Dark Gables at ACME - Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Topic: Improv
A Super strong follow-on to Preview Night #2 (see website for details and synopsis at www.acmecomedy.com). We saw Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie) begin a misleading session with Doruk Mamut Aktas (Robert Covarrubias - LRP) with a correction by Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) to never let Aktas see the "book." 3 very sharp prop improvisations occurred - first Francisco (Edmund O'Brien), addressing a complaint by Leticia Norburton (Sue Peahl) that her usual chairs seemed to be missing this evening, and thus having to "lean" her way through the scene, showed up bearing 2 in-hand, one of which was in-midst of being repaired with gluing clamps. Francisco used them to best effect.

Later, a trap door was offered to be underneath the futon bed, wherein Francisco offered to demonstrate how it worked (and belatedly realized how little room there actually is underneath the framework). Aktas had left behind his coat on a settee, when Francisco was supposed to be re-appearing into a different room, when Leticia promptly corrected him for being unauthorized in obviously Aktas's room - she promptly folded it up and put it back stage. Then, when Aktas was confronted by Lester Coldwater (Ethan Karson) and Aubrey Fessenden Fitzpiglet (Kristen Trucksess), before the lights came up, he ran back stage and restored the coat to its position. Musette (Tracy Burns) and Gretchen Hasselhoff (Porter Kelly) now have a dark secret to Gretchen's mother's past, which both need to keep hidden. And both are being offered the social tutoring by Brother Tobias and Lester, respectively. Finally, Aktas offered to remove Aubrey's burning bracelet charm, planning to struggle with it and let it burn him - but it instantly popped right off and dropped to the floor. Looking in wonderment, Aktas proclaimed immediate success and Aubrey recovered.

Dark Gables at ACME - Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Topic: Improv
Strong follow-on to Preview Night #1 (see website for details at www.acmecomedy.com). We saw Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) challenge Aubrey Fessenden Fitzpiglet (Kristen Trucksess) to "finish this sentence" Dark green.... Elves - which wasn't quite the sign of the connection to the "lost race," but it was interesting nonetheless. Musette (Tracy Burns) has brought the entire ensemble into a new comfort zone of physically working in very close proximity to each other, which has ramped up the perceived tension quite a bit from the traditional show format. Good attention paid to what was going on elsewhere on-stage, though an interesting subtle scene where Leticia Norburton (Sue Peahl) was hiding behind a counter with her vast piles of raven locks showing seemed to get bypassed during the intrepid down-stage discussion between Gretchen Hasselhoff (Porter Kelly) and Lester Coldwater (Ethan Karson), so eventually a few minutes passed and she glided off stage left and re-appeared to end the scene. An odd moment occurred when Thorne entered a scene with Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie) and Musette and Francisco (Edmund O'Brien) at the graveyard because too many players were active at once and it took a few moments to get the scene focused on a specific conversation pair. A couple of the characters lost scene focus and gave each other that "well, who's going next?" look we're familiar with in classwork.

2 Decent Shows in Orlando
Topic: Improv
Visited the Comedy Warehouse in Pleasure Island - all short-form (expected) and interesting to see how they deal with inebriated guest suggestions. Very nice technical sound set-up, using software-based sample playback on demand.

Also visited the SAK Comedy Lab to see their "Generation S" graduate show on 5/4/2005 - solid work (more short-form) with a few interesting exercises (forward/reverse, replay last scene, and the running theme being "Star Wars" with a napsack full of memorabilia being gifted to the winning team of 3. Super-spotless 150-seat theatre with full lighting and sound. Sharing space in the City of Orlando's Centroplex garage complex, with a full concession-area worthy of a movie theater, it's very odd to see such a large financial investment on a $300/course improv studio, compared with the normal state of affairs in Los Angeles.

The Tiny and Les Show #4 [Acme Comedy Theatre] - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Playing Thursdays through May 26 (8 p.m.) - an outstanding fully improvised musical, song and dance show featuring 7 of the area's top improvisers.

Tonight's show: The song stylings of Toro Jones, starring Michele Spears (as Tess Turcovic alternating with Lisa Frederickson), Edi Patterson (Romulin - in absentia for 2 shows), Brian Lohmann (as Les Ability - Impro Theatre), Gary Anthony Williams (home nursing a sick spouse), Mike McShane (as Barron Alain De Straange - Shakespeare Unscripted), Sue Peahl (super hot Peanuts Tunisia - LRP) and David Keeton (as Tiny Talent - musical accompanist.) Remember to have those memorable song titles handy to shout out... Very high quality quartet work tonight. A *very* broad range of genres covered from torch songs to hip-hop and surfer tunes.

Impro Theatre Longform Show #2 - Theatre and Artists Theatre - Los Feliz 4/24/05
Topic: Improv
Buddy Cop (at the Zoo) and Passion Noir (in a Candy Store) featuring Jo McGinley, Misha Collins, Carla Rosati, Gary Rae, Nick Massough and Nils Vaule as directed by Glenn Camhi. As our Bitter and Sweet cops find themselves challenged to a murder scene with wild animals roaming about, a much more nefarious criminal intent is at work taking advantage of our animal's "capacity" to carry out a fiendish plan with a sharpened tongue to exact revenge. The quintessent lure of a saccarhine-laced shop of fine combustibles sets the scene for a lovely couple vending their way to success, only to be embittered by the sweeter taste of greed and lust. Good timing and plenty of individual and couplet space work with a much more refined pace than the prior show.

The Tiny and Les Show #2 [Acme Comedy Theatre] - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Playing Thursdays through May 26 (8 p.m.) - an outstanding fully improvised musical, song and dance show featuring 7 of the area's top improvisers.

Tonight's show: The song stylings of Iniki Brown, starring Lisa Frederickson (alternating with Michele Spears), Edi Patterson (Fellowship), Brian Lohmann (Impro Theatre), Gary Anthony Williams (ala Malcom in the Middle and Liquid Radio Players), Mike McShane (Shakespeare Unscripted), Sue Peahl (LRP) and David Keeton (musical accompanist). The show rocks - see it now! And remember to have those memorable song titles handy to shout out...

Theatre and Artists Theatre - Los Feliz - 4/3/05
Topic: Improv
Buddy Cop & Tennessee Williams featuring Tracy Burns, Floyd van Buskirk, Misha Collins, Kathleen Lohmann, Jo McGinley, Steve Ounanian, Carla Rosati as directed by Glenn Camhi and Brian Lohmann. Steamy hot (temperature specifically) performance space, with and equally moving performance by regulars and first-timers. Very good work together, and only a few missed/dropped bits in between. A nice Cop story around an arch-villain out to control the world through chemically-laced knock-off watches. A TW tail over a husband-swap, a frog named Brian, and a rich man-poor man tale. www.theatresports.com

3/30/05 What's My Line - Live on Stage / 3/31/05 Liquid Radio Players Finale
Topic: Improv
www.jkeith.net - Hosted by J. Keith Van Straaten - Mystery Guest: the inimitable Brett Butler. The panel included Mink Stole, Jason Kravits, Teresa Strasser and Brad Sherwood (currently touring with Colin Mochrie in a short-form improv show - http://www.colinmochrie.com/work/EveningwithColinandBrad.html ) - Videotaped for a pilot to a completely over-filled house.
www.liquidradioplayers.com - Robert Covarrubias, Kimberly Lewis, Gary Rae (foley), Gary Anthony Williams, Matt Olsen, Brian Breiter (host), Bill Chott - and on The Fantom-X (Jonathan Green) - Too Darn Hot was down their instrumentalist lead guitar, but better on melody and physicality. Presenting the Kid Sleuth adventure "The Tap-Dancing Detective" - a solid closing season performance.

LRP - www.liquidradioplayers.com
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Very nice rendition of "Flying Death Fighters" by Brian Breiter (Host), Susan Peahl, Dave Cox,
Jeannie Roshar, Bill Chott, Gary Rae (foley), an okay though heart-felt specialty act by "Too Darn Hot", and a pretty full audience of family members drove the evening to a volcanic rise. Brian's a little over-loading in his narration and tended to lead the story along a bit more than the usual host. I still think Gary does the best foley work of the bunch.

3/24/05 and 3/31/05 are the final performances this season before hiatus begins, so catch 'em while they're hot.

Discount tix available at www.goldstarevents.com

Started F3 - Narrative at Impro Theatre - www.theatresports.com
Mood:  special
Now Playing: www.theatresports.com
Topic: Improv
Glenn Camhi is simply marvelous at bouncing us through the odd-ball world of creating instance stories that make sense and are enjoyable (versus mindless rambling and endless detours).

We're picking up an incredible amount of structural understanding of how platform and tilts work (aka the plot and inciting event), as well as a good heavy dose of long-form story-work.

3 for All at the BayFront Theatre - SFO 3/18-19 Only!
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: http://improv.org/shows/3forall.htm
Topic: Improv
www.3forall.com - Rafe Chase, Stephen Kearin and Tim Orr in probably one of the last remaining West Coast shows before they head off to New York are doing a fund-raiser for BayFront to help defray the costs of a new ADA-compliant theatre remodeling.

$20 BAYFRONT THEATRE Building B, Third Floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123

Courtesy of BayAreaTheatreSports. See it NOW and prepare for the best damned improv team in the world!

Beijing Modern Dance Co - Rear Light
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Dorothy Chandler Pavillion - Music Center LA
Topic: Other
http://www.ccdc.com.hk/2005/ - This was their premier tour outside of China for their acclaimed production "Rear Light" based upon the soundtrack from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - movie version. Great spirit, awesome light and use of thread-bare prop work! Tight emotional ties to movement. True modern dance in the respect that you won't see the Dance version of the movie here - quite exceptionally engaging. Considering this troup normally performs for a small 200-seat rotating audience in Beijing (very like what we might find in our 99-seat AEA performances), they spellbind this 1,200 seat crowd with ease. Great 30 minute interview afterwards with Willy Tsao (artistic director) and Ma Bo (choreographer).

Ironman Improv [2/19/2005]
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Impro Theatre LA - www.theatresports.com
Topic: Improv
What do you get when you take some of the top Improv educators in the nation, add 12 ready, willing and able impro students and put them together for 8 hours in a work studio? Nuclear Impro Fusion!

Stephen Kearin - Object and Space Work - it's all in the details.

Jennifer Eolin - Organic Improv - working with what you have and what's there.

Michele Spears - Improvisation from the Neck Down - a concentrated dose of F2.

Brian Lohmann - Improvised Shakespearean Villains and Tyrants - how to create the ultimate anti-improv characters.

Floyd Van Buskirk - Improvising from Absolutely Nothing - think 1 improvisor + and empty stage and no subject, theme, or objects. It can be done!

And finally, an all-out TheatreSports(tm) match conducted by Seth Brown with a round-robin mix-up of all 16 players. (one team 1 was in nailed 5 wins in a row!)

Other notables in attendance - Dan O'Conner (World Cup Comedy), Bob Kryczko and Bob Kryczko (courtesy of Ventura Area TS), and Jo McGinley herself.

More than anything could be imagined - absolutely over-the-top!

World Cup Comedy Live [2/12/2005]
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: PAX TV and www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
A rock the house live recreation of PAX TV's hit show World Cup Comedy was brought to the live stage tonight at the ACME, thanks to Dan O?Connor and Mary Gallagher hosting, Stephen Kearin revisiting the Interviewer, and hosting 7 of the national finalists in the latest WCC Talent Search, with 9 of the returning players from the original Series 1 cast (including my prof Michele Spears, and Kari Coleman).

Totally Hot!

Silver Screen Unscripted - 2/11/2005
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - Fridays at 8 PM - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Fractured Flickers... Mystery Science Theatre 3000... The Narration Game...

Take 8 improv talents, sit them in front of video clips ranging from cartoons to spaghetti westerns and what do you get? Improv Comedy with a multi-media twist.

Needs some work at direction and staging so that the audience can see the talent performing (instead of the backs of their heads), but otherwise pretty good stuff. And give that poor foley artist more things to play with!

This was a Preview show - scheduled to launch early in March.

Eleemosynary at the McKinley Arts & Crafts Center [Reno, NV 2/10/2005]
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: http://www.theatercoalition.org/article_display.php?article_key=383
Topic: Drama
Happened to be in Reno - caught a wonderful local staging by Stephanie Richardson of Eleemosynary (by Lee Blessing) starring 3 great teenaged talents - Weston Spann (Echo), Kristan Brown (Artie) and Taylor Thomas (Dorothea).

Lead is was by Stefan Ballard-Reisch performing Stream of Conscience 1992 (by Brian Frishman). Very nice solo work.

Also playing (for the next 3 months) at the Bruka Theatre is a large production of Amadeus, which is gathering pretty high reviews for its fullness and complexity of production.

Review at: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/2005-02-10/theater.asp

Liquid Radio Theatre - [2/3/2005]
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - http://www.acmecomedy.com
Tonight's cast - Travis Oates, Robert Covarrubias, Kristen Trucksess, Dave Cox, Jesse Mackey, Matt Olsen, Steve Benaquist (Foley). A not bad, could be improved act set, Steve's better as a player than foley (needed much more time to familiarize with the props).

Otherwise a solid performance of The Mystery Train of Rainbow Gulch (also known as Macchu Picchu).

http://www.liquidradioplayers.com

Fellowship extended *AGAIN* - New Venue - The MET
EXTENDED and MOVED to NEW VENUE after POPULAR DEMAND!

A hilarious musical parody of the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring". Featuring 12 original songs. You'll see barefooted tap dancing Hobbits, an elf and human singing an 80's power ballad, and a terrifying creature of shadow and flame performing his sequined studded cabaret number. If you are a fan of "The Lord of the Rings", a fan of musicals, or a fan of laughing till it hurts, Fellowship! is too much fun to miss.

Look to the LEFT side menu and under PICK A PLAY- Select Fellowship - The MET


https://www.plays411.com/website/htmlconsumer/play_info.asp

Opens
Thursday, February 3, 2005

Closes
Saturday, March 19, 2005

Runs
Thurs, Fri, Sat 8 pm


Reservations
(323) 960-7774

Tickets
$15 Thurs, Fri, $20 Sat

MET Theatre
Multiple Stages
1089 N. Oxford Ave
Hollywood, CA 90029

LV Summary [We Will Rock You / Mamma Mia / Society of Seven 1/24-26/05]
We Will Rock You - Paris Hilton (no relation...) Las Vegas - Queen tribute - strong voiced, though the male lead (playing Galileo Figaro) was straining his highs. Scaramouche was played by a clonette of Les Miz's Cosette - nice delicate touch. Story drives the musical - songs fit in where they can. Lots of set decor in a future-trash ghetto setting. Lots of US pop references. A little bit overly staged, but musically sound.

Mamma Mia - Mandalay Bay LV - ABBA tribute. Power voiced, female lead playing Donna performed her best during The Winner Takes it All. Light sets with great lighting and stage disco subflooring. Good reason for the continued success here. Strong comedic improv work by the cast.

Society of Seven with Lani Misalucha - the filipina has a strong voice, good air, and tends to over-belt (ala Whitney Houston) and delay her starts (Liza Minelli does this, whereas Melissa Manchester and Bette Midler do not) - strongest impressions she did were Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand. But this act is all about Tony, Bert, Gary, Wayne, Hoku, Roy and Randy - they've been at this for over 30 years and the talent shows. Along with the usual Vegas Rat Pack skits, the foreshortened Lion King and Phantom of the Opera acts made for another solid showing. Schedule updates on the SOS website - met with the fellows, who let me know that Bert's wife is doing the official website (which is 20MB worth of flash-enabled graphics.)

Acme Day Players at the ACME Comedy Theatre [1/22/05]
Interesting stuff - 4 acts of single act comedic plays written, rehearsed and staged within 24-hours of the performance. This evening: solid writing, some very talented comedic acting, and premise development that was quite daring and provocative. Cool stuff - currently scheduled to play for the next 5 Saturdays at 10 p.m. www.acmecomedy.com