Jet City Improv Debuts THE ADVENTURES OF GILBERT & SULLIVAN, Now thru 4/19
Get ready for a seemingly impossible feat - an improvised musical done Gilbert and Sullivan style. This spring, Jet City Improv is setting sail with The Adventures of Gilbert & Sullivan! - an extraordinary unscripted musical that puts audiences at the helm of a topsy-turvy tribute to Victorian England's most brilliant songwriters.
This improvised operatic event follows the young William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (re-imaged as newly minted ensigns in Her Majesty's navy) as they sail around the world. The audience takes on the role of "the crew" and decides Gilbert & Sullivan's destination and purpose as they travel to their next exotic port. Each locale brings new characters, abilities and desires. Misadventures and bad luck are sure to follow. Laughter is guaranteed!
While Jet City Improv has produced improvised musicals in the past (based on Grease, RENT, and Titanic) the herculean feat of running an ever-changing Savoy Opera without a script brings the improvised musical to a whole new level. Show creator and director Joe Koenen explains his motivation for taking on some of musical theater's earliest source material: "at the age of 12, I watched the 1980's revival ofPirates of Penzanceon a tape my sister rented from the video store. It was amazing . . . hilarious, sad - and a little bit scary. But the jokes never stopped. I want audiences to have that same joy of discovery I had as a boy and I hope to give them the confidence to seek out the original after they've seen us, because they're just plain hooked on how much fun it is."
The cast features some of Seattle's best improvisers and actors: Lauren Bond (Final Fantasy: The Improvised Adventures), Nate Cox (Western Washington University's Dead Parrot Society), Dave Clapper (JCI's Quiz Show), Amalia Larson (JCI's Gauntlet), Will Li (JCI's It's Your Wonderful Life), Casey Middaugh (JCI's Epic Masala), Ryan Miller (JCI's Zombie Town) and Doug Willott (JCI's Election Show).
The production runs Thursday and Friday nights from tonight, Feb 28 to April 19 with a special opening night gala on Feb 28 featuring an actor Q & A. There are no performances on Mar 28 and 29. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 (with ID) for students, seniors, military personnel and TPS members. For more information, click HERE.
Jet City Improv is dedicated to enlightening, educating and entertaining audiences of all ages by producing theatrical events that explore theater through its improvisational roots. Their goal is to bring the art of improvisation into the mainstream thought of everyday culture. Jet City Improv performs six shows every weekend at their bright yellow theater in the University District of Seattle Washington. Over the course of any given month, these shows may include feature length shows (unscripted plays), their flagship Jet City Improv show, midnight shows, and their popular improvised re-dubbed film events known asTwisted Flicks. All Jet City Improv performances are produced by Wing-It Productions, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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