Jay Leno does surprise standup set at Newport's Firehouse Theater

NEWPORT — You could say The Bit Players improv group had a hard act to follow Friday night at the Firehouse Theater.

Or you could say "OMG look who's opening for The Bit Players!" The answer: None other than former "The Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, that's who.

Leno, who bought a residence on the Ocean Drive in Newport two years ago, made a surprise appearance for a 20-minute standup set at the theater located off Broadway at 4 Equality Park Place.

Frank Fusaro, the theater's artistic director, said he was getting the theater ready, sitting with box office manager Tim "Lobo" Linhares and going through tickets when the phone rang Friday. Linhares picked up and the caller told him he was Leno and wanted to do a set on stage. The box office manager thought it was a prank call.

“Yes, of course you can do time, why don’t you come 20 minutes early?” Linhares told the caller.

When the call ended, Fusaro told the box office manager Leno lives in the area. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but told the box office manager to have someone come and grab him if Leno actually showed.

Sure enough, shortly afterward, Leno walked through the doors of the Firehouse Theater.

“He shocked all the performers, their jaws hit the floor,” Fusaro said. “They were kids on Christmas morning.”

Fusaro then took the stage and told the sold-out audience he had a “friend” who was going to perform, if they didn’t mind. He finished off by saying, “Please welcome Jay Leno!”

Some members of the audience were shocked, some didn’t believe it while others cheered and screamed.

“One kid in the front row was like ‘Yeah right,’ and then when he saw him, ‘Holy, expletive!’” Fusaro said.

Apparently, Leno was looking for a place to “workshop some new stuff. He’s starting to do some more standup again. He’s just trying out some new material,” Fusaro said.

He’s getting ready for a tour so he decided to test the waters, even making a couple of jokes that didn’t land well and quipping he “won’t be using that one on tour.”

Right before he went on stage, his wife Mavis called asking where he was, and when he got off stage he told the box office he had to head home, Fusaro said.

The Firehouse Theater has a capacity of 80 people. Every seat was filled for the show, Fusaro said. The next day, Leno called Fusaro and left a voicemail thanking him for letting him perform.

"So in addition to booking his own gig, he followed up,” Fusaro said. “That pretty much sums the guy up, very genuine, straightforward normal guy.”

So will Leno be taking the stage at the Firehouse Theater again? “I hope so!” Fusaro said, “The last thing he said [on the voicemail] was ‘See you soon.’ It’d be really cool.”

Leno, 69, could not be reached for comment. He will be the cover story for the September/October issue of Newport Life Magazine. The issue will hit newsstands Sept. 1.

rthatcher@newportri.com