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It’s not often that couples can find the perfect way to spend a night out that appeals to both parties, but the smash theatrical hit “Men Are From Mars — Women Are From Venus, Live!” solves this dilemma. Based on the bestselling book by John Gray, “Men Are From Mars” presents a clever and humorous adaptation of Gray’s self-help book that helps couples deconstruct the differences between sexes in an enjoyable as well as educational format.
The show highlights the common thread between the complexities of relationships in an easy-to-digest way. Peter Story stars,bringing a strong background in theatre, television and film to his performance in this unique one-man show that is more than just stand-up comedy.
“My job as a performer is to make sure that the messages from the book are candy-coated with a lot of great humor in a way that people don’t even recognize they are getting messages from the book,” Story said. “I do that by telling stories from my own life and the experiences that I have been through, which people seem to relate with. I see young 20-somethings nodding along with me, I see older senior citizens couples elbowing each other in the ribs saying, ‘Yes, you do that,’ and it’s an absolute blast to see how this material rings true for so many different people.”
Story said men and women keep score completely differently, and that when men take the time to put together the perfect night out they see their efforts in a way that differs from how women see it. The show details how men don’t understand that women see the end result of men’s efforts as one point, while men see each individual effort as an individual point. Story goes on to say that women are looking for little acts of love, so when a man gives a woman a dozen roses she sees it as one point while a man would see it as twelve individual points. It’s in this vein that Story effectively mixes humor with messages from the book that delivers a show that is as much about laughing as it is about maintaining relationships, though Story is quick to point out that comedy is the main focus.
“It’s 98 percent comedy and two percent of humor-coated messages from the book. There is nothing about the show that represents a conference, seminar, workshop or anything like that,” Story said. “I take pride in making sure this is a hilarious show that anybody can relate to and is a wonderful date night no matter where you are in your relationship.”
Story’s performance is a mix of real-life experience and scripted material, but he never lets the audience know which stories are fact and which are fiction.
“Its funny when people who know me personally come to the show. They get a real kick out of getting to know what’s true and what’s not, but the average person won’t know,” Story said. “When I got the script originally it was full of fake stories, and I said I think this show would mean more to people if they feel like they can relate to me, and they won’t feel like they relate to me if they think everything is completely made up.”
After going through a rigorous auditioning process that lasted the better part of a year, Story landed the part and has been touring for the last year and a half while delivering over 150 performances in 50 cities and, according to Story, he’s not stopping, as they are booked through 2016. Many of the cities they visited in the first year of the tour are inviting them back for additional shows, Salt Lake City included.
“My wife and I have seen some really good shows recently in Los Angeles. We saw ‘War Horse’ and ‘Book of Mormon,’ and they are wonderful shows, and they are great nights of entertainment, but then a few days later they really aren’t on our minds much,” Story said. “This show really sticks to people’s ribs because it opens up serious conversations through humor, and this is why people want to come back and see it again.”
Story brings his one-man fusion show “Men are from Mars — Women Are From Venus” to Salt Lake City’s Jeanne Wagner Theatre Nov. 14 to 15 with one show on Friday and two shows on Saturday. Tickets are available online at Arttix.org.
[email protected]
@ChronyArts
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