...to put together the best musical improv troupe in the city, surpassing anything else you might have seen in New York.
We do not want to form just a rehearsal group. We want to start from the beginning with the understanding that this will be a professional-quality performing group, in a regular venue. There are several of us producing and we already have a fantastic musical director. The idea is to raise the length and level of musical improv to be Off-Broadway ready. (Don't consider this unless you want to perform, can sing in front of others, and can handle
longer, more demanding shows!) The end result will be a 1 1/2 hour (or so) show with intermission; ticket prices will reflect the show's length and quality. Although financial details are still in the works, it is anticipated that you generally will NOT be asked to pay for rehearsal space, coaches, etc., and eventually there will be some compensation for performance.
I should note that we have a very specific vision of what we want to accomplish, so read the following to see if it sounds like something you'd want to be a part of (if commitments allow).
1. Good Musical Improv Song Ability.
Many musical improvisers have no structure and form when it comes to their songs. Is this a tagline song, or a verse/chorus? Is the chorus recognizable enough that others can join in? Most improv music is very loose with no structure. Our last group (Major 7th) regularly created songs that we were still humming weeks later. We'd also like everyone to be able to handle more advanced musical forms - extra codas, unusual structure, people trading off verses dynamically, etc. A natural extension of this will be learning some basics of music theory, which will be invaluable to being able to write good songs on the fly.
2. Good Scene work
Often in musical improv, the scenic work gets forgotten. While the scene work may be quicker (in order to fit around the songs), it can still make sense. Our form will be longer than even most longform, so time for scene work is essential. Understanding how to keep a coherent plot together will be important. For what this group is going to be doing, a certain amount of physicality will be required, verbal scene-setting, special effects, etc. What we want to do is going to require a fair amount of camp and a LOT of energy.
3. New and Unique Long Forms
We *don't* want to do just a series of scenes into songs, or song-like games. While I do like that kind of thing and we may use it in rehearsal, the end product in my mind is going to be a specific few long forms (like, but not exactly like, a musical). If you don't like having to do long form, or really think HARD about plot and character, this isn't for you.
What we are looking for is fairly specific. We need people with Improv experience (at least a couple of years, including classes at Chicago City Limits, Upright Citizens Brigade, or the equivalent). You will also need enough musical experience to be able to sing well and harmonize. This isn't one of those "as long as you can improvise well then singing isn't that important" ideas. The first few rehearsals will be alternating musical and scenic, but with some amount of music each rehearsal to keep your chops up.
Thanks for your consideration - let me know if you have questions. You can get the quickest response by emailing me at ernieprivetera@hotmail.com. I'll watch the thread in case there are public questions.
We do not want to form just a rehearsal group. We want to start from the beginning with the understanding that this will be a professional-quality performing group, in a regular venue. There are several of us producing and we already have a fantastic musical director. The idea is to raise the length and level of musical improv to be Off-Broadway ready. (Don't consider this unless you want to perform, can sing in front of others, and can handle
longer, more demanding shows!) The end result will be a 1 1/2 hour (or so) show with intermission; ticket prices will reflect the show's length and quality. Although financial details are still in the works, it is anticipated that you generally will NOT be asked to pay for rehearsal space, coaches, etc., and eventually there will be some compensation for performance.
I should note that we have a very specific vision of what we want to accomplish, so read the following to see if it sounds like something you'd want to be a part of (if commitments allow).
1. Good Musical Improv Song Ability.
Many musical improvisers have no structure and form when it comes to their songs. Is this a tagline song, or a verse/chorus? Is the chorus recognizable enough that others can join in? Most improv music is very loose with no structure. Our last group (Major 7th) regularly created songs that we were still humming weeks later. We'd also like everyone to be able to handle more advanced musical forms - extra codas, unusual structure, people trading off verses dynamically, etc. A natural extension of this will be learning some basics of music theory, which will be invaluable to being able to write good songs on the fly.
2. Good Scene work
Often in musical improv, the scenic work gets forgotten. While the scene work may be quicker (in order to fit around the songs), it can still make sense. Our form will be longer than even most longform, so time for scene work is essential. Understanding how to keep a coherent plot together will be important. For what this group is going to be doing, a certain amount of physicality will be required, verbal scene-setting, special effects, etc. What we want to do is going to require a fair amount of camp and a LOT of energy.
3. New and Unique Long Forms
We *don't* want to do just a series of scenes into songs, or song-like games. While I do like that kind of thing and we may use it in rehearsal, the end product in my mind is going to be a specific few long forms (like, but not exactly like, a musical). If you don't like having to do long form, or really think HARD about plot and character, this isn't for you.
What we are looking for is fairly specific. We need people with Improv experience (at least a couple of years, including classes at Chicago City Limits, Upright Citizens Brigade, or the equivalent). You will also need enough musical experience to be able to sing well and harmonize. This isn't one of those "as long as you can improvise well then singing isn't that important" ideas. The first few rehearsals will be alternating musical and scenic, but with some amount of music each rehearsal to keep your chops up.
Thanks for your consideration - let me know if you have questions. You can get the quickest response by emailing me at ernieprivetera@hotmail.com. I'll watch the thread in case there are public questions.
