Despite its silliness, Get a New Job, Joe Blunsten's socialist theme is not entirely lost on the audience. "It exposes the American Capitalist myth for the bullshit it really is," says Josh S. Byard '93. "Joe Blunsten, by using the genre of the situation comedy, subverts the entire value system for which it stands." Or, as Gailiunas simply states, "The point is, a lot of money doesn't make you into a nice person."

Aron and Gailiunas have avoided taking themselves too seriously. "The acting style is John Waters. The plot is so ridiculous that the actors can really be puppets to it," says Gailiunas.

But the directors unmistakably have a theory underlying their spontaneity. "People aren't used to comic theater enough to know what to laugh at," Aron says, explaining why they chose to parody a television show. "A sitcom format can draw on pieces of television culture that people are used to, so they know when to expect the climax and laugh lines."

"I really don't think that theater can portray reality very well any more," adds Aron. "People can't suspend disbelief. I like to push that and make it more melodramatic and cartoony and big. That's something you can do in theater more than in film or T.V."

The set typifies Aron's philosophy: cartoon-like, fluorescent pink and yellow "B"s cover the Blunsten family couch and copious moneybags litter the office of the Tycoon, played by Thomas M. Lauderdale '92.

Aron and Gailiunas decided to create a musical sitcom after staging the well-received musical Daisy, a full-length political satire, last year. "Daisy didn't take us that long to write, and it was frustrating that it took so long to produce," says Aron. The two wanted to emphasize creativity without worrying about perfection.

"If you can't put on a professional show anyway, you might as well do something innovative and fresh that people of our generation will get," says Aron.

Their technique has succeeded with the audience. "It's one of the most apt parodies of sitcoms. People talk about how stupid sitcoms are, but this actually does something about it," says Byard.

And Joe Blunsten has even managed to out-sitcom television sitcoms: Rob C. Scalise '93 arrived at Adams 40 minutes before the show started, missing his other "T.V." favorite, Beverly Hills, 90210.

Spontaneity the Key

The production process facilitates Joe Blunsten's light-hearted tone: After Aron and Gailiunas discuss the plot for two days, Aron writes the script in 24 hours. Then "Paul writes music like that," says Aron, snapping his fingers. "He always has songs in his head." The cast receives the script on Friday, memorizes lines over the weekend and begins 2-hour, nightly rehearsals on Monday for a Thursday night show.

Alex E. Marashian '92, who plays Joe Blunsten, believes the rehearsal process works. "In a good episode, we have a lot of spontaneous flair. I figure out so many of my gestures when I'm on stage."

"Elijah wants Joe Blunsten to be semi-spontaneous, that's why rehearsal is so short," says Charles D. Guerrero '93, who has guest-starred in several episodes. "It's hard, because the things they write are so hilarious that you don't ever want to change them."

Aron and Gailiunas outdo each other in praising their producer, cast and crew.

The cast, in turn, is equally enthusiastic. "Paul and Elijah are great to work with," says Tanya S.J. Selvaratnam '93. "Also, there's so little comedy at Harvard. I forfeited common casting at HRDC because I knew I wanted to do this. Harvard theater is so jaded, but this is fresh."