WORCESTER — In the fall of 2022, “The King of Queens” held court for two sold-out nights at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
The end result of his successful two-night stint at The Hanover is Kevin James’ new comedy special, “Irregardless,” which started streaming Jan. 23 on Prime Video.
In his first comedy special in five years, James jokes about domestic bliss, how his body is falling apart, his diagnosis with “pre-diabetes” and how every day he lives in fear…And that’s only the first five minutes of the hour-long special.
In a perfect mélange of performer and performance space, James comes to thunderous applause to a bare-bones stage while twirling, kicking, rolling and dancing while the grand architecture of the theater is shown.
James Kronzer, the production designer for the Kevin James special, pitched the idea of a bare-bones stage, where you can see all the pipes and fixtures, to the comedian, and his people and they loved it.
“One of the biggest challenges is coming up with new, interesting, distinct, unique looks that also fit who the comic is,” Kronzer said in an interview with the Telegram & Gazette. “And I just think this was just a great confluence of the theater, his personality and just walking into the space and going, ‘Oh, I think I know what this is,’ and embracing the theater itself because it’s a road house. It’s a classic old touring theater.”