Steve Guttenberg Shares Tales of his Long Island Roots in Bay Street Show

For the better part of the 1980s, Steve Guttenberg was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, appearing in one box office smash after another. “Diner,” “Police Academy,” “Cocoon,” “Short Circuit,” “Three Men and a Baby.”

Audiences couldn’t get enough of his slightly goofy, lovable performances.

His dreams came true in the Hollywood hills, but Guttenberg’s heart remained clear across the country in his home on Long Island.

The pull of the love he had for his family back east is one of the main themes in Guttenberg’s new stage production, “Tales From The Guttenberg Bible,” which opens Tuesday, August 1, at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. It is the third and final installment of the theater’s annual summer series and runs through August 20.

“Long Island has always been home to me. I went crabbing and clamming in the South Bay. I was a Newsday carrier, I had a lawn mowing business in Massapequa. I washed windows, I was a babysitter and played Little League there,” Guttenberg said in a recent interview. “My vibe is Long Island and always will be.”

But in the time he’s been away from home, Steve Guttenberg has racked up countless incredible experiences during a career spanning five decades. He’s hand-picked some of the most entertaining to tell — and perform — in “Tales From The Guttenberg Bible.”

Guttenberg, 64, first assembled his life stories in “The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir,” which was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2012. Sometime later, friend and film producer Julian Schlossberg suggested the actor take a crack at adapting the book for the theater.

The end result was “Tales From The Guttenberg Bible,” a 90-minute stage show that is mostly comedic with a healthy dose of heartfelt emotion.

For all the famous comedies he’s starred in, Guttenberg says he is most attracted to work that is meaningful, which is why he had an interest in writing a stage version of his life story. It wasn’t just that his life has been so remarkable (it has) or that he has so many hilarious memories to share (he does), it’s that the underpinnings of his story are largely based on strong family bonds, love and friendship.

Guttenberg tells the tale of how he left Massapequa at age 17 as an adventurer bound for Hollywood, a strange land indeed. He alternately likens the experience to Voltaire’s “Candide,” Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and Fielding’s “Tom Jones.” He was young, naïve and full of ambition and regularly found himself in incredible situations.

One of his best-known stories, recounted in the production, is how he snuck onto the Paramount movie lot in his early days and essentially set up an office for himself in the empty Lucille Ball Makeup Building. His moxie eventually earned him a role in a film starring Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck and James Mason, three legendary, powerhouse actors.

Guttenberg’s career took off from there and in the span of less than 10 years he acted in some of the most iconic films of the era. He has continued acting ever since, recently appearing in such hits as the television shows “Ballers” and “The Goldbergs.”

The actor-turned-writer began working on the script for the stage production about eight years ago, he said, and finished his first draft five years ago, when his father fell ill.

“I completed the writing, 300 pages, at his bedside,” Guttenberg said during a recent interview. “Each page was meticulously read by my dad from his hospital bed.”

Then Schlossberg shopped it around a bit and director David Saint, who is the artistic director of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey, came on board to direct — and edit — the script. Saint and Schlossberg pared the piece down to 68 pages.

“They did a great job. The story didn’t need to be ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ at 600 pages and five hours long,” Guttenberg said. “My story really warrants 90 minutes with us going at a freight train pace. It’s dynamic.”

“Tales From The Guttenberg Bible,” debuted at the George Street Playhouse on April 25 of this year, where it ran for just shy of a month. The show offers audience members a glimpse of some of Guttenberg’s encounters with fellow actors, directors and other Hollywood personalities, including Tom Selleck, Brian Dennehy and Merv Griffin. Guttenberg is joined onstage by three supporting actors — Carine Montbertrand, Dan Domingues and Arnie Burton alternating with Stephen DeRosa — who play a combined 90 “characters” from Guttenberg’s past.

Among those characters are Steve Guttenberg’s late father, Stanley, who died in 2022.

“It’s a story, mainly, about family. About my family, a Jewish Long Island family that instilled in this young boy at the kitchen table everything I would ever need to go out and conquer Hollywood and meet presidents and prime ministers and captains of industry,” Guttenberg explained. “And it’s a story about the love of a father who gives everything he can to his son.”

The play focuses on Guttenberg’s experiences between the ages of 17 and 28 and it does take some creative license in condensing conversations to keep the pace dynamic, Guttenberg said. He calls it a “fictionalized history.”

Guttenberg said thanks to his costars, every performance affords him a chance to relive some of his favorite moments.

“I literally am able to go back to that time and I actually feel like I’m talking to those people and it’s unlike any other stage experience I’ve ever had,” he said recently. “I feel like I’m actually talking to my dad, or my mom, or a producer or director or Gregory Peck.

“I go into a different zone and feel like I’m actually in their midst.”

Scott Schwartz, artistic director of Bay Street Theater, said he first heard about “Tales From The Guttenberg Bible” a few months ago and was immediately interested in the project.

“I’m a huge fan of Steve Guttenberg. I grew up in the 1980s and I loved his movies. I must confess, ‘Police Academy’ is one of my favorite comedies,” he said in an interview last week. “Steve is just the coolest guy. So, when I first heard about this show I got so excited.”

After reading the script, Schwartz said he was keen to pursue bringing the show to Bay Street.

“It was charming and sweet and also a hilarious expose of Hollywood,” he said.

Schwartz said he never realized Guttenberg was from Long Island, and the regional connection gives the show even more resonance for the Bay Street audience.

“Also, it plays to our strength as a very intimate theater. A Bay Street audience really surrounds the stage,” Schwartz said. “You feel so close and will get to experience this relatively intimate story in a very, very intimate way in our theater.”

Although he’s never been to Sag Harbor, Guttenberg said he expects to see a lot of friendly faces in the audience.

“I’m gonna have friends and people I’ve met from all over the world who vacation in Southampton and East Hampton at that particular time, in August, and I can’t wait to see them,” he said.

At its most basic, Guttenberg said, the show “comes with an open heart” from a Long Island boy who made it big and never forgot where he came from.

“I grew up about a mile and half from Sunrise Highway and now I live about a mile and a half from Sunset Boulevard,” he said. “How about that for a story?”

“Tales From The Guttenberg Bible” opens August 1, and runs through August 27 at Bay Street Theater. Tickets are $70 to $135 at baystreet.org or the box office, 631-725-9500. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.