The Lapsed Fan presents Under the Cinemat. Yeah, I love to talk film. I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick out they break go you're going nowhere under the Cinematt, I pick up guns. Bad things happen to people. I don't like that.
We have a movie to make. Can We don't pull together here.
To make movies. Here at the Lapsed Fan, we don't do interviews that often, and when we do, it's usually for a special reason, and for Under the Cinemat. The reason usually is because we can't find the information we need about somebody. And that's what happened when we looked into Spotlight and it's wrestling connection. That connection is a person named Glenn Kine who was a referee for many independent promotions in the New England area and other places.
And we sought him out and we found him and I am so thrilled to introduce to you into the Lapse Stand Solar System. Glenn kin Welcome, sir, Welcome to the show.
Oh, thank you very much for having me.
So I got to ask you right off the bat, this is the most important thing. How did you get involved as a professional wrestling referee?
Well, It's kind of an interesting story because I started out in film. I was working as an extra in Boston and happened to meet some other fellow actors who invited me out to their wrestling promotion. They said, hey, come out and watch us wrestle. And I've been a longtime wrestling fan all my life, you know, way back
to the days in WWE. So I went out to their event and took my camera with me and took pictures of my friends, and one of the wrestling trainers that ran a wrestling school liked my pictures so much he said, hey, if you'll come and take pictures, we'll train you if you want to come and just work out, and I said, sure, I'll come and work out, like.
To get to get in the ring, like to actually wrestle.
Just to get a quote unquote workout in. And then they came time when they were trying to promote an upcoming event at an outdoor as weird as it sounds, flea market, and they didn't have a referee show up, so I was thrust into the ring with no actual preparation to be a professional ref and finished. The event was about eight matches and some of the wrestlers came up to me and said, Wow, how long have you been doing this? I went never.
That.
They were like, you couldn't have You can't possibly have never been a professional wrestling referee before because you did everything you're supposed to. You're supposed to be part of the story, but not in it, right. And from that point forward I started training to be a professional wrestling referee as well as my full time job as a school teacher and then doing acting on the side.
Now, Glenn, did did your lifetime of being a fan? Basically there's some muscle memory there just watching refs operate all those years.
It did, you know, watching those guys be part of the story. And you know, coming from an acting background, I knew that I had to be part of that storytelling without taking away from the true performers that were in there. Love and I think in my career one of the biggest compliments I ever got was actually from Roddy Piper Wow who after a match because I refed his son Colt in a match and I asked him, you know, I got his feedback and I said, you know,
how did I do? And he said, you did everything you had to And I didn't notice you, which is exactly what I want.
That's amazing, Glenn. How did you get how did you know what the finishes were if you'd never been a ref before? And tell you out of time.
Did they give you.
A little little ignit during the match or what?
Just kind of Some of the guys that I was working with are old school and it's just on the fly. They just give you that nod, that wink here we go, and they would go here we go.
Okay, did you ever have to hand handy guy a blade?
I did. I worked for a promotion called Big Time Wrestling, which is out of New England.
But I, you know, I don't know if I if I in our in our in our messaging back and forth, I don't know if I ever said both Jack and I are New Englanders, pretty familiar with all that stuff.
Ah, so you're you're probably familiar with many of the organizations I've worked with. I worked with uh top Row Promotions, I worked with any cw V, CWNY w UFO, which is an interesting organization, and then uh, you know, I moved up to working with n w A on Fire up in Maine, and so a lot of guys that have moved on to much bigger and better things, And.
You were saying about passing the blade.
Yes, yes, So I was in a match in Lynn, Massachusetts, and I was in a match with the owner of Big Time Wrestling against Tony Atlas.
Wow.
He came to me, He goes, I'm gonna be blading during this match and I can't carry it. You're responsible for it. Okay, how do I hang on to this without cutting myself? But we managed to do it. He got his blading in, we did our thing, and at the end of the night, Tony Atlas got his arm raised and we went home.
That's great, That's absolutely amazing. Did you have any run ins with Massachusetts native John Cena. I'm sure you'd run into his dad more than once.
Actually, John Cena Senior and I became actually very friends. The initial man that trained me and invited me out Jason Rumble, who was a former nw A light heavyweight champion. When his dad passed away, John Cena Senior came and did the eulogy at his memorial mass and John Cena Senior and I got to be pretty good friends. With MWF Wrestling, which used to be in Melrose's Did.
You ever was did you ever work Yankee Pro Wrestling?
I believe it or not. I've worked with everybody with that organization, but not directly with that organization.
We went to one Yes shortly after we became friends. We really roughed it at one of those events that was those as India as it gets.
It was in the behind a supermarket, right it was.
It was like a shopping plaza.
Yeah, it's amazing.
Oh yeah, I've We've done it everywhere, you know. We did it at a campground, we did children's birthday parties, you name it. When you're an independent person, you'll go anywhere for a couple of bucks.
Yeah you say that again, Glenn Caane. I mean, come on, now, what's your middle name? Jacobs? Glenn?
It is not that's that's the weird thing is matter of fact, I just did security at a comic con and uh, mister Jacobs was actually there.
Oh no kidding, Oh my god, that's so funny.
Did you accoose you of stealing this gammick or what?
No, I accused him of stealing mine, because that's fair. That's fair, because you know, as a school teacher, there is no pains without cane.
I'll say that again if you're not a school teacher.
Because because Glenn here had the cane gimmick before before Glenn Jacobs did so definitely, Yeah, see him taking that. That's that is absolutely tremendous. How many years did you do a refereeing a refereeing?
I was probably a referee for about nine ten years.
So you're like, you're season pro.
No, it's just I got old fast, Yeah, I was. I joined like Diamond Dallas Page. I joined wrestling late in my athletic career. I joined at age forty two.
Wow, Oh that's going to that's gonna put a beating on you. I mean, people don't talk about that enough. Glenn. How physically demanding it can be to be a referee. No one thinks about it. But I was reading Earl Hebner's book and he's all messed up, the poor guy.
Yeah, Earl is Earl. Earl is messed up and a joy to hang around. I was lucky enough through top Row Promotions to get hooked up with TNA Wrestling when they used to go out on the road and do house shows, and I got to spend time talking to Earle. Who you know to this day sells t shirts that says I screwed Brett.
Yeah, yeah, I think was he wearing one at when we in Philly last year. I don't remember when we surprised me, but I don't know. Yeah, that was funny, but.
It takes a toll. I mean, especially if you start at forty two knees back right, el elbows yep.
And you know, when you're on the independent circuit, working with varying degrees of experience and training, you know, accidents happened. I had a wrestler who assured me he was trained by this wonderful gentleman out of Philadelphia. They called for a spot where the referee was going to take a a book to the forehead so I could totally prep, you know, take the shot if I needed to get my hand in the way if I felt uncomfortable, and he totally screwed it up and chipped my cheekbone.
That's another one.
Hit you with a book like a hardcover book.
Yes, a hardcover book like a thick Harry Potter one. But I was you know, I come from a background of doing stunt, live stunt work.
Oh.
I grew up in western New York.
Where Buffalo aia right, was a Buffalaria.
Yes, in the Buffalo area where I am actually presently, And there was a famous theme park here in western New York that had a Wild West shootout four times a day, seven days a week. And my dream was to be one of those cowboys getting shot and fighting. And at age twenty six, I became one of them. Wow. So I knew what to expect. I knew, you know, what stunt work entailed, and I was totally prepared for it and then everything went wrong.
Well, that actually adds a big piece to why you were able to take to being a referee. So naturally means that's a bit of pantomime. They're a little bit of a live action stunt work. So, Buffalo, did you grow up going to the War Memorial or what was your wrestling heritage growing up?
Oh? Absolutely. You know I would always beg my dad to take me to professional wrestling at War Memorial Auditorium. You know, way I'm old, so way back in the day, and my dad was like, first of all, it's all fake. I went, not SA and he goes, and you know, I had one of those wrestlers in my bank. I went who was in the bank. My dad used to work for a bank in Batavia and they had Haystacks Calhoun come in what to do some banking, sat in a chair and got stuck. But I've always been intrigued
by I had always been in love with it. I saw Tito Santana win the tag team Championship against Demolition here in Here and War Memorial against Demolition a strike force, and little did I know that about twenty six years later I would be in the ring with Tito Santana an independent event, and then I did a Make a Wish event where both members of Demolition and I had the most fun ever picking on a local tag team.
I need more than that.
What happened there, Well, there was a young boy who's actually now a professional wrestling announcer and commentator, but his family he was always in love with professional wrestling. He would come to all the New England promotions want to meet wrestlers, and his goal was to do a Make a Wish wrestling event to raise money for cancer patient, cancer children and things like that for Make a Wish and he actually put together a card that included the
Boogeyman Demolition. You know all these big name people and then they needed some local guys to kind of fill out everything else. Well, the tag team that was supposed to take on Demolition backed out. I managed to call one of my local guys and said, hey, would you like to wrestle them Demolition? They went, wait, we get to wrestle at w WE Hall of Famers. Yes, sign us up. I said, you're not going to get paid
because it's a makeup. Wish said, we don't care. So we got in the ring and they're doing their thing, and you know, uh, acts starts gouging the guy's eye and I'm like, no, no, no, you can't out the eye. Oh I can't couch the I can I Can I bite them? No no, no, you can't bite them. Can I fish hook them? No? No, no, you know, and it's just back and forth and then he goes, can I punch him? I'm like, well yeah, he goes, oh good. And it was just that old school wrestling. You know.
That event also had Shark Boy.
Oh sure, who?
Uh said to me before the match, you know I'm going to bite the guy, right, I said, yeah, it's part of your gimmick.
He goes he was saying don't disqualify me, right, yeah.
Believe it or not. The last event he had done prior to that a referee to squal food.
Wow, it's like disqualifying the Bushwhackers for licking somebody.
Oh yeah, and those boys are a joy.
So Bill, bill IDE's voice or Edie's voice is not really like that, is it.
Bill's. Bill is a very soft spoken guy. He really is. He was just in Buffalo last year for Nickel Citycon both Axe and Smash, And it's fun having conversations with those guys, you know, because they're old school. They love the storytelling part. You know, it's not all about the high flying. It's about telling that story and you know, getting that audience, you know, engaged, getting them there and then backing off. A certain Dudley boy said, it's kind
of like sex. Yeah, takes hope of that CLIMAXX.
Yeah, just one more and on the refing unless you have some more JP before we moved to spotlight. But I'd love to ask you, Glenn, do you ever have a circumstance where you had to put the boots to a fan who hit the ring? That's always my favorite referee stories, believe.
It or not. We haven't. I know it. In the Independent League you always see you always have those rowdy fans. But the nice thing about the New England fans they were very mouthy. They weren't very handsy, which is, you know, unless we allowed them to be. But I did just recently do uh security for Monday Night Raw when it came to Buffalo and they put me right next to the stage. And the head of security comes by and he goes, you're on the hot corner. I'm like, okay,
no hot corner of the stage. Do you know what that means? I say, yeah, I need to watch them. He goes, well, the last guy came out of the stands from your side. I said, oh, you mean Seth Orleans when it got run over by the fanny. Yeah, we don't.
We don't like that. People remember that.
But yes, no that's not happening.
So wow.
But it's it's I I would say, I've you know, in my short career, I got to work with some really wonderful people. I had, you know, I've got some great stories. You know when Billy Gunn and he goes in the dressing room, goes, I'm your referee, and he goes Damn, you're big. I'm gonna have to hate you hard.
There the match called for a ref lump the ref.
The match called for two of them. The first one was Billy going for his famouser Scott Steiner, tossing him away and into the referee, taking a full forearm from oh, two hundred and seventy five pounds, a Billy gun crashing, Scott coming over and shaking me and sayf ref, are you okay? And then bashing my head into the corner turn and tuggle just for fun. Uh. And then you're.
Saying Scott was supposed to do that? That isn't just Scott being Scott.
No, after the match was Scott being Scott. The match ended the way it was supposed to, with Billy Gunn getting his arm raised and Scott being Scott, very upset that he was cheated out of being cheating and for a win. And uh. He looked at me and he said, are you good to take one more? And I said, Scott, yes, just please not over the top rope. And he tossed me out of the ring and onto the outfield of Syracuse Chiefs Stadium in Syracuse.
Oh my god, that's unbelievable. That's that is I listened. I can listen to these all day. Honest to god, I love I love hearing wrestling stories like this, They're so amazing. But I wanted I did want to ask, so, uh, uh, you correct me if I'm wrong. You went to ken Moore West High School? Is that correct?
I did?
Okay, Now, did you do any athletics while you there? While you're growing up in high school?
I played, uh, soccer, but my main sport was hockey.
Okay? Oh so you even even had it there too, Like you had the be able to absorb impact and all that stuff. So yeah, there's stunt work and then referee. It totally makes sense.
Yeah, I you know, I gave my mother and sister horror dreams for years getting my faith bashed in in high school hockey.
Oh my god. Yeah, oh that's wild and uh And then you went to Notre Dame University, correct I did? Yeah? What did you do sports there? Too?
What was there? What was I was just smart enough, not too uh, I'm too small to play football, but I was smart enough to make all of them my friends.
Well, you didn't want to be like a rooty type and just get on there and just get on the one point. No.
The matter of fact, my students that I had early on in my teaching career said, well, you went to Nardine, did you play football? I said, I'm too little And they look at me and they're like, you're you're six foot you're two and twenty five pounds. What do you mean you're too little? Like my roommate who plays for the Chicago Bears, is six foot two oh two with two percent body fat. Yeah, I'm little.
Yeah, yeah, you know hey, hey said Calhoun was too little too until he stepped on your at your dad's bank branch there.
Yeah. Oh wow, I'll I will give you quickly because I don't want to get too far off before we get to spotlight and movie, be far off.
Listen, we love well. Do you want to take it? Man? Yeah, you want to take tangents.
When I when I was in Buffalo working in radio, I also did some sound work for a local band who happened to be playing at the at the Hilton right next to War Memorial Auditorium. There happened to be a WWE event there that night. In the back of the.
Room, what what what year are we talking?
Oh god, probably around nineteen eighty eight, eighty nine, somewhere in there, and Jesse Ventura came in the back.
Hey, that's exactually what I like to be in the back damn right.
Had a couple of beers moved on. Unfortunately there was a much larger individual but wanted to be the center of attention. Walked straight to the bar, won Andre.
The Giant, I love it, I love it?
Who the young singer in the band that was performing, was so ecstatic that he wanted to meet Andre the Giant ran up to him and put his hands on him, which is as much as Andre loved his fans, he did not like to be touched. He kind of swung his arm at the young singer, who backed up and went, can I get you a drink? Is there anything you want? And in his deep, gravelly voice, girl to sing? Some woman he was with. He wanted her to sing with the band. They didn't deny him.
You're not going to for sure?
There?
That's right?
Did did you? Did you witness his his his legendary drinking.
He had a he had, believe it or not, just a couple of glasses of wine when he was there, not a couple of bottles, just glasses, all right. But I found out years later talking to Ted Dbiassi, that Andre loved his fans, but he hated being crowded because everything was crowded in his life.
Of course, Oh my god, everything everything is closer, everything, everything's a little tighter when you're that size.
For Glenn must have been in significant pain.
Oh, absolutely, you know, And it's it's it's been interesting, you know.
Yeah. And so you mentioned radio that I did not find about you. So tell me about telling about your radio work. I'm fast again, fascinated about the whole, the whole story.
I have been. I was a radio produce, sure in the mid eighties after leaving Notre Dame, and I was lucky enough to work with such radio legends as Ted Darling and Rick Jennerett in Buffalo and it was a wonderful experience. And when I moved back to Buffalo, I got to work with RJ in his last years. So sometimes life comes full circle.
No, absolutely, did wrestlers ever come through the station, Glenn.
Through our station. No, they come through my key Bank Center on a regular basis. Sure, good, yep, go ahead.
Oh so radio work. And then I know you did some some stage work I read unless it's another Glenn Kane, But ye, did you do Plaza Suite at the tr Homestead restaurant in theater?
Oh? God, yeah, tr Homestead. That's a whole interesting thing. It was a family restaurant in the front and a dinner theater in the back, run by two brothers. Oh boy, who put on for such a small theater, wonderful shows. But they were for the Niagara Falls bus tour type people that would come in and want dinner and a show for forty five bucks.
Oh my god, that's that is Like, so how big was it? How big was the space? Because you know, you say, in my mind, I'm thinking, okay, you get a restaurant, but then like they almost added on a theater in the back to do dinner and do a dinner theater.
But I think it's sat one hundred and eighty people.
Wow, it's pretty tight. That's a that's a pretty like you're you're you're like right on top of people.
Yep. This Oh in Plaza Suite. You're familiar with the show because you have a theater background. There's a big fight between the husband and wife. Yes, the cheating husband and the you know, the wonderful wife, And as he is about to walk out the door, she says, no, God, damn it, we're going to talk about it now. There was a woman in the front row that looked right at me and she said, you tell him, honey.
Thought I thought there was only marks at the wrestling shows.
Yeah.
No, oh no, there are marks in every theater.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's tremendous. I love that. The now also too, we're talking theater too. So Jack, we have Glenn and I have mutual friends, and one specifically is Paul Vote. Who I did? I think I've talked about it on the show Hairspray and Aladdin with back in twenty twelve. Now, you grew up with them, you told me, right.
I did? My brother Peter, Peter and Paul no.
Marry though they should have a Mary. The should have had a I don't know. I don't know they had a sister, but they should have had a marry They should have had a Mary Vote as well. Is they have Peter Paul Maery.
Out of the out of the ten children she had, the Peter and Paul are the youngest. That's wild in that family.
The next one would have been merry, I got it?
Okay, right?
Right?
So like did you did you? Were they in the same high school? Do they go? Like? How did that all play?
They actually went to the high school. Our school district was so big we have two high schools, and it depended on which side of the tracks you lived as to which high school you went to. They went to the opposing high school. But in the summer are the theater and English teacher at ken mo Or West ran a summer theater program called the Kenton Summer Musical Theater Workshop, and anybody that lived within the strict was free to come and try out and be in the shows. And
Peter and Paul were in it. I ended up working with them for probably about four years.
Wow.
During that time, you know, and and we graduated some you know, well Peter and Paul first of all, some pretty phenomenal people, including the original Michaelangelo from The Ninja Turtles was in the first couple of shows.
Yeah, that's amazing, was I was. I grew up with the Ninja Turtles. That's like my when they when they first came out on television and stuff like that, and then the movies and stuff that's all my my bread and butter right there.
That's amazing. Misha who's gone on to he Mishan went on to do Broadway with Bette Midler. He was a middler on the roof, but got involved with Disney and Henson Productions and puppeteering. He's still doing a bit of it now. He just did the Doctor Mayhem Show for the Disney Channel. He did puppeteering for that. Well, we're a pretty strong theater community.
That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah, it's funny. You know, my daughter is right at the age where she is kind of watching a lot of those Disney sitcoms and stuff from kind of the late nineties, early two thousands and so mid two thousands even, and so I see Paul and Peter in so many different things every time, and
so it's always so funny. So I always messaged I didn't know Peter as well as Peter wasn't in the show, but I understudied Paul and so I I, you know, we text every now and again, and it's usually me saying, you know, hey, I just saw you on a thing that my daughter's watching, and so it's always it's always very funny to me. And now she even knows that you know who he is, and like, oh, that's your friend. Yep,
that's it. There he is. He's there again. You give him a little bit extra money in his paycheck this this month. So that's good.
Nuts for Princess Diaries. Princess Diaries too.
We did. Yeah, we just watched them actually for the first time, like a month ago. We watched both of them and so yeah, because he's in that yep, then there was are they both and they're both in that one right?
Yes? They in the when Anne Hathaway announces that she's going to turn one of the castles into an orphanage, the Paul who's Lord Crowley has a fight with his brother, Oh wow, which is really funny because they use the Dean and Jerry reference, which for older people, oh my god, they're saying Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. But that that scene,
I'm gonna love. The get out of the bag came out of Ann and Gary Marshall seeing Peter and Paul chatting and being kidding themselves off camera and said we need that on camera.
That's amazing, you know what, And this is funny. So I did. I messaged him right after we saw that and I said, I said to him, I said, watching you and your brother Vicker was a highlight for me. And then he wrote back he said, we can come and fight in public for a small fee.
Sounds a wrestler exactly right, very small fee sometimes just for a hot dog.
It sounds like Brian Knobbs do for twenty bucks.
He's a LAPS fan wrestling podcast with Jack and and Jpisio LAPS Fan Wrestling Podcast.
What prompted the move to Massachusetts A job job? Absolutely.
You know, the western New York market in the late eighties to early nineties, our population dropped a great deal, so teaching and the communications market was growing smaller. And I had an opportunity to move to New England, where I started out teaching at this crazy outdoor education facility
that I was lucky enough to have. School principal go, I like you, and I'm trying to figure out why you have such a good education in your teaching in the woods, because my son goes to where you went to school, and I want to make sure he I'm not wasting all my money for him to be in the woods. Yeah, but I got hired, and U moved to uh just south of Boston, and there I was doing Dinner theater and teaching and carrying on the theater, and I was directing at my school.
You did you did a show in at least at least one show, but you did a show at the Quincy Dinner Theater, right at least.
I was a staple at Quincy Dinner for almost four and a half years, somehow, involved in every production. That's great, directing, lighting in, you name it, I did it.
It's like must have been go ahead. That must have been where you linked up with any c W. You know, they used to run the area.
Believe it or not, Quincy Dinner Theater in any CW were about probably ten blocks apart. Quintin Dinner Theater was run out of the out of a actually a large theater that was run by the Masons. It sat four hundred people and it was a full stage sized stage, four floors of dressing rooms. It was incredible, and unfortunately, four years ago was lost to a major fire.
That's awful. There's a theater like there. Well again they well they didn't lose it a fire, but they close it down. I don't know if you ever been to the Westchester Broadway Theater in Westchester, New York. But it's not it was it was my wife performed there a couple of times, and it was a beautiful you know, it was just it wasn't what I ever experienced at dinner theater. I mean, it was like a theater but
with but you're just sitting at tables. But it's the same type of you know, uh, stadium seating type slope down into uh what do you call it a thrust stage. Well, it was a thrust stage, but almost there in the round, but it's where you have audience on three three sides instead of four. And uh but yeah, this is sounding like that. I never went to Quincy Dinner Theater, but it's sounding similar to that.
That's great, And that sounds a little bit like the Riverside Theater is in Boston and they have a thrust stage because I don't have a very deep stage.
Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. And so I mean you were doing this while you were teaching as well.
Yep. My wife is a costumer and director as well, and she came home one evening and said, I know, your schedules were really busy and we've been married a year, But would you ever audition for a show? I'm like, what's the show? She went Gypsy? And I went, why she goes? We had only four men audition, and none of them they're they're they're quirky, and the rest of them are all kind of would be the boys and you know, are all college and high school aged kids.
And I went okay. I walked in and sang and did the choreography, the minimal choreography they asked me. And the owner of the Quincy Dinner Theater, uh Darling Productions, came over and said, Hi, you're terrific. I'd like to offer you the rolla Herbie And I went okay. So I guess I'm a full time actor at night and full time teacher during the day.
We've been there. I hear you. That's that's that's the life right there, in a nutshell, that's crazy.
I couldn't have asked for anything better and any better learning experience for a bigger house, live theater than to be on stage with a Mama Rose who forgot our lines.
Oh my god, do you know do you know the show Jack at all? Do you know Gypsy? I don't, okay, it's it's I mean.
No Gypsy.
Joe Andre McDonald is now playing Gypsy Gypsy's.
Mother on Broadway. My wife just saw Gypsy is my wife's favorite show. So it's it's uh, it's it's one that I have seen to you know, both. I guess it's wonderful and also a detriment that I've seen it or heard it as many times as I have. But it's you know, you know, Mama Rose is just the biggest, larger than life stage mom you can possibly imagine, and she is the focus of the show. It's her show, and it's Roses for getting your lines. That's a problem, you know.
And and poor I will say that our Gypsy Rosalie was phenomenal. She had come from doing tours in Europe and things like that, and had moved to the New England area. She'd been in Hair, Germany done and early Aladdin, you know, in the in the early nineties. She was phenomenal. She's in the middle of her big change to become Gypsy Rosalie. Mama was supposed to sing her reprise of that You're a man who loves children.
She brought.
And then just yells out, you've got to be on stage?
What?
Yeah?
What that's like? Uh, that's like Davy boy showing up on crack made too. I mean, my god, Yeah, what are you gonna do from there?
Man?
That you got it?
I don't know if you planned on it, but sounds like you were with the Brett Hart in that situation.
Glenn. Unfortunately, at that point of the show, and I know JP knows the show well, Herbie has exited. Yeah, he's gone by and says, I don't love your Rose.
I'm out. Yeah, it's it's it's Gypsy Rose. Who's gotta be Brett Hard in that situation. It's tough. Yeah, that's tough.
She literally was pulling her gloves on, dress not zipped, stepping on the stage.
Oh my god, Oh my god.
I read it off like a trooper.
That's amazing.
I love the woman still to death. Today. We're still in contact today.
So do uh now all these were these I'm just not I know I know the I know a little bit of the Boston theater scene. I have I have friends and like again I messaged you. When I messaged you, I told you a lot of friends from college who are still in the Boston theater scene. Now were these all these are all professional houses?
No, I did. I did theater wherever I could, totally. I did dinner theater, I did community theater. I liked just you know, I've loved doing theater since I was in high school, and I maintained doing it. I still do it today.
I love that.
What was it?
What was the first show you ever did?
First show I ever did where I appeared on stage was Fiddler on the Roof. I was I was the famous of many others with Peter and Paul playing Jewish men and boys.
Oh my god, I would have I listen. I would I would pay significant money now to go to be able to see a to be a fly on the wall back then to see this. Absolutely, that's that's amazing.
Somewhere I have video evidence of Peter playing Horace van Degeller while Paul was directing him.
Oh my god, oh my, that's amazing. I mean, and I listen. I'm with you with the love of theater. I mean, I've I I worked at a theater that was a no no pay, this was free. I worked at a theater that was in the corner the corner of a strip mall an L shaped strip mall all fifty seats and the backstage was really to the side of the audience, behind plywood, and it was about two feet wide. I hear you. You do that for the.
Love, Yeah, no question. I don't think curtain call theater. I saw. I saw the boys there and it's a very small thrust stage and there's a scene where the boy one of the men comes out of the bathroom. It is also the same bathroom. They have to use an intermission for the audience.
Wow, that's oh my god. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing where you can yep, absolutely absolutely, I mean you started directing shows at the school, right.
Yes. They came to me my second year because the children my first year at Swampscott Middle School, the high school was doing sound of music, and which meant they needed middle school children to play the children. So they found out I had a theater background. They said, can you help us and sit in on the auditions. I
said absolutely, I will, I will help. And my students were auditioning and this girl, and I'm gonna say her name, Lord Demiko got up and sang beautifully like blew everybody out of the water and after the auditions, the director from the high school said, well, what do you think and I said, okay, I saw the high schoolers, I saw my middle schoolers. Your Mother Superior is my seventh grader, which she meant, she can't play mother Superior. She's the
only one that can sing it. Yeah, and she went no. So my students went to the principal and said, can we do a show and they said, well, maybe talk to mister Kane. I have on a talent show. And I went, no, good for you talent shows. You need a babysitter for I will direct a musical. And they said, well what do you think you would direct? I said, I just pulled something out of my head and I went lots of children, Wizard of Oz.
There it is.
And I pulled it.
Off and.
Made I was the first show in I think six years that was a musical out there building that was in the black.
Wow, no kidding, no kidding, And that was that was March of ninety six.
Right, yeah, And I did that for almost twenty years. And my proudest moment was of all my years there is I went to the Broadway Teacher Workshop in New York City. That's what I'm by Mt I and we're teachers and theater educators can learn firsthand from Broadway actors, directors, producers, set designers. You get to see for Broadway shows while
you're there. And we went and saw Bullets over Broadway, and I'm standing, I'm sitting in before and we got to have a talk back with cast members, and you know, everybody asked the type of questions of you know, why do you do this?
You know, how do you know?
What's your background? How did you get here? And one of the chorus boys raised the hand, stepped forward and said, I want to tell you how I got here. Mister Kane right there in row four. Wow. He told me when I left high school what I should do when I got to college. And he said, the first thing I want you to do is take the ballet class, because every other dance is going to be based on your strength from ballet. And he goes, and here I am on Broadway.
That's that I can't I can. I want to imagine yeah, yeah, I can't imagine the feeling of of of having that kind of you know, uh, you know, influence on somebody. That's really amazing.
Everybody wants that your name mentioned it, that Tony's or the Academy Awards, that was mine. That's so special that that young gentleman has gone on to he was he was in the revival of Cats on Broadway. He has the very first singing line in that show. I got chills the time I got to see him do it.
And that's actually where my theater world came full circle because a young I mentioned that Hello Dolly from nineteen eighty five with the votes, there was a young boy named Jeffrey Denman that played one of the young boys in the shop, just an extra. He played the same role that my student played. He played it the closing night of Cats, and he played it on the opening night. That's the exact same roles.
That's that's some sweet certain depity right there. Yeah, that's good stuff. Unbelievable. Now, when did you start doing You said you started doing some background work. Would you Were you doing that before you moved to Massachusetts or did that start around that same time?
It actually started in two thousand and four. Okay, there was a a cattle call. Yeah, we're making a movie in Boston. We need people to be fans. They want to come and be background as Boston Red Sox fans.
Okay, okay, do you know.
The movie.
Uht Fever Pitch. It's got to be fever Pitch.
It's correct favor pitch about.
Like baseball movies and to be oh, it's got to be Fever Pitch because I know it's the year they won the world right exactly when they made that, because didn't they They didn't they change the ending of that one because because they were supposed to lose again.
It got me an extra day of work.
Yes, that's what I like to hear.
So yeah, I went to the cattle call and I got picked to do one of the big crowd scenes. And I was doing my thing and being the ADHD theater geek that I was. I watch everything and can do everything repeatedly the same way every time. And I got noticed and they said are you available tomorrow? Like sure? Why, he goes We had like fifty extras not show up and we can use extra people when you come out. So I went out, and I showed up the next day and they said we're going to be shooting here
late at night. Okay, well I didn't know how late. I was new to movies. That meant four a m. Yeah. So at eleven o'clock, I got on my phone and I'm politely calling my bride Honey, I'm going to be running late. And then I see a bunch of people pointing at me, and I'm thinking the worst because during the production, people kept running to Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore with their phones trying to get pictures and all of that, and they were essentially being fired on the spot.
Wow.
So I'm thinking, oh, I'm going to be one of those people kicked out. And they said, can you come here for a minute. I'm like, sure, can you turn around? Okay? And I hear from the second ad, how does that look? Guys? It looks good. Okay, I'll ask him and the second ad Dave says, So, we shot a live scene in an actual Red Sox game last night. The actor that was sitting in one of the seats didn't come back, but we only shot him from the back. We never saw his face. Wouldn't you be willing to sit in
a seat and be on camera? Yeah? Man, sure, And they said, we'll sit off to the side. We'll tell you when we need you to come sit in a seat, and the second team stepped out and came in Jimmy Fallon and all of the first teamers. And at one point, Jimmy's like, where's the guy that sits in front of me? And he goes always sitting to your right, and Jimmy looked at and said, oh, I'm Jimmy. I was like, I'm Glenn. He goes, nice to me. Youa welcome to
the team. And I got twelve more days out of sitting in.
Front of it. That's some good stuff right there. That's great.
So you know, and that was the start of my film career. But you know, I through my film and TV career, I got to work with some incredible people and watch them work.
And now I want to put in just to get everything in context here, when when did the were you by this point? Were you refereeing yet? Or were you or were you No?
It's because of working as a background extra. I actually rid a couple of professional that's right, that's right, called professional wrestler. Actually guys that came out of the Killer Kowalski School.
Hey, they said.
You know, come out and watch us. Of course, you know, it's fun theater.
That's great, that's that's great. Now, how did let's we'll get to the moment the reason we're here too, the other reason we're here Spotlight? How did how did that all come about? Because I'll tell you I I found you in Spotlight. I know I could see. I found you a great seat. I'll tell you that. I don't know about for the ball game or not, but you had a great seat to be in this movie.
That I absolutely did. So, you know, I toiled for you know, years and years in the background, but you know, got known by local casting agents in Boston, whether it was Boston Casting or Carolyn Pickman or Rhode Island Casting. And I went to an open call once again for Spotlight. And I walked in and they said, thank you very much. Do you mind working late at night? No, we have a big crowd scene coming up. It's in fen May Park. I said, okay, old hat for you and it shoots Friday. Okay.
I took the day off from work, you know, showed up to you know, they said, well, the scene takes place in the early two thousands, so please bring red Sox gear because you know it will help ward. And I'm not a little guy, as you can see from my pictures. I know JP's checked it out. Peter and Paul and I are all about the same size. And I showed up with my what I call my bag of wonders. I bring my own wardrobe because I want stuff that fits.
Yeah. Yeah, And I add just.
A stupid red Sox shirt that I think I got it Savers for ninety nine cents.
That thing is that thing is a is a work of art in many ways.
And they said, oh, that's too new. I went, oh no, I just threw this on underneath, just to so you knew I was working on the film. But I have a bag of wardrobe here. They said, well, let me see what you brought. And I opened it up and they went, are you kidding me? Like what she goes? You have a Red Sox Hawaiian shirt.
Oh, that's the one. That's what I'm talking about. That's the one that's the work of art right there. That's what I'm.
Give me that she goes. But I'm not sure. I said, well, would you like it open with like the plane T blue T shirt underneath? Oh my god, pants, I said, pleaded ones are two thousand and four right, and they we're like everybody that's in line back here. This is the stuff you were supposed to bring. They said, pleaseeet
dressed as quickly as you can. Terrific and they I went and changed and I was standing and they picked twenty five of us out and they put us up against the wall and the director went by and went, yep, yep, yep, yeap. Oh absolutely. Then wardrobe comes over and goes, you're taking him, aren't you, And he goes, oh yeah, And they take me over and they put me one hundred feet away from camera. Nice. Really. Wardrobe came over and went, I don't know what they're doing, but we know what we're doing.
And they plopped me in a seat. And the girl that's next to me, Cindy, and I had done probably ten films together. They're like, this is going to be your girlfriend for the season. Okay. I said, Hi, Cindy, how are you? She went, I'm good? How are you? I said. She's like, how's your wife? I'm good? Where's your husband? Oh? Sorry, boyfriend? She's like, oh, he's back there doing audio. And we sat down and I noticed in front of us was tape and I went, Cindy,
we're in great seats? Why? I went and I heard second team in and then comes and they sat in front of us and went, oh, this is going to be fun. Cindy goes, second team is directly in front of us. Yay. And the second team came in and I happened to know one of the second team, and I said, what are you in for? Jimmy, what are you went for? He goes, I don't know, some some Brian James guy. And my mouth fell open. I went, are you standing in for Brian Darcy James? He goes,
should I know who he is? Oh? My god, yes. So they come in, they're shooting the scenes and I and by the way, am I allowed to swear on your path?
Absolutely?
All right? So this is a memorable. We actually shot during a Tampa Bay Ray's Red Sox game, so there are live fans around us the whole time. And we cut and the resetting and a guy goes down the aisle, looks back and sees Mark Ruffalo, and in typical southy Boston, he goes, all the shit, fucking mock ruffles correct, what the fuck are you drinking? He goes, oduls, he goes,
get the fuck out. He went the bar, got him a regular beer and and the whole time, anytime we cut, anytime there was a break, people were trying to get their pictures taken with Mark Ruffalo, of course, and Cindy and I we are pranksters. We've had fun with each other on every set we've ever worked on. Whatever possessed us. We went, excuse me, mister Ruffalo, are we allowed to photo bomb? He went, oh god, please do that. He goes,
if their photo bomb, maybe they don't get out there. Yeah, right, yeah, every picture we could. That's amazing, that's so great. And in the meantime, Brian Darcy James is standing there just going no one knows who I am. Until I turned to him and said, hi, Brian, does no one want their picture taking him with a Broadway star? He goes, you know, I'm a Broadway star, Brian. One of your best friends in New York is one of my best friends.
And he goes, wait, who is that? And I mentioned a gentleman from Buffalo that he had just done White Christmas with and he goes, oh god, I don't remember the last time. I said when you shot the commercial for his app, and he went all of a sudden, the little lights went on for Brian. He went, you're at White Christmas. You're friends with Jeff, You're also friends with Dennis. We've met it, Shrek, We've meant Oh my god. I feel so bad that I'm like, you meet thousands
of people. I get it, but you know it was it was a moment for you know. And then I saw him eight months later in Something Rotten at the stage as door. He came out and I got a hug for you.
That's fine.
I did a movie with him. They're like, what's no big deal on your part of it. I'm like, yeah, I'm a background. I don't care.
Hey, listen exactly. You know, hey, you sat right behind him. You know you sat right behind him. That can't say you're on camera. You're on camera quite a bit. You get a good amount of stream time.
I I appreciated the screen time Immntally. I can't tell you how many times I've been on the cutting room floor. You know, I was in uh bride Wars where the main male characters, the boyfriends, had a scene right behind us at the table, and the scene got completely cut of and put on the on the floor because an extra kept talking during the.
Sum I'll do it.
Oh, but I am going to promote myself here. I did. After twenty years, I finally got my big break last year and somebody foolishly gave me a speaking line in a major film.
What was it? What is it? Tell me?
Film is called The Panic. It is set in nineteen oh seven and its stars carry Always.
Hey, I love that.
That one qualifies for under the cinema.
Right, exactly. Absolutely, we're always.
Looking for wrestler connections.
We're gonna, we're gonna, We're gonna bring you back for that at some point for sure.
I know it's been almost a year. I think what they're looking for is distribution.
Yeah.
Yes, it's certainly not lacking of star power because it has carry Always. It has Malcolm McDowell and Bellamy.
The stars are Jefferson, the castle's right now, that's uh, Tim Daley, that's a. That's a that's a great jost. That's my kind of cast. Honestly, that's that's the kind of cast that I like. And they'll scroll down and see security guards. I love it. I love it. That's great.
There was something I wanted to say about Uberguy, and I feel like even in the movie, Brian Darcy James is treated kind of like the the Broadway guy that nobody really knows because in all the scenes, if you ever notice, in all the scenes, he's always got an excuse to walk away before the real scene happens in that in that scene right in the scene of the ballpark, like you get four guys right there, right, they're all talking, talking, talking,
but before John Slattery and Mark Ruffalo are going to talk about the real meat of the scene, Brian Darcy James say Hey, I'm gonna get some food. Anyone want anything? And he's gone, and I said, he's done, doesn't come back, and he does that all throughout the movie. They just kind of throw him away. It's it's so, it's a wild thing, just kind of short change there.
Well, well, anymore than I was a big Smash fan, he is the only major Broadway star in that entire show to never sing on that show ever.
You know, I never even thought of that. That's wild. I never thought of that. He doesn't sing ever.
You know, He's gone on to do such wonderful things. And I'm desperate because I'm in Buffalo. I am desperate to have one moment with Josh Allen's fiancee to go. So, what's it like to have my friend Brian Darcy James play your father on Hawkeye?
That's amazing.
He's in it for what five minutes and he's dead.
That's crazy.
Smile Haley is.
Yep, God in Buffalo. That's that's wild. That's wild. Well, hey, uh, I want to say big thank you, Glenn. This has been absolutely amazing, absolute treat to hear all you know, uh, some of your wrestling stories, and to hear about the you know a few stories from your movie career and
your past. I I can tell you right now, when we get to another movie that you're featured in, probably I'm I'm gonna aim at this one, the uh the Panic when that comes out and when and we're able to watch it, I'm gonna I'm gonna probably bring you back on so we can talk about that a little bit more.
Oh. Absolutely, Yeah, there's some inside scoop to to how I got the rule.
Well, I'm going to say that to say that, I got to say.
That, I'm giving the cliffhanger.
Well, that's how you know he was in the wrestling business.
I'm building that story.
Yeah, locking in that next appearance too, we're innicely done.
Great stuff. Thanks again man.
Oh no, absolutely thank you and uh all my best.
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