Amy have already recorded a few segments for a series. And while Frank finds history very intriguing, he freely admits he creates his own facts and that’s where the comedy comes in. Outrageous, and outlandish, and obviously created in the mind of Frank Hermans makes it all the more funny! 

When we talk about his recent trip to Israel, he is again overcome with emotions.  He tears up and his voice breaks as he describes calling his mother, Karen Coppersmith, while standing on the Mount of Olives.  “To go where Jesus walked and see all the holy places…it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done as far as travel”.   

This year, Frank was chosen to mentor a business owner from Israel. He was paired up with Jako, of Jako Productions in Tel Aviv.  Jako was here this spring and shadowed Frank on day to day activities. (Frank was connected through a UW-Green Bay partnership with the State Department, developing entrepreneurial relationships with students from Israel and Jordan with Americans.)  “The whole premise is to create harmony in the Middle East…their main goal is to create opportunities for entrepreneurships in Israel and Jordan…they came to the U.S. to see how we do it”. 

In addition to international partnerships, Frank is also extremely proud of his company’s involvement in the local community.  “Let Me Be Frank’s is well respected in this community as far as what we do; the community work and charitable work we do for the community.  We are very community oriented and that’s probably the coolest thing I can say about Let Me Be Frank’s.”

Frank describes his week long experience in Israel as “astonishing, inspirational, spiritual, and eye-opening—the craziest thing I’ve ever done”.  He describes the city of Tel Aviv as “very metropolitan—like New York. Very busy and everything is expensive.” He and Amy hope to make the trip together sometime in the near future. What surprised him most were the similarities he found: “We’re all the same…all people have the same desires and needs…we just need to learn to appreciate and respect each other”. 

EP
http://www.letmebefranks.com/