James Roday Rodriguez explains his journey to producing a play centered around a wrestling empire.
Best known for his roles on Psych and most recently A Million Little Things, James Roday Rodriguez is now the producer of a new stage show called Masters of Puppets. The synopsis reads, “This is the story of how the fate of a billionaire marriage and a wrestling empire are all decided in one night. Everything is on the line for everyone inside and outside of the ring. It’s a winner take all battle that shows you what happens when money, love, and a real rough business fight it out on stage!”
While speaking to Josh Shernoff of Premier Streaming Network Wrestling, Rodriguez explained how his path led to him becoming a fan of wrestling again before producing the play.
“Like you, I was a fan from the time I was, you know, kindergarten probably. My dad was a fan, watched a lot of wrestling growing up. It was sort of in DNA and then got away from it as I got into high school and in college. I sort of missed out on most of the Attitude Era,” Rodriguez said. “Then once I got on Psych and was on the USA Network, there was a lot of cross-promotional stuff with WWE, and that’s what put me back in wrestling’s orbit. I was meeting these men and women and was being fascinated by them, sure, and learning to appreciate the art form in a new way and I just had a ton more respect knowing what they do to themselves 300 nights a year.
“So I came out of hibernation and became a full-fledged fan again, and somewhere in that little window, a good buddy of mine, who I had gone to college with, needed a gig. I knew that a certain wrestling organization, I can’t remember what it was called, needed writers [laughs]. This person actually spent a few years writing for said organization and came back with a wealth of experience, both on the road and not on the road, and said, ‘I think I gotta write about this.’ I said, ‘I think you should too. How are we going to craft this story?'”
James Roday Rodriguez said their goal was to make sure it wasn’t too “insider baseball” so that anyone who watches could appreciate the themes and not feel alienated. His friend came up with the idea of a marriage power dynamic, and that marriage just so happens to be at the top of a wrestling empire. Rodriguez noted that the entire development process took close to a decade. That fact made it ironic in the wake of the Vince McMahon news from the past year.
“But what’s truly fascinating to me in all of it is that a lot of the stuff that probably felt incredibly topical to you, when it comes to where wrestling is, has been in the play for a while,” Rodriguez added. “Well before that stuff started to happen, which kind of makes me feel like the playwright is a bit of a soothsayer that you’re sort of able to predict the future a little bit. But yeah, the truth is, we’re both wrestling fans and it was never out intent to, ‘Hey, let’s Dark Side of the Ring this industry. Let’s go after this thing that we love.’ I would have done the same thing if I had produced a play about football, which is also a sport that is in my bones. It’s something that interests me. My fandom is certainly baked into it. I kind of view this play as a love letter that just happens to be really bloody.”
Masters of Puppets is currently running at The Legacy Theatre in Branford, Connecticut, through June 11.
RELATED: Masters Of Puppets Pro Wrestling Play To Premiere May 25 At Connecticut’s Legacy Theatre
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit PSN Wrestling with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
