THE MODERN SUPERHERO MOVIE craze probably started with “Superman,” starring the late Christopher Reeve. There was so much publicity, I decided to come up with a spoof, with Superman being Jewish, retired and living in Miami Beach. (The first Superman comic appeared in 1938, so he could easily be in a home by now.) Then I did a “mockumentary” about a geriatric Superman — Irving Zuppermann from Poland (pronounced Zuppermun, like Letterman), who claims he was the original superhero. Irv is grilled about his flying by a Geraldo Rivera-type. “Everybody in our village flew,” Irv barks. “Haven’t you ever seen a Chagall painting?”
Then I wrote “It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane... it’s Irving!” It was a play set at a Miami Beach welfare home for Alzheimer’s patients. The residents, in tattered costumes more like pajamas, imagined they were once superheroes. It’s absurd, and yet, Zuppermann winds up performing inexplicable superhero feats.
The only interest in my play came from “The Little Oscar Theater” in a Northridge mini-mall between a Carpeteria and a Winchell’s Donuts. I knew “Irving” wasn’t Broadway material, but a mini-mall? I debated until someone suggested staging it at the Church in Ocean Park, which is only a block from my apartment.
More than 100 years old, the Church in Ocean Park is a beautiful, three-story building with an interior of oak and stained glass. The moment I walked in I knew this church was different. (Being Jewish, I admit I’m not exactly an expert.) The Minister, Jim Conn, our former city mayor, changed a traditional United Methodist Church into an interfaith, spiritual, activist community.
There was a nursery school in the basement serving paying and state subsidized preschoolers. The church was home to AA meetings, dance groups and a battered women’s support organization. Judy Abdo, the Church Administrator (who also became mayor), couldn’t have been more helpful. But, unfortunately, the warm feelings of brotherhood from the church didn’t inspire my cast.
The problem was the actors became the characters. Zuppermann, Wanda Woman, Batmann & Rubin and Ironmann, were all written to be in their 70s and grouchy. Castro, the illegal alien janitor, was in his 20s and stoned. On opening night, 15 minutes before curtain, Castro was missing and Wanda Woman refused to go on, accusing Ironmann of stealing her crown (which he did, by the way). I found Castro in a parked car, not his, smoking a joint.
Fortunately, we were blessed with a wonderful set, designed by my friend, Randa Wells. “The Excelsior Home for the Extraordinary” looked so real, from the French doors to the hedges in front of the porch. It was so charming that Rev. Conn didn’t make us take it down, giving his sermons from a Miami Beach retirement home for the six-week run of the play.
I not only wrote and directed “Irving,” I sold refreshments. I bought the cookies at the Pioneer Bakery on Rose Avenue and made a drink by mixing orange and apple juice. One night at intermission, I was behind the counter when a couple bought refreshments, unaware I was the play’s author. The wife asked the husband if he thought the play was funny. “Puhleeze!” he said despairingly. Furious, I was about to say something until he added, “But this drink is fabulous.” I beamed proudly. I take my compliments where I can get them.
Twenty years later, Ocean Park has become upscale, but the church is the same. Rev. Janet McKeithen’s Sunday services speak to the relevance of faith and how to make positive changes in today’s world. The community gathers for a variety of readings (Winnie-the-Pooh, the Bible, words of Rumi, etc.) exceptional music, and passing the microphone for congregation feedback. It still holds AA and other 12-step meetings, poetry readings and shows documentaries.
Where else can you find a congregation that has Bible studies, solstice rituals on the beach and yoga and meditation in their sanctuary, or the city’s “Sustainable Works” class where people learn how to make green changes in their lives? Then there’s the “Fancy Dress Swim” fundraiser. In an effort to end poverty through the One Campaign, people dress in fancy gowns and jump into the ocean!
On June 27, as part of the Sierra Service Project, Rev. McKeithen will take five young people from the church to a village in Honduras where they will build homes for poor families. (Last fall, church members helped out in New Orleans.) The Church in Ocean Park is filled with superheroes. And to think I would have missed it if I’d done my play in a mini-mall.
The Church in Ocean Park can be found at: www.churchop.org. JACK NEWORTH
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2007. Read the original PDF.