A new play about the groundbreaking comic Joan Rivers is officially on stage at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis. 

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, serves as the production's executive producer, giving the play the family's stamp of approval. Nicole Parker portrays Joan Rivers, as well as her mother, and described what made Rivers' jokes so special.

"All of it was planned, all of it was specific, but she just made it look like it was just coming right out."

Parker said she hopes to embody Rivers, but says that people shouldn't expect to see an impression.

"There's a couple of words and bits of her accent that I think, if I'm able to do that right in the beginning, then we have the audience say, 'Oh, OK, we recognize this.' And at the same time, I only sort of put my foot on that gas pedal a little bit, because then you have to balance it and make sure that we see her as a human being."

Olivier-award-winning director Tye Blue is excited for audiences to learn more about who Rivers was off stage and told WBZ-TV that "Joan was like a little baudy, a little racy, her humor was a little blue at times, but that was just like a persona."

 "She really is a shining example of, if you're good, you're good and it doesn't matter who you are. And she was just good," Parker said.

"I don't think a lot of people know kind of the back story of her life, her marriage, her parents, what she had to fight for to get what she got and the kind of doors that she opened," Blue explained.

"This show is hilarious," said Cape Playhouse artistic director Eric Rosen. "But it's also deeply moving and very interesting in the exploration of what tragedy fuels comedy."

Intimate theater

Rosen said, "In the 1930s, the New York Times said of us that we are where Broadway goes to summer, and we've kept that idea. And I think we've really invested in it now."

The theater, founded in 1927, was once an 18th-century church.

"Our seats are old pews with very comfortable cushions. And it's a 540-seat theater, but it's very compact. So the audience is very close and very intimate in any seat in the house, which is fantastic," Rosen explained.

Blue feels that intimacy helps Rivers' story break through.

"When you really get to sit back and watch her whole journey, she's such an inspiration. So I hope that people leave feeling inspired and hopeful and that they go after that dream that they've been putting on the shelf. "

You can see "Joan" at the Cape Playhouse through September 20th.