​Baltimore Improv Group to Host Intro to Musical Improv Classes

Every Thursday this May, a small group of people will walk into The BIG Theater in Baltimore with no plan. By the end of the month, they'll be singing and improvising their way through a fully made-up musical. No scripts, no sheet music-just the magic of musical improv​.

Intro to Musical Improv is Baltimore Improv Group's entry-level class for anyone curious about making up songs and scenes on the spot. The four-week class starts May 1 and ends in a live performance on May 29. It's taught by longtime performers Sheree Frank and Brian E. Young, who have been doing musical improv together since 2017.

"You don't have to know how," says Young. "That's what we're here for. We start with the basics and build from there. You'll go from 'I don't sing' to 'wait, did I just sing a duet?' This is my life now!'"​

Students learn how to create characters, build stories, and sing simple improvised songs, all while supporting each other on stage. Most people who take the class haven't done musical improv before. Many haven't done improv at all.

They've taught students who hadn't sung since middle school choir. Students who were nervous to even speak in front of a group. Students who'd tried improv but never done anything musical. The magic comes when that student sings one line in a group number and the whole room lights up.​

"Some people take this class because they want to perform," says Young. "Others take it because they want to feel more confident in everyday life. It's like improv life coaching, because we're definitely not therapists. We're peer facilitators! We can't call it therapy. Maybe don't print that. Anyway, eventually you'll stop overthinking and just be in the moment. You learn to let go of that voice in your head that says, 'nope, not today' and just yes, and your way through life."​

The class starts with exercises in rhythm and singing, then moves into story structure and scene work. The final weeks introduce a style called the Fairy Tale format, a musical improv structure taught at Magnet Theater in New York City. In that format, the group tells a complete fairy tale with heroes, villains, and townsfolk, all through scenes and songs. The plot weaves together and usually ends in a satisfying (and funny) finale.

By the time the students perform their showcase, Frank and Young don't help other than provide live piano accompaniment. The cast does it all.

What's more, you'll meet other people who share your love for the weird and wonderful.

"We've made so many great friends through improv," says Frank. "I even did a reading at two improv friends' wedding once! They met through improv. There's just something about making things up that brings people closer together.​ We've done so many things together-both on and off stage. And honestly? We're all braver than we thought we were when we started. You might walk in thinking, 'I'll never do this,' but by the end of the class, you'll realize you've just been saying 'yes' to new things, and that's huge. We spread this because it worked for us, and it can work for you, too."​

If you've ever belted a showtune in the car, missed theater since high school, dreamed of being on stage, or just want something playful and brave to try this spring, Intro to Musical Improv with Baltimore Improv Group starts May 1.​

"It's like a fairy tale musical," says Young. "You learn to build a world, set up a story, and find the heart of a character, all through song and scene."

Classes meet Thursdays from May 1 through May 22, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at Baltimore Improv Group (1727 N Charles St). The showcase will be Thursday, May 29. Tuition is $180 for the full course. If cost is an issue, email kim@bigimprov.org for options.​

To register or learn more, visit baltimoremusicalimprov.com/may. Sheree Frank and Brian E. Young perform together with Bad Karaoke Experience, a musical improv team known for off-the-cuff musicals and original songs. Both trained in musical improv at BIG and at the Magnet Theater in NYC. Young is also a non-practicing classical piano major. Frank once played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in Ohio.

"We meet you where you are," says Young. "Whether you were the lead in every school musical or you've only ever sung in the shower."

Whether you want to build confidence, get back on stage, or just try something weird and joyful, this class might be what you've been waiting for.