Pazzamatazz
2002 · Jacksonville, Illinois
Pazzamatazz is an original musical comedy written and directed by Ken Bradbury as a benefit for Passavant Area Hospital. When the heat in Chicago gets too tight for gangster Mugsy Bono and his gang of "Faces," his ancient, cigar-chomping father, Don Bono, sends him to hide where no one would ever think to look: downstate Illinois, "the land that time forgot." Mugsy and his thugs descend on Jacksonville, Illinois, intent on taking the state for every last nickel — only to find themselves outwitted, out-sung, and slowly won over by the hicks, the professors, and the relentlessly cheerful townsfolk.
True to Bradbury's gift for local color, the show plants its tongue firmly in its cheek and sets its tall tale in the heart of central Illinois, name-checking real banks, churches, and landmarks. The first act runs through the streets of Chicago, Alice's Restaurant in Jacksonville, the home of the Truebloods in Pisgah, and a finale at "Grace Methodist Memorial Glee Club and Anti-Horse Thief Society." The second act opens at Bartonstoni's Rest Home and Health Spa for Aging Hoodlums in East Cicero — where a chorus of retired mob bosses, now reduced to wheelchairs and nurses, sings "Old, Bad Liver" to the tune of "Old Man River" — before building to a rousing hospital-follies finale and the title number, "Pazzamatazz!"
Stuffed with parody lyrics, vaudeville wordplay, and a cast of dozens drawn from the community, the show was exactly what Bradbury intended: a fund-raiser that was also, in his words, a "fun-raiser… a heck of a lot more enjoyable than holding 200 bake sales."
Musical Numbers
Act I
- Opening Mayhem Dance — The Hoods and the Feds
- Bye, Bye Chicago — Mugsy and his Thugs
- Sentimental Journey — The Passavant Tappers
- Robbin' Da Hicks — Mugsy and his Thugs
- My Pisgah — Stella & Pisgah Tabernacle Choir
- The Blues in the Night — Hazel & her Girls
- When You're Smiling — Helliot Mess & Da Feds
- Oh Jacksonville, My Jacksonville! — Grace Methodist Memorial Glee Club and Anti-Horse Thief Society
- This Little Light of Mine — The Sisters of Perpetual Anxiety
Act II
- Old, Bad Liver — Don Bono and Son
- Bye! Bye! Bye! — Don & The Aging Hoods & Nurses
- Side by Side — The Farmers State Singers and Dancers
- Central Illinois Medley — Town Lounge Singers
- Let Me Try to Train You — Hazel's Girls and Docs
- Sing! Sing! Sing! — Hazel's Girls and Docs
- No Business Like Your Business — Jacksonville Savings Bank Singers & Dancers
- Pazzamatazz! — Granny & Group
Cast
Mugsy's Hoods
- Mugsy — Nathan Carls
- Mike Stammer — Eddie Carpenter
- Scar Face — Brad Barnes
- Baby Face — J.B. Meier
- Two Face — Marc Steinberg
- About Face — Bobby Hoffman
- Inyer Face — Joe Tapscott
- Fudge Face — Keith Bradbury
- Sausage Face — Bill Meier
- Inter Face — Fred Osborn
Hazel's Girls
- Hazel — Jodi Heitbrink
- Roxie — Janet Roach
- Mousie — Monica Hoffman
- Babe — Connie Trace
- Lolita — Regina Estes
- Iwanna — Susan Hoffman
- Ubetcha — Elizabeth Becker
- Hotsy — Sue Tapscott
- Trotsy — Kristan Becker Hoffman
- Lolifa — Ann DeFrates
The Feds
- Helliot Mess — Mark Savage
- G-Whiz — Sally Armstrong
- G-Whillikers — Marcy Burrus
- G-Manently — Ginny Fanning
- G-Edgar — Shelley Wessler
- G-Fellas — Joena Meier
- G-Mom — Janet Chipman
- G-String — Ann Marie Stahel
- G-Hosaphat — Marcy Jones
At Bartonstoni's Rest Home
- Don Bono — Chet Bone
- Dr. Hartman ("Slick Bobby") — Dr. Hartman
- Dr. Norbury ("Big Franky") — Dr. Norbury
- Dr. Meyer ("Meyer Lansky") — Dr. Meyer
- Dr. Zink ("X-Ray Eyes") — Dr. Zink
- Don Panella — Dr. Panella
The Townsfolk
- Stella — Terri Kimler
- Melvin — Bruce Pilcher
- Granny — Dodi Raines
- Alice — Carole Robertson
- Hershel — Roger Deem
- Chet Wynn — Chet Wynn
- Epiphany Smith Jarratt — Maris Gent
- Miriam — Jean Spotts
Production Notes
Pazzamatazz was written and directed by Ken Bradbury for Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, as a community fund-raiser. The project ran a long road — Bradbury notes it "began back in April of '01" — with the final performances opening in mid-September 2002 following an unofficial preview for friends and family.
The production drew on a large community ensemble, with townspeople, hospital staff, and local doctors joining the cast. Real Jacksonville institutions are woven into the script and song titles, including Alice's Restaurant, the Farmers State and Jacksonville Savings banks, and Sandy's Tappers (the "Passavant Tappers"). Keyboard arrangements and orchestration were prepared by Dave Zink, with detailed cues tailored scene by scene.
Bradbury's own rehearsal "Ten Commandments of Theatre" — handed out to the cast and signed by his recurring comic alter ego — captured the spirit of the run: be on time, write down your blocking, drop your scripts early, and above all, "Thou Shalt Have Fun!" His closing journal entry, written the night before the unofficial opening, ends with him walking barefoot into the fog of his front yard and raising his hands in praise: "It's so cool to be doing Your work."