Independent Arts News Reporting 
Pictured Above: Ian Bouillon as Lorn Michaels and cast. Photo Credit: Russ Rowland.
A Look Behind the Curtain of a Comedy Revolution
By: Keith Loria
Not Ready for Prime Time brings the beginnings of Saturday Night Live to the stage. Award-winning journalist Keith Loria interviews writer Erik J. Rodriguez and performer Ryan Crout who plays John Belushi
The birth of Saturday Night Live is one of the most storied moments in entertainment history; a late-night experiment that somehow became a cultural touchstone, redefining comedy and launching a generation of legends.
Now, 50 years since that glorious beginning, Grove House Productions is bringing the chaotic, brilliant moments to life in Not Ready for Prime Time, running through Dec. 7th at The Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space in New York.
Written by Erik J. Rodriguez and Charles A. Sothers and directed by Conor Bagley, the new play offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative storm that led to the comedy institution.
Pictured Above: Ryan Crout as Belushi. Photo Credit: Russ Rowland.
Set in 1975, the play follows nine soon-to-be icons—Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Lorne Michaels, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner—as they navigate the pressure, insecurity and magic that would define Saturday Night Live’s early days.
Rodriguez notes he’s long been obsessed with the chemistry that fueled the original cast.
“It was a group of misfits,” he says. “They were funny, brilliant and sometimes volatile. They argued, they improvised, they stayed up all night. But somehow that friction created something unforgettable.”
Still, he shares, the play isn’t just a nostalgia trip.
“It’s a story about creative risk and emotional resilience,” Rodriguez says. “People know the sketches, the jokes, the catchphrases, but what fascinated us was what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling, the exhaustion, the experimentation, the feeling that this group was doing something no one thought could work.”
Ryan Crout, who takes on the challenge of portraying John Belushi, felt both awe and responsibility stepping into the role.
“Belushi was a force of nature,” Crout says. “He wasn’t just funny, he was fearless. He could be chaos incarnate one moment and deeply soulful the next. My goal wasn’t to impersonate him, but to capture that spirit, that sense that he could blow the roof off at any second.”
Crout dove deep into archival footage, books and interviews to prepare, but notes much of his connection to Belushi came from understanding the man’s contradictions.
“He was brilliant, but he carried a lot of weight—literally and emotionally,” he says. “He loved hard, worked harder and burned out fast. It’s tragic and inspiring at the same time. You see all that in this play.”
Pictured Above: Bar Sketch – the cast of Not Ready for Prime Time. Photo Credit: Russ Rowland.
Rodriguez said he and Sothers wanted to write a piece that went beyond imitation to uncover what drove these young comedians.
“Every one of them was taking a huge risk,” he says. “Lorne Michaels was 30, trying to convince NBC to give him 90 minutes live. Belushi was barely out of National Lampoon. Chevy Chase was trying to reinvent what sketch comedy could be. None of them knew if it would last a week.”
That sense of uncertainty pulses through Not Ready for Prime Time, a backstage story about ambition, identity and the cost of creation.
Rodriguez says the play started as a passion project after revisiting old Saturday Night Live episodes and realizing how little people really knew about what went on behind the scenes. The early drafts, he notes, were more comedic and sketch-like, but over time, he and Sothers deepened the emotional focus, making it less of a parody and more of a portrait of artists trying to prove themselves.
And don’t mix up this play with Saturday Night, Jason Reitman’s film that came out last year looking at the night of the show’s first episode.
“We were working on this before there was even talk of a movie, but honestly, I think it’s great,” he says. “It means there’s real interest in that moment in pop culture again. We’re telling the same story from different angles—theirs is cinematic, ours is live and immediate. There’s room for both.”
He notes balancing authenticity with theatricality was key for the writers.
Pictured Above: Bill Murray and Woodrow Proctor as Chevy Chase face off as the cast tries to hold them back. Photo Credit: Russ Rowland.
“We didn’t want a documentary,” Rodriguez says. “We wanted the play to have the same heartbeat as early SNL; funny, messy, risky and full of humanity.”
The show’s ensemble features Ian Bouillon as Lorne Michaels, Jared Grimes as Garrett Morris, Caitlin Houlahan as Jane Curtin, Nate Janis as Bill Murray, Kristian Lugo as Dan Aykroyd, Woodrow Proctor as Chevy Chase, Taylor Richardson as Laraine Newman and Evan Rubin as Gilda Radner.
“Every night feels like we’re part of something alive and unpredictable,” Crout says. “You can almost feel the 1970s New York grit, the exhaustion, the laughter at 3 a.m.—the way these people built something groundbreaking out of sheer will.”
For Crout, the project has become more than an acting challenge.
“It’s made me appreciate what those early performers sacrificed,” he says. “They weren’t just writing jokes; they were rewriting what comedy could be. And doing it live, without a net.”
Rodriguez said he hopes audiences walk away with renewed respect for the courage it took to be “not ready for prime time.”
Pictured Above: Taylor Richardson and Laraine Newman and Kristian Lugo as Dan Ackroyd. Photo Credit: Russ Rowland.
“They didn’t know they were creating a legacy,” he says. “They were just trying to make each other laugh—and sometimes that’s where the most revolutionary art begins.”
Not Ready for Prime Time runs through Nov. 30 at The Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space (511 West 52nd Street). For tickets and more information, visit www.NotReadyForPrimeTimePlay.com.
