On the cover of this week's Orlando Weekly, you'll find my exclusive interview with actor John Leguizamo, who will be performing his one-man monologue "Ghetto Klown" this Tuesday at the Bob Carr.
During our interview, Leguizamo let slip that his recent development deal with ABC Television had progressed to the pilot stage, a.k.a. "level 2 of the game." On Wednesday, the day OW's interview hit newstands, Deadline.com revealed that Leguizamo will be starring with Christopher Lloyd (Taxi, Back to the Future) in an Americanized remake of the British sitcom "Only Fools and Horses," which ran on the BBC from 1981 to 2003.
In an Orlando-related twist, the show is being co-written and produced by former local Brian Bradley. Bradley, along with his wife Audrey Kearns, was a fixture of Orlando's "Discount Comedy Outlet" sketch troupe before moving to Los Angeles, where he's been busy writing and producing shows like MADtv, Scrubs, and Happy Endings. I worked with Brian a decade ago on SoulFire's production of Killer Joe and an ill-fated dinner theater, and found him to be one of the most talented comic minds I've met.
Both Bradley and Kearns will be returning to town in May to present their popular "4 Truths and a Lie" show at the Orlando International Fringe Festival (assuming they don't go all Big Hollywood and blow us off). There's been a bit of grumbling about the attempt to Americanize this beloved Brit-com, but I'm looking forward to it's planned fall debut enough to my reality-dominated DVR schedule. Just don't forget us little guys now that you're famous, ok?
