Jet City Improv Presents UPSIDE DOWNTON, Now thru 2/14

Jet City Improv is dusting off the chandeliers and lining up the servants in order to kick off 2014 with Upside Downton, their loving homage to Downton Abbey which will run Thursday and Friday nights starting the same week the TV show returns to PBS.

Inspired by the BBC's runaway hit, Upside Downton is a hilarious and unscripted play following the trials and tribulations of a wealthy estate in Edwardian England as love, family, and the future of fortunes all hang in the balance. A cast of eight improvisers play the entire slate of upstairs and downstairs characters, weaving together brand new story lines at every performance based on suggestions from the audience. One lucky audience member will also have the chance to join the characters on stage for a pivotal (and possibly scandalous) dinner.

"Downton Abbey is a show that grabbed me emotionally from the first episode," says creator and director Andrew McMasters, who also directed Jet City Improv's runaway hit Austen Translation last winter. "The goal in making Upside Downton was to take that emotional pull from the TV show and bring it to an improvised format. The actors have all been studying the character types, the situations, and the themes of the show so they can make Upside Downton their own version of the things we all love about the show."

The cast features some of Seattle's best improvisers and actors: Molly Arkin (JCI's Blak Cloud), Jon Axell (JCI's Austen Translation), NiCK Edwards (JCI's Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas), Randy Miller (JCI's World's Fair), Mandy Price (JCI's Austen Translation), Ian Schempp (JCI's Election Show), Laura Turner (JCI's Lost Folio), and Elicia Wickstead (JCI's Austen Translation).

The production runs Thursday and Friday nights from today, Jan 9 to Feb 14 with a special Opening Night Gala on Jan 9 featuring a Q & A with the actors followed by complimentary cake and champagne. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 (with ID) for students, seniors, and military personnel and TPS members. The show will feature loud music and strobe effects that may be frightening for younger audiences.

About Jet City Improv 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 as Twisted Flicks. All Jet City Improv performances are produced by Wing-It Productions, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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