Improvised Musical Kicks Off Heritage Center Season
Impromptu songs, dances, skits and jokes will highlight an improvisational season-opening performance at Alma College’s Remick Heritage Center.
The iO Theatre of Chicago presents The Improvised Musical at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 and up, and free for Alma College staff, students, and youth 18 and under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.
The company’s improvisers take suggested themes from the audience and then create all the elements of a big time Broadway musical, complete with plot, music, choreography and lyrics.
Cast from The Improved Musical
“It will be completely original—an experience different from any other event on campus,” says Mike Sheldon, event coordinator for the Remick Heritage Center. “It’s like an edgier version of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ and just as much fun. The ImprovOlympic Theatre, which is what iO stands for, is famous in many circles for being very, very funny.”
This fall’s improvisation show will be the group’s second time performing at Alma College this year. In January, the iO Theatre performed Shakespearean dialogue and skits.
“The students thought it was hilarious, so we wanted another chance to share this group’s improvisational talents with the whole campus and well as the greater Alma community,” says Sheldon.
For more than 25 years, the iO Theatre has been recruiting new troupe members and regaling audiences with its improvisational skills. More than 5,000 actors and comedians have experience with the improv group. Sheldon is quick to tick off the names of some celebrities.
“Steve Carrell and Jimmy Fallon both started through iO Theatre,” he says. “Who knows? Some of these performers might be movie stars someday.”
Other iO Theatre alumni include Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Mike Meyers, Vince Vaughn, Niel Flynn, Adam McKay and Rachel Dratch.
Posted: Wed, September 8th, 2010 at 11:02AM
