Eugene Pack is the man behind 'Stan the Man'

Here's the situation: Three co-workers who barely know each other, executives at a major company, are holed up in a Houston hotel for a high-pressure leadership conference. "Boy, do things happen," says Eugene Pack, the Massapequa-raised playwright who's turned this perfectly plausible scenario into a fast-paced, dark comedy called "Stan the Man."

The play gets a staged reading July 11-12 at Guild Hall in East Hampton, with an impressive cast — fellow Massapequan Alec Baldwin, Blair Underwood and Rob Morrow—spinning the tale of a power struggle between three men out of their element, not with their families, not knowing the others. Pack likens the action to a chess match as the three characters engage in manipulative mind games.    

"It's a real roller coaster," says Pack, a 90-minute comedy that keeps you on the edge of your seat figuring out "who's playing whom." Getting a cast like the one he's gathered was "perfect timing," he says, noting that Baldwin had been wanting to work on one of his plays "and I thought he'd be brilliant in the role." He'd worked with Morrow before and Underwood joined the cast recently (more terrific timing) when Chris Bauer had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict. 

Beyond its entertainment value, Pack says the play raises questions that are relevant today, "about what it takes to be a leader, honesty, manipulation...what's real, what's authentic." These men are forced to "pay attention to all of these details that might not normally seem significant," says Pack, who's best known for creating the popular comedy event "Celebrity Autobiography," in which one group of famous names reads verbatim from the memoirs of another group of famous names. Uproarious hilarity almost always ensues.

Since he's already going to be on the Island for "Stan the Man," Pack, who says he loves any opportunity to perform here, will bring "Celebrity Autobiography" to the Patchogue Theatre on July 14, with Ralph Macchio (of "The Karate Kid" fame) and his daughter Julia Macchio (who recently toured in "Flashdance the Musical") joining the cast for the first time.

"I always like to say it's not making fun of celebrities," says Pack, noting that they're the ones who wrote the words. "It's evolved over the years," he says. "And we've had the best of the best participating," he says. They include Baldwin, who appeared during a short run at Broadway's Marquis Theatre last winter, and soap queen Susan Lucci of Garden City, who will play Patchogue. No cast has been announced yet for an Aug. 23 show at Guild Hall.  

Certainly the 10-year success of that show, which won a Drama Desk Award in 2009, has given Pack the ability to venture into more writing and he has high hopes for "Stan the Man." (Note that both Guild Hall readings are sold out, but you can call the box office, 631-324-4050, to get on the waitlist.) It's one of those plays that will resonate, he says. "It's very simple, it moves quickly, and it's entertaining," he says, qualities that would do just fine on Broadway. Which is exactly where he's aiming. "I want to shoot big."