Frank Hermans on Comedy & “Shopko, Say Hello to a Good Buy” (Hour 1)

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From Washington to Hollywood and right back to Wisconsin.

It's Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.

Connecting the dots on the stories shaping our world with smart takes.

Sharp humor and plenty of personality.

You know, I really expected more professional behavior from you.

It's news and culture without the noise.

Yeah, I'm on.

Here's Pete Schwabba.

Dude.

And Greg Bach.

Dude.

All right, welcome to Nightlight, ladies and gentlemen.

Hey, it is a Wednesday night here in the beautiful state of Wisconsin, and we are coming to you live.

Like every night, sitting across the state from me as usual is Mr. Greg Bach.

Hey, buddy.

Hello.

How

are we doing?

I'm doing quite well.

It's one more day until opening day.

I'm rocking my Brewer's short sleeve hoodie that I love, but it's still way too warm to wear it.

Oh my goodness gracious.

It's like 65 degrees here right now.

Oh, come on, really?

Yeah, I'm sorry about

that.

You've got 65 there?

Mm-hmm.

66 over here.

Wow, Dom.

Just take that knife and just twist it while you're at it.

My goodness.

But it's a great day to be alive in America.

I've just said that for whatever reason.

But yes, I'm doing well today.

It's a good day.

I got to spend some time with my dog, which I always love.

And now I'm here with two wonderful individuals.

And we have a fantastic show for you tonight, folks.

Pete, how are you doing?

I'm doing well.

I'm excited because it's opening days tomorrow, right?

Correct.

Home opener.

Home opener is tomorrow, yeah.

Is that early?

Don't they typically wait until like April 1st?

No, they've been doing it now towards the end of March now.

It used to be early April, but because money and people and money and money and money and money and money.

Let's make some more money.

Yeah, money.

We're talking, I was talking about cricket, but if you want to go baseball, that's fine.

I want to love cricket.

Yeah, it's pretty similar, right?

No, it's not.

And I know that because I got yelled at by a cricket fan who told me that I'm like, I was like, I said, I said to him, I said, I really love baseball.

And I feel like they're cousin sports.

He goes, yeah, not really.

There's some ideas that are the same to a point, but it's very different.

And then he explained it.

I said, I'm never going to retain any of this information at all whatsoever.

So yeah,

America's pastime.

Thank you very much.

Yes, indeed.

So yeah, tomorrow is, let's see here.

Yeah.

You are right.

The first opening day is the first game of the year.

Usually we've been on the road before, but yeah, tomorrow is a first day period.

So

yes,

playing in Milwaukee, I was going to try to go to the game, but between like, I'm in Kenosha and Racine and driving all the way to Milwaukee with traffic and everything.

That thing of you can go somewhere and do something but you can't enjoy it because you're just sitting there thinking

yourself

why I have to leave early and then if there's traffic and if this thing happens and then and if I'm leaving you too in the lurch because something takes place I just said I can't enjoy this game so I won't go so I'll just enjoy it from like here.

Well we appreciate your dedication to this show don't we Dom Dom

Lee.

Yeah

and down the Fort in Madison there and you already know that they're gonna win they're playing against

The White

Sox.

I really wish you hadn't said that.

I don't know.

I really wish you hadn't said that.

It's the

White Sox though, you know.

Dude, we got swept by the athletics last year, man.

We got swept by the athletics.

We swept the Dodgers in the regular season.

Yeah, that's crazy.

And we got swept by the athletics.

So, Dom,

keep your track shorts.

Never

know.

Hey,

we've got, this is kind of cool.

We've

got

all within a 90 mile radius.

We've got a Brewer fan, a Sox fan, and a Cubs fan.

So

we've got all

the bases covered,

right?

Brett from Brown Deer calls it the Yader Hey Triangle.

That's right.

Pete, what do we have on the show tonight?

We've got a great show.

Our pal Martin Alvarado will be here from the Madison Public Library.

We're going to talk to Martin.

He's going to make some book suggestions.

We'll ask him about what is new in the library game.

I love his

gig.

What if there was something

like super new?

Listen, if I wasn't doing this or didn't go into show business, I think working in a library or a theater would be really cool.

It kind of chill, you

know, it

just seems like kind of a good gig.

But anyway, Martin will be here at this hour.

We'll talk to Martin at 535 and then my pal,

soon to

be our pal, Frank Hermans, will join

us in the

second hour.

No, no, other way around, other way around.

I'm sorry, I got completely confused.

We usually,

Do entertainment stuff in our tube, but tonight you're right Frank Hermans will be here at 530 We're gonna kick things off with Frank and then we'll do some library talk in the second hour with our pal Martin So

thank

you for the clarification.

Those are the those are the benefits of working with a host Greg.

That's I'm here I

am here for you.

What if they

were like both listening and totally

panicked and like drove off the road or something?

What if they were both listening and got offended and they were like, well, I can't even, I can't even with this place.

Civic, who?

I don't care anymore.

I don't think

they'd be like that.

Both of them are pretty cool guys.

I don't see that happening.

But

anyway,

yeah, we got a great show.

Great guests and we've got a great question tonight, which we should probably get to.

Here's the night like question of the night.

Let's talk about the question question question

question question

question

question question this question

question

questions

How do you go to love that?

Ladies and gentlemen is who is the most annoying voice in sports?

It can be an announcer.

It can be a player

a passerby whomever who ever annoys you the most when they talk about sports it could be the sound of their voice what they say it doesn't matter who is the most annoying voice in sports you can let us know at eight five five seven five two four eight four two eight five five seven five civic you can also if you're watching the radio uh drop us a stream comment at facebook youtube or uh x twitter and let us know what you think and you could also

text in who you think is the most annoying voice in sports on the Civic Media app, which you absolutely need, folks, because why, Greg?

Well, I think because we are in the middle of the break into spring text to win multi-state contest, and this is the five o'clock hour, which means we have a keyword raring and ready to go for everybody here.

So here's what you do.

Open up that Civic Media app right now.

Get to the channel of your choice.

WAUK.

and you're going to text in the word to possibly win to enter to win $200 today we give away $200 a day and then every entry you do throughout the day goes into a grand prize drawing for a mattress set from Verlo as the grand prize so you got nothing to lose here and if you don't have the app download it right now it's absolutely free and you can participate right now if you'd like as well so open up that app get ready to text in the word the word for this hour

is bird b i r d the bird is the word b i r d sing to

the

bird there it is as in as they say let's listen that song about the bird b i r d is the word here for the five o'clock hour so take out that civic media app text in the word bird for your chance to win two hundred dollars and go into a grand prize drawing for a mattress set from verlo bird is the word b i r d good luck everybody

Here's why this is a great contest

what we

have here at civic media

Everybody

needs a good night's sleep

and

everybody needs some walking around money.

So what do you got against that?

Oh, I

I mean honestly, I I can't I can't I can't think of a single solitary reason why it would be bad Wallace contest.

Yeah.

Yeah, good luck everybody.

So let us know what you think What do you say guys should we get to some news or I

think we should get to

Don't wait.

Well, how about what do you think?

I'd say you and I are always like, let's do this.

And I'm like, Don, what do you think?

You know what?

I let's do this.

Let's do it.

The

first

big story.

OK, so.

in Wisconsin Public Radio, aka WPR reporting today.

Yeah, today's the 25th.

Racine County man convicted on election fraud charges after ordering absentee ballots for other voters.

This story goes back all the way to 2022, but he was finally convicted on three out of the four charges.

One felony, two misdemeanors, one felony charge, not guilty.

Harry Waite is his name.

He's the Racine area man who requested two absentee ballots on behalf of other people to prove it could be done.

He was convicted yesterday night on election fraud and identity theft charges.

He wanted to do this to prove that there were flaws in the mail in mail in voting process.

He wanted to expose exposed vulnerabilities in the voting system.

He ordered ballots on behalf of Assembly Speaker Robin Voss and wait for it.

Racine Mayor Corey Mason.

It took the jury three hours to deliberate.

They found him guilty of three out of the four charges, and he faces up to, it looks like, seven years.

I thought I saw that here.

Yeah, seven years in prison, a sentence hearing has yet to be scheduled.

His attorney has said they will appeal this, and he is standing strong in his convictions on this, and he should have stand for shawl because he was convicted on this.

He could go to jail for a long time, and he says he's not disappointed in the verdict.

He said, I put the jurors in a very hard spot.

I admitted I ordered two ballots and I admitted I was not Robin Voss or Corey Mason.

I wanted to test the system.

This is what you get sometimes when you fight.

That was his quote.

I guess you could say, Harry, you proved that the system works as we saw in 2024 when the same thing happened to a now former Milwaukee City employee who tried to do the same thing.

So, Harry Wade of Racine County,

You fought, you lost, yet you stand tall and I don't know why.

Yeah,

it's really strange.

Like, it's like saying, well, you know, I went to rob a liquor store just to prove, you know, that people rob liquor stores and I got caught.

I mean, what?

This just doesn't make any sense that this guy his logic is kind of like the guy who you know stood in front of Alan Richardson's Reacher's motorcycle like maybe they're related I don't know but this is just really flawed logic and You're right Greg the system worked he got caught and he admitted it But you know they would have seen that Robin Voss already voted they were there is

They keep pushing this election fraud thing and it's so rare.

It's not worth spending money on and it's not worth passing legislation to keep people away from the polls either.

This guy, uh, Mr. Wait will be, you know, painted as some type of freedom fighter, I'm sure, or patriot for committing fraud.

And, um, you know, it just doesn't, uh, it doesn't, or they'll set up, you know what they'll do?

They'll set up a GoFundMe to help him with his legal.

And I don't understand that he.

broke the law he admitted maybe he did it after he got caught either way

it's stupid well here's the timeline here he ordered the ballots through the wisconsin through wisconsin's my vote website by the way my vote dot w i dot gov go and check out your register go and

check out where you

vote check out your ballots all right there my vote dot w i dot gov but this proves right here this is another in the long line of proof that this system does work he he did it then he announced it to the world that he did it as if he said come and take me away

put out his his hands together like waiting to be cuffed by the cops.

He said, I am a criminal, but not nefarious.

So

really a hero.

Sure.

He was one of

those critics of the 2020 election results as well,

which

was thrown out of like 60 courts by judges oftentimes that president at the time.

Well, President

Trump.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And

it's just it's like in Robin Voss, you know, to his credit on that did not.

Decertify the election.

So yeah, I don't know.

I don't know why why he picked those two people either

That's kind of strange like wouldn't you pick an average Joe?

I think he was doing it to prove a point Because the thing was is that the woman from Milwaukee two years ago She actually ordered ballots for a person who was saying that the mail-in system was

Flood as well as to try to make a point.

I understand.

He was trying to make a point It was a dumb point to make it.

I mean the law proved his point like proved I'm sorry I talked about let me let me try that the law proved that his point was wrong and That system is secure, but he is gonna possibly go to jail for seven years for that so

I don't I mean he's not a hero.

He's not smart He's not someone who deserves any sort of credit.

He he he made he didn't make a mistake He did something on purpose like he broke the law on purpose and Said come and get me see what I care spit on the floor.

Yeah, and he said

he's 71 Mm-hmm, and he might go to jail for seven years.

These

are

prime dating years Yes, it is so he is going to be in jail for those that that's why I feel the worst But we've got a couple more stories coming up folks including

Just a little teaser here, Greg.

Yeah.

Big settlement to someone who dealt with online addiction.

We will tell you all the details.

We've got Frank Herman's coming up after the news at 535.

He is the founder of Let Me Be Frank Productions.

He puts he's very prolific and a very funny guy and one of my favorite guests tonight's question is who is the most annoying voice in sports?

So be part of the show, folks.

Answer the question.

We are coming right back.

This

is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media Network.

That's

been wrong with a little Marvin Gaye in hour one, I don't think.

Thank you, Dom.

Well done.

Welcome back to Nightlight.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

And joining me, or sitting across the state, I should say, is the air drummer extraordinaire, Mr. Greg Bodd.

You

really should check us out on the stream, folks, if you want to see what we do, because it's so fun.

And Dom Lee is in Madison holding down the fort, too.

We are talking, we're in the middle of our three big stories, but we got a phone call, which I think we should, we should take, Dom.

Hey, Charles.

It's Charles from Milwaukee.

Good evening, sir.

How are you today?

Hey, good evening guys.

I am I am great gorgeous outside.

Yeah, I got no complaint

There you go.

You wanted

to

talk about the most annoying voice in sports

Yes Chris Collins work I Like them as a wide receiver for the bingos, but

yeah,

man when he when he's the commentator for the Packers I'm like really this is who he got he is he is the I believe he is the worst

People always say that he just doesn't like Green Bay.

He never feels

joy when

Green Bay is doing well.

That's to me, it seems like he doesn't like Packers either.

He has always criticisms and I'm like, really?

Yeah.

But don't

you think he loves Aaron Rodgers?

Well, that doesn't mean you like the Packers though.

He might, but that's not the Packers, yeah.

Yeah.

He's, like I said, he's, for me, he's the worst.

Well, thank you very much, Charles.

I feel like you are beginning what is going to be an overwhelming victory for Mr. Collinsworth

this evening.

He will be the brandy old fashion of this conversation.

If that makes any sense, you listened last night.

Point is.

Yeah, there are some thoughts.

Thank you so much, Charles, for tuning in and for calling in.

We really appreciate you tonight.

So yeah, that begins.

Who is the most annoying voice in sports?

Text it in.

Get in touch with us via the Civic Media app.

Let us know your thoughts and I have a feeling they're all going to be the same.

And I feel like I

I know for a fact, we're gonna hear more Chris Collins tonight.

So Charles was totally on point and I can't wait to read those right after the top of the hour, but we've got more stories here.

Let's get to our next big story.

Okay.

Greg, this is an interesting one.

I admit I tend to fall into the, just turn off the internet, but

I'm

wrong.

So this happened, a California jury on Wednesday found that Metta and Google's YouTube,

were on the hook for causing depression and anxiety of women who compulsively used the site since she was a small child.

They gave her six million bucks holding Facebook base or, well, I should say Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley accountable in fuel.

And they kind of made a point to say this is fueling a youth mental health crisis.

And, you know, your first instinct, at least mine was where the parents turn it off.

No.

These programs, algorithms, code, whatever you want to be, are being designed to pull kids in.

And this is causing serious issues, mental health issues for kids.

And these are kids, they're targeting kids.

So I

say that wasn't enough, frankly.

And we'll go ahead and see how fast this goes into appeals and how long it will take for this young woman to see a single red scent of any sort of monies owed to her.

And also, yeah, I can take the...

the, you know, sitting on my porch and go, just turn it off and enjoy the nature.

But it really is.

I mean, I do feel like these people are sitting here.

tinkering with their algorithm to the point where they get these individuals hooked on it.

And to me, it's chemical in your brain.

It can be drawn to a comparison of cigarettes or other things where you have to have it in your life.

You don't feel the same without it.

And it brings you comfort.

And it can lead to a lot of bad things.

So I'd like to see more of these things coming down the pike.

In fact, the fact that Metta and Google were like, this kind of blew my mind.

So yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens next.

I think you're going to get your wish, because I just read that this case is tied to 2,000 other cases.

So

it'll be

interesting to see where the chips fall.

I also didn't know you had to be 13.

Well, you're supposed to be 13 to use YouTube.

I didn't even know they

have those restrictions.

So

also some media, you're, but it's like, it's like, what year were you born in?

If you can do math, there you go.

Welcome to Facebook.

Right.

Who could crack that code?

Yeah, exactly.

And I

love

what I read that the lawyers for meta in Google did not react to the jury's decision.

They just sat there, which made me think those are AI lawyers designed by Google and YouTube.

So there you go.

But good for this woman.

I guess her name is Kaylee.

I'm

all, all in favor of the verdict.

All

right, Pete, we got one more story for you.

Yeah, there you go.

Words.

All right, laid on us Pete.

All right.

I love this.

Listen, a real sweetheart.

The Hawk 2 girl is back in the news.

She is kind of relaunching her career a little bit.

As you guys might remember, she was involved or blamed for a cryptocurrency.

She created a coin, a crypto coin called Hawk.

Clever.

And within 24 hours it tanked, taking the money of lonely people everywhere who

followed

her.

over the edge of a flat earth and they lost their money.

She was cleared and I believe she didn't do anything.

I believe that it was a company that took advantage of her.

She was new to fame and all that kind of stuff.

You could argue whether or not she should have been famous in the first place or developing a sex term, I guess, but she did go away and now she's back and it'll see what kind of, you know, if she's relevant again.

I don't know.

I do at least think she practiced some contrition though.

I mean, there's the age old idea of everyone has their 15 minutes of fame, but in this day and age, maybe everyone gets 15 to 20 minutes of fame and you get to rebrand yourself or I don't know.

It's just like, it's like, she's relaunching her career.

Everything tanked last year.

It's been less than a year.

Who even cares anymore?

Like big deal.

She's got a podcast.

Who doesn't?

And so it's like, I don't know, like Haley Welch.

But you don't have a podcast, Greg called talk to a fair point.

I just have one called Nightlight with Pete Traba and Greg Bach, which you can listen to as a podcast when you go to civicmedia.us slash shows.

Download episodes, listen to them whenever you'd like here on the Civic Media Network.

Very well said.

All right.

Oh, a reminder of this hour's keyword, folks, in our multi-state break into spring text to win contest here at Civic Media, which you have to have the app to play,

and I

know

you all do,

is BIRD.

as Greg said, is the word.

So text that in on your app.

We're going to take a quick break here.

When we come back, Frank Hermans from Let Me Be Frank Productions will be here talking about some upcoming events.

He's a blast.

You don't want to miss this.

It's Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media Network.

Welcome back to Nightlight.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

Joining me as always is Greg Bach and Dom Lee holding down the fort in Madison, working the board, producing the show.

We've got a great one tonight, folks.

Martin Alvarado from the Madison Public Library will be here in hour two, giving book recommendations.

We're gonna read your texts for our question of the night, which is, who is the most annoying voice in sports?

Text line is ringing.

Does it ring?

I don't know, off the hook.

We'll read those after the top of the hour, but right now I'm very excited.

to welcome our first guest of the night.

He is a fan favorite and one of my favorites here at Nightlight, and he joins us over the stream from northeast Wisconsin, the legendary Mr. Frank Hermans.

Hey, buddy.

Oh, it's a Frank, man, and brilliant Wisconsin.

My whole internet, I believe, is not as strong as it should be.

But thanks for having me, Pete.

Love doing your show and love to talk about new stuff coming up.

Buddy, I'm telling you,

Any Frank is better than no Frank and I I love your website because I think I've told you this before I was looking at your upcoming shows and there's a there's a moment where you you run the cursor over some icon and it's your laugh going

yeah

scared the living daylights out of me today I was not expecting that but I love it

yeah you just run it over my face and it's kind of a funny story 15 years ago when I redid the website that's been a long time I need to do it but

The the the young lady who was helping me from PMI goes god prank.

We need to put your laugh in there I go, okay, I Recorded it on her phone one time And that was it If you're not

expecting it though and you have your computer turns up it can make you go a couple feet near really freak me out today Yeah, it's great to have you buddy.

Uh, so let's start

Let's start.

Let's do an icebreaker.

Do you have a sports person or someone in that world Frank whose voice really annoys you whether it's what they say or The way they say it or their actual voice

dick by tail that comes right to mine Wow, I know I gotta tell you baby.

I could do you would say

The Villanova Wildcats are great.

I can't tell you that, but whoa, baby.

It's so accurate.

Man, if he was from Northeast Wisconsin, Frank, you'd have your next show there.

That was pretty good.

Yeah, thanks, man.

I tell you

what.

You should just do that as an impression.

I

should.

It's almost like you're talking from, there's another character who sounds just like this, and I'm trying to think who it is.

Come on, Pete, help me.

It sounds like a Looney Tunes character.

Yeah.

Make sure you throw in plugs for Planet Fitness Oberto Beef and Hooters too while you're at it.

That's right, Dick.

But I got to tell you when that commercial came out, the first thing that came to mind was he's still alive?

Yeah.

Sorry.

He's catching that check.

He's catching that check, baby.

Baby.

He's

got that

one glass side that's always looking the other way.

He's a caricature of himself now.

So let's start off, Frank, with your new show.

I love the title.

You have such great, well, I just want you to tell people about it because it's so funny.

And it's a little heartfelt, too, because I missed the institution you're writing about.

Tell us about Hello Shopco, or Hello Shopco, say hello to a goodbye.

Yeah, their tagline was, they had many taglines, but at the end it was say hello to a goodbye, but I spell it B-Y-E.

Hello to a goodbye.

Of course, Shopco stores, that was our local mall in Wisconsin, 139 stores at one time all the way out to Nebraska, 26 states.

They started business in 1961 and in 2019, they closed 139 stores due to bankruptcy.

They kept the Shopco optical stores going, but you know, my memories are of the Shopco lady.

In fact, Karen McDermott did a couple of shows with her at St.

Norbert College back in the day.

that we have a character in the show who is the shopco lady.

We don't necessarily say it's Karen, but they're called the shopco lady.

And one of the things I did with this show is it's about a true story that really happened at shopco store number four, Green Bay East on Main Street.

I'll divulge that story in a little bit, but one thing that we did with this show is it's like a Seinfeld episode, so and so.

So I played Jerry and I talked like Jerry and then we got...

We got, you know, we got Kramer's in the show, Elaine's in the show.

So we do all the funny bits from Steinfeld based around shop co-store experience.

That's great.

Yeah.

It's funny Frank.

Did you bring that?

That the show is based on that because I watched a video the other day talking about the rise and fall actually two of them.

One about the rise and fall of Kmart and the other about the rise and fall of Sears.

And it's weird because I can remember when shop go Kmart and Sears were everywhere.

And then one day they're just like, yeah, we're out of business now.

Goodbye, everyone.

Pack it on up.

Everything's on sale.

Goodbye.

Done.

That's it.

Well,

It's funny you say that because, you know, really the pandemic, you know, really screwed retail and shop closed its doors before the pandemic, which is ironic.

And everybody else, hey, I just found this out, guys, there is one Kmart left and it's in Hawaii.

I just, hey, there is one Kmart left.

Wow.

All the stores court Montgomery Ward sears at Roebuck.

I mean the list goes on gimbals Gimbals.

Oh, wow.

And we make

make fun of that in the show.

And one of the things we do make fun of is, you know, in fact, it's an old joke.

Macy makes fun of people who shop at Target.

Target makes fun of people who shop at Shopco.

Shopco makes fun of people who work at Fleet Farm.

Fleet Farm makes fun of people who work, who shop at the dollar store.

Who does the dollar store make fun of?

Goodwill?

I remember in Marinette at the dollar store, like five years ago, I swear to God, I have this picture somewhere, stakes.

$2.

Oh,

no,

I've been paying like $3 for my stakes like a sucker for the last 10 years So was you know, I love where you come up with your ideas They're they're so local and you really get people invested in the shows and I want to say this for those of you

who, first of all, if you've never been to the Meyer Theater in Green Bay, it is a very special place.

It's just this beautiful thing that this beautiful theater right in downtown Green Bay.

That's where most of Frank's shows are.

And if you want a road trip, it's worth it because I went to Frank's Christmas show two years ago, brought the wife and kids.

It was the perfect.

Frank, that was so magical because it was like the Meyer Theater is the perfect place to have a Christmas show.

It's a great theater.

The show is great.

I highly recommend, even if you know Shopco or just want a good laugh, it's worth a road trip to Green Bay.

Yeah, and you know, it's funny that you talked about the Meyer Theater built in 1930, opened up on Valentine's Day.

And then, you know, in 1980, it became a triplex theater and then it closed down for 10 years and the pipes were bursting and

And the Meyer Foundation came in, put 12 million dollars in the place.

They ripped all the plaster off the walls.

They found out that it was an old Mediterranean style look.

And they kept

that

with the gold, you know, embossing everywhere.

And it was Fox Theater built in 1930.

Isn't that crazy?

Wow.

My goodness.

Oh, that sounds like a gorgeous, gorgeous place.

There's nothing like.

old theaters like when you know when you're in Milwaukee you go to the Papst or the Riverside or the High Life Theater now it's called the High Life Theater but you just walk in you can feel the history and you're like I'm gonna go see this band tonight but who was playing it a hundred years ago because there was someone like vaudeville was playing here a hundred years ago it's beautiful it's like an old church

yeah exactly exactly it's funny you say that because on that stage at the Meyer Theater they they had Johnny Cash back in the day they had

it did vaudeville yes they did uh they had the troops coming through but then you know the depression hit and it closed down again in 1933 and it had to reopen again from community you know Green Bay you know the community seems to come with money you know for the Packers or for a theater you know and they they kept this thing alive we're one of the lucky ones we've been at the Meyer theater now eight or no 20 years oh my goodness like wow we're the main tenant we do 80 shows a year there and we produce

and write five original comedy musicals, jukebox musicals.

Like this show, shop goes based in the 70s, early 80s, so it's all great songs from David Bowie, from Diana Ross.

What's that song we do?

Tom Sings.

What's that song called?

By McKinsey.

Anyway, my wife's in the room.

I'm trying to get some information.

Also the star of the show and a very talented Amy.

Yes, my wife hurricane Smith.

In fact, I'm gonna ask her to maybe sing harmony with me on a song She's giving me a look maybe not so we'll see

Honey I'm cooking up these $2 steaks.

What do you want me to do right now?

Our guest is Frank Herman.

He is a Green Bay theater legend He writes original stuff and performs them at the Meyer Theater definitely worth checking out

Frank, you have another show coming up in May.

I wanted to ask you about because ever since I learned about the existence of this event that happened in the 60s, Sputnik, I've been fascinated by it.

Part of the Soviet space, whatever, crashed right outside an art museum in Manitowoc.

They have Sputnik Fest every year.

It's a blast.

Tell us about the Sputnik landing in Manitowoc and what you did with that.

Yeah, Sputnik, the musical, I call it.

And I actually wrote this show during COVID, and we were supposed to premiere it in Manitowoc and got shut down.

So we did it to a sparse crowd at the Meyer Theater, and I thought I'd bring it back.

It's the true unabridged fictional story of Sputnik.

So in 1966, 13 pounds of the first satellite, Sputnik, fell on 8th Street in Manitowoc, and two policemen noticed that

They noticed the small explosion and that the road was hot.

And they're like, what is this?

And there's actually a spot on the road they have marked on 8th Street.

This is where Sputnik fell.

Well, it was a huge, huge news story.

It was national headlines.

The Russians wanted it back, but it was just a pile of sludge.

the actual piece of Sputnik is in Chicago, I believe that's an art museum, and they made a recreation of it that's on display at the Roars Museum in Manitowoc.

So I wrote a fictional story, and I got all the great characters.

JFK plays the mayor of Manitowoc.

He's not John F. Kennedy, but he has that accent, and then we have Marilyn Monroe as one of the characters, and then the two police officers.

Remember that police show

Herman Munster was in the show.

Fred Gwynne.

Car 54, where are you?

Before.

So my two police characters are those guys.

And it just talks about the life and times.

And then Boris and Natasha Fatal from Bullwinkle are in the show.

And they're coming.

They come to get the Sputnik back because there's a secret in there that the mother country wants back.

It's just a hilarious show with great music from the 50s and 60s.

That sounds amazing.

That sounds been so much fun.

Yeah, it's a hoot.

Yeah.

Um, sorry, Greg.

Uh, okay.

So if you want to see the Sputnik show, Sputnik, the musical, Amanda Locke, that's May 14th.

Uh, shop, go say hello to a goodbye at the Meyer theater, April 9th through the 26th.

You've got those shows.

I have to ask you, Frank, we have to do a break and then we'll, I want to ask you about another show after a quick break, but.

Right now, I texted you this a couple of weeks ago.

Have you seen Epic yet?

The Elvis movie?

You know, it's funny that you say that we were going to go one day.

I was going to go with my buddy Paul, who's a Neil Diamond impersonator.

And I didn't, but I hear it's fantastic.

I guess I'm going to have to wait for it to come out in prime.

Do you see

it?

I did.

And I would say if you can, if you can find a theater that still has it.

And I told Greg this recently, I never understood.

Like, I know he's Elvis, he's iconic, and he's just this legendary guy, and I love when you sing his songs, and I like his songs a lot, but I never really understood why he was so great until I saw this movie, because it's just him performing with his band and his backup singers, and you really see what a talented musician he is, and what a performer he is.

The guy just does not stop moving, so...

I would love to talk to you after you see it, but we're gonna do a very short break.

Frank Herman's is here, folks.

His show, Say Hello to a Goodbye, about the closing of the shop-go store is kind of sad, but as Frank always does, it'll be hilarious and great music.

That's at the Meyer Theater, April 9th through the 26th.

We'll talk to Frank about a few more things coming up after this very short break.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

Love it.

Well done, Tom.

Hey, welcome back to Nightlight.

I'm Pete Schwabba sitting across the state for me.

is Greg Bach, who is... You're not playing the drums, Greg.

I always worry when you're not drumming that something's amiss.

There we go.

Okay, he's good.

All's good in the world.

Frank Hermans is with us, folks.

He is the legendary Frank Hermans, founder of Let Me Be Frank Productions and a very prolific playwright and performer and great singer.

He joins us periodically here on Nightlight.

If you listen, you know that he is with us via the stream from Northeast Wisconsin.

We were talking about his show that opens April 14th called Say Hello to a Good Buy.

It's from April 9th through the 26th at the Meyer.

It's going to be a great show.

Frank, you told us during the break that that's based on a true story.

Yeah, back in 1982, my brother had a couple hoodlum friends, and the Nintendos had just come out.

Nintendos were really hot.

And back then, there was no cameras or security in these shopco stores.

So what these kids did is they hid in the clothing racks, and when the shopco locked up, they stole

or took all the Nintendo's, okay?

They took that night, they took all the Nintendo's from the store when they got there, they were all gone.

And the only reason why they got caught is they sold them to their friends for $75, because they were 150 bucks at the time.

Yes they were, yep.

Yep, and the kid, the mom comes in to his room and says, hey, we can't afford that, where'd you get that?

Well, he knocked the kid out and they got busted.

I'm not naming names, but this is a true story to happen at Green Bay East.

1982, they stole all the Nintendos, but they were busted and did some juvie.

Whoa.

I remember when I was a kid, like, oh, he went to juvie.

Oh, wow.

What did he do?

Stole Nintendos.

What is the statute of limitations on stealing video games?

You're probably, but if you already did the time, I guess.

That's, I mean.

I'm sure both are upstanding citizens to this

day Oh my goodness, that sounds absolutely amazing that oh that They stayed in until that is that is gutsy to me like that is that that's not just saying like on a Saturday night Let's do that's planning.

That's a heist.

That's a heist premeditated Yeah,

if you remember chop go there the circular racks with the clothes around and you could actually my wife remembers hiding in between those racks

couldn't find her.

So it's a true that they did this and nobody noticed them and there was no, the only security system they had at SHOPCO was they would say, Mr. Roberts, that meant lost prevention.

That something was feeling something.

There was no, it was a prime time to steal back then.

I missed my window, damn it.

Man, I was such a good kid back then.

I was just hiding in those clothes waiting for my mom to find me.

Then you heard those words, Willa Gregory Bach, please come to the front.

Your mother is waiting.

You're like, oh, I'm in trouble now.

I was trying to be whimsical.

Yes.

Frank, before we let you go, you've got another show.

I love when you do the Elvis Reba and you're kind of tribute to these famous great singers.

You did it in Marinette twice in the last year, which was fantastic.

You're performing, I love the name of this, Meets Opera House.

Where is that?

Okay, Meets Opera House is an old hall that was built in the 1920s for polka bands in a place called St.

Nazion, Wisconsin.

Oh, nice.

St.

Nazion was the home of JFK Prep and the most prolific basketball scorer in Wisconsin state history.

Steve Crowley played there in the 80s, close to 1982, but this hall is still there.

And I was just

dropping off a poster, driving through Valder's.

I thought, let's go through St.

Nazion.

And the mom of the owner is the season ticket holder.

And I said, she said, you want to see her haul?

I said, I walked back.

It fits about 250.

We walked back.

I go, hey, we should do a show here.

And well, we did Elvis and Reba two weeks ago, and now we're coming back May 8th.

I'm actually bringing Neil Diamond along in George Jones.

And yeah, we're doing a show.

All right, that's May 8th.

You got tons of chances to see Frank and his band of all-stars May 8th at Meets Opera House in Saint... How do you say that again?

Nazeus.

Okay, Nazeus.

Yeah, plural, but it doesn't spell that way or sound that way.

No, no.

This spelling of that town is off-putting at best.

Yeah.

Hello, Shopko.

Say goodbye to a good...

to a goodbye is at the Meyer Theater, April 9th through the 26th.

And then you've got Sputnik, the musical, and you're performing that in Manitowoc, which is fun, on May 14th.

We're actually gonna perform that at the Meyer Theater, but in the small backstage, it's a dinner theater.

We're going back to our roots, how we started dinner theater back in 2000 at the sports corner in the SC Grand Show.

intimate show, we can only fit 150 folks tonight, there's six shows, it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday night and then Sunday matinee, dinner and a show and spotting it right in your face.

Oh my God, I love it.

Dude, you are the best.

Thank you so much for being with us on the stream tonight.

Now you can say whatever you want to Amy, once you're off the air, we hope things are well and good on the home front.

Did you hear her laugh?

She heard you, but you did hear it like that.

We're on our way to rehearsal.

Go ahead, sorry.

I said we're on our way to rehearsal after this.

Oh, of course, yeah.

Well, say goodbye to, or say hello to every, I'm getting your titles mixed up.

Say hello to everyone in the family and with Let Me Be Frank Productions, always a blast pal.

Come back anytime.

Thanks guys.

Have a good one.

You're too man.

Take it easy.

Have a great

night.

Oh That was far.

All right.

Well before we get out of that was amazing He's got to come back and I want to I want him to talk about his history because I feel like that like that is an amazing lineup There's so many shows and as you said they just sell out like people are just enjoying them so much

Uh, well, yeah, I can't wait to have him back.

But before we get out of here, we're going to take a really quick moment to get some snacks, get some hydration.

We've got the news coming up.

Don't forget this is your last chance.

Last moment to text in bird.

B I R D for the breaking of spring text to win multi-state contest.

Your chance to win $200 today and possibly may win a Verlo mattress set, but you got to text the word in right now via the civic media app.

Bird is the word.

B I R D. When we come back, we'll be talking about the question of the night and Dom has a story.

as well, so don't go anywhere.

You're listening to Nightlight with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach here on Civic Media.

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