Sea Tea Improv Celebrates 2nd Birthday, 4/3

Despite the challenges of a continuously struggling economy and a sparse downtown population, Sea Tea Improv has had no trouble knocking nineteen monthly shows out of the park. On Sunday, April 3rd, Sea Tea will celebrate the twenty consecutive monthly shows that launched them into the Hartford Arts scene.

The show will be held at 7 pm in City Steam's Brew Ha-Ha Comedy Club at 942 Main Street in Hartford. Reservations can be made at (860) 525-1600. Audience members may order food and drinks off of City Steam's menu throughout the performance. As always, the show is free; Sea Tea Improv welcomes donations at the conclusion of the evening.

In celebration of the birthday, the troupe has invited local band String Theorie (whose  own birthday is only a few months later than Sea Tea Improv's) to play before the show  and to perform some crossover musical games. The members of Sea Tea Improv and  String Theorie have supported each other through their independent beginnings and  have helped to forge a creative, collaborative new branch of the arts community.

String Theorie is an Instrumental World Fusion band from Central Connecticut that brings  together fingerstyle acoustic guitar, modern bass technique, and a wide variety of world  percussion instruments to forge a sound that can't really be described in words. The band  draws influences from such diverse artists as Michael Hedges, Victor Wooten, Minus the  Bear, Henry Mancini, and more. Notable events, appearances and venues range from  WNPR's Where We Live, the Mark Twain Museum and the Lyceum to the Studio at Billings  Forge, all based in Hartford, CT. Their self-titled EP is available on iTunes, CD Baby and  other online music retailers. Their full-length album is scheduled to be released early in 2011.

Sea Tea Improv began performing at City Steam in July of 2009 in a back room with an audience of 50. By November of that year, the audience had grown so much that the troupe moved down to the Brew Ha-Ha Comedy Club in the basement. Before long, Sea Tea was building a loyal fan base as well as attracting new audience members for every show. The shows have been so popular that they have sold out entirely for many consecutive months.

"Our success has been an absolute delight," says co-founder Greg Ludovici. "We love what we do, we love our audience, and we love Hartford, so we feel honored to have the opportunity to keep going. "

The shows at City Steam are only one facet of the troupe's hectic performance schedule: in 2010 they performed over 50 individual shows, at big-name venues such as the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Stage Company, the Mark Twain House,  Playhouse on Park, and First Night, as well as in small venues such as La Paloma  Sabanera and the Wethersfield Corn Fest. No place is too large, small, or unusual  for them to perform.

In the meantime, Sea Tea Improv launched its website (www.seateaimprov.com), took  on four new members to meet the performance demands, began teaching courses, and  kept on learning themselves. More than half of the troupe has completed advanced  coursework at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City and Improv Boston. The  Sea Tea team has also taken multiple opportunities to expand their individual skills by  branching out and taking workshops in musical improv, sketch writing, movement, radio  drama, and more.

Perhaps Sea Tea Improv's largest accomplishment was being runner-up for HYPE's  Hartford's Best New Business of 2010 Award. They are also now teaching the  improvisational courses at the Hartford Stage, which is where the members first met  two and a half years ago.

For more information on Sea Tea Improv please visit seateaimprov.com, or call  (860) 578-4TEA.

 

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