About the Playwrights
David Brimm knew that one day the aggravation he has endured
as a Chicago PR executive for 30 years would come in handy. As
the co-author of Pitching Penguins, it’s pay back time! Thanks
to Gloria who endured late nights, and love to Jeremy, Melissa
and all our friends and family for their support. Special thanks
to our exceptional cast and crew.
Michael Rosenbaum spent 25 years in financial PR and has all
kinds of jokes about Sarbanes Oxley teed up for Pitching
Penguins II: The Restatement. Thanks to dozens of Chicago
theater people who advised and supported a couple of new
writers. Special thanks to Jill, Susan, Stephanie, friends,
family and all the nutty colleagues and clients who pretty much
wrote the show for us.
Special thanks to Allan Chambers for his wise counsel and
patience. Big thanks, too, to Craig Wilson for great
support and for introducing us to Allan.
A big Thank You to Kathleen Knopoff for her “cool” penguin
costumes, to Sue Katte for a great penguin logo, to Megan ...
for a killer web site.
An Interview with Pitching
Penguins playwrights
Michael Rosenbaum & David Brimm
QUESTION: So I understand that the comic premise of Pitching
Penguins is based on the experiences of the both of you while
working for Chicago area public relations agencies.
MICHAEL: That’s right. We worked at sister agencies…..
DAVID: More like kissing cousins.
MICHAEL: That’s right. And when we look back at some
of the people we worked with, it reflects what happens when
first cousins marry.
QUESTION: So the characters in Pitching Penguins are caricatures
of people you two worked with?
DAVID: Absolutely not. Any resemblance or similarity of our
characters with any persons living or dead—but especially
living—is pure coincidence. We would never mock any of the fine
upstanding professionals we’ve worked with over the years. Some
of them have guns and, worse, lawyers.
QUESTION: Did you really work on accounts like those suggested
in the play?
MICHAEL: Well, if you mean did we ever promote electric eels and
penguins as major food options, no. And that’s only because we
didn’t get a chance. But we did work with some fairly strange
clients. Actually, two of the clients in the play seem
impossible, but they are based on real client situations.
DAVID: True story. I was in Miami Beach with my client, the
International Slurry Seal Association. It’s not what you think.
They make road paving compounds. Anyway, there I was at the Eden
Rock Hotel making phone calls for two hours trying to find a
costume shop that had a seal costume. Never did find one. And
even today, you would be hard pressed to find a seal costume…
MICHAEL: …or a penguin costume. That’s why we had to make our
own.
QUESTION: So are you really advocating that we eat penguins?
MICHAEL: No. We are merely suggesting that if penguin becomes a
viable food option, shouldn’t they receive the same type of PR
support that we would provide any client? But let’s be clear. No
penguin was hurt during the production of this play.
DAVID: That’s right. Even with the diversity of good restaurants
in Chicago, there is no really good Native American
establishment serving penguin. Yet. And if it ever does happen,
we expect the city council to expand its ban to include both
foie gras and penguin.
QUESTION: So what should theatre goers expect when they see
Pitching Penguins?
MICHAEL: They should expect to laugh. They should expect to
understand what’s going on and talk about their favorite parts
after the show. We don’t want anyone straining to find a hidden
message or the deep personal insight.
DAVID: Once, comedy didn’t have a hyphen. Now, all you hear
about is serio-comedy, tragic-comedy and all the other words
that mean “it’s not funny.” That’s not what we’re doing here.
Anyone who comes to see Pitching Penguins and sees some deep
meaning in the play will be forcibly ejected from the theater.
MICHAEL: So that’s our message. Come, have a good laugh and get
out. What could be better than that?
