Opening Night: The Improvised Musical
Every Friday night I accompany a spontaneously-created, Broadway-style musical at IO West. All of us that do this weekly have worked together for a long time; we’re quite at ease and attuned to each other. Although there is always some adrenalin connected with doing a performance, in some way I’m never more relaxed than when I’m playing this show. It’s just a fun game to enjoy with my friends, who play it as well as anyone in the world.
Photo by Katie Harker
Opening Night: The Improvised Musical has been playing on Friday nights at 9 pm for 12 years – our 600th performance took place on December 3, 2010. It was a gala evening, preceded by special publicity and featuring complimentary catering for the whole audience. Charna Halpern, owner of IO West, went all out to honor this milestone. Onstage, Artistic Director James Grace presented us with a spectacular cake that was decorated with our current show poster, reproduced perfectly in icing. (Pictured R-L: Shulie Cowen, James Grace, Derek Miller, Michael Pollock, Norm Thoeming, Hilary Rowe, Joshua Funk)
We had been looking forward to January 7, 2011 for several weeks, knowing that Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer Simpson and many more famous characters) would be coming to work with us. The idea was to kick off the year with him as a guest star in our show, and the word certainly got around. More than an hour before show time there was a line out the door of the theater and down Hollywood Blvd. We’re often sold out; however, this ended up being standing room only to the max – lower floor, balcony, and the entire flight of the stairs to said balcony…good thing the air conditioner was working.
We always rehearse for an hour prior to each performance; Dan joined us for that. He fit smoothly into everything we did from the get-go. What could go wrong? As it came to pass…nothing! We had a virtually perfect show. It ended up being about a disillusioned priest who goes on a journey to examine all the religions of the world – Dan played Satan. The audience was joyous the whole time and went completely nuts at the end. Touchdown! This photo was taken backstage just a few moments after the curtain call. (Pictured L to R: Joshua Funk, Hilary Rowe, Michael Pollock, Derek Miller, Norm Thoeming, Dan Castellaneta, Shulie Cowen)
Photo by Katie Harker
