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    Comedy Preview: #Hashtag Comedy’s “TBD: The Musical!”

    Throughout its history, musical theater has imitated, defined, and reinvigorated popular culture. It’s delved into fantasy (The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and romance (Oklahoma!, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). It’s re-introduced us to past events and bygone eras (Hamilton, Grease, Evita), and has been an important vehicle for political and social commentary (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rent, Hairspray, West Side Story, Les Misérables).

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    And while a musical’s messages are compelling, perhaps the live spectacle through which they’re delivered is even more so; an experience that musicians, actors, singers, and the audience share in a single space where songs and scripts intertwine. There’s a lot of risk involved in that endeavor; anyone who has appeared in or been involved in the production of any kind of stage musical will know that the sheer physicality and focus needed to bring a show to life – and do it well – is tremendous.

    Photo by Brad Lefeld.
    Alex Dodge (left) and John Kuhn (right) in rehearsals — Photo by Brad Lefeld.

    Imagine, then, a musical that has no written score, no lines of dialogue, no director’s notes, no cues – and whose inspiration isn’t from a carefully constructed story line, but from a single suggestion shouted out by an audience member at the start of the show. If that sounds like an exciting way to spend an evening, the folks at #Hashtag Comedy hope you’ll enthusiastically buy a ticket or two to their latest production, TBD: The Musical!, which will make its debut on Friday, May 13 at ShadowboxLive’s Backstage Bistro.

    #Hashtag Comedy has assembled its own regular cast along with a generous sampling of other improvisers from around Columbus to mount TBD‘s initial two-show run. I sat down with three of the show’s principle players – #Hashtag‘s Sarah J. Storer and Fake Bacon Improv‘s Alex Dodge and Alex Lefeld – to discuss the process of developing such an ambitious production and to learn what audiences can expect when they show up.

    What inspired you to create an improvised musical? Are there current shows or ideas you’re using as a model?

    Sarah: “I’ve always been a big fan of ‘if you don’t see what you want, create it.’ There was some musical improv in town, but there wasn’t yet a full-length, Broadway-esque staged musical. So I sat down, did a bunch of research, pulled from my own experience and plotted out some high level beats for a compelling, two-act musical. I wanted to hit all the memorable things audiences love about musicals, like big show-stopping group numbers and heart-wrenching solos. I also wanted to create a show that not only provided a lot of laughs, but also sounded really good, too. We have some talented vocalists in town who also happen to be able to improvise. I wanted the audience to have the full experience.”

    Alex Dodge: “The show was really Sarah’s brainchild in the beginning. She approached a few folks and pitched the idea, and it was big and scary at first, but it was also really exciting. I had done a few full-length improvised plays, and the thought of having to put up a show that size while also juggling music and group numbers was such a challenge that I couldn’t say no. The show is really built around the genre of musical theater as a whole, rather than one particular show. We need to be flexible enough on stage to build the show that the audience has given us—we get a suggestion of a title at the beginning of the show, and we build characters out of that, so we can’t limit ourselves to one model. Instead we use all of musical theater as our inspiration. We look for structures shared by many musicals. For example, so many shows feature simple protagonists with big desires, or a villain who wants to exploit someone’s talent, or advice from an unexpected source. We take the idea that the audience gives us for a character or plot, and then we work to find those structures that make a musical, a musical.”

    For those who have never seen an improv show – or an improv musical, especially – what format or structure does the show follow?

    Sarah: “The structure is very reminiscent of a traditional, two-act musical that starts and ends with big group numbers and has some fun, catchy and emotional stuff all in between. There are beats that should feel very familiar to anyone who has ever watched or listened to a musical before…the only difference is this has no script and no set score.”

    Alex Lefeld: “The form is very fluid because it is all improvised. We want to create a cohesive story with dynamic characters that the audience wants to root for, but the show could go anywhere so we don’t know what is going to happen next. We will, however, have group numbers, duets, and individual ballads within our two-act show.”

    How are the performers – the improvisers and the musicians who will accompany them during the shows – preparing for their roles in advance given that there is no script, no score, and no set stage direction?

    Sarah: “For me, I do a lot of homework behind the scenes by simply listening to a lot of musicals and picking out the themes and sounds they have in common. As a group, we rehearse together and hit different parts of the show, from the solo numbers to the big group numbers. We try to find the essential themes in certain numbers. For example, an “I want” solo – think “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, or “Sante Fe” from Newsies – has two essential parts: a big, emotional want and an implied obstacle or obstacles to getting that want.”

    Alex Dodge: “We have a pretty fun rehearsal process.  We really have two modes…the first is to work on skills. We practice making up scenes and creating strong and interesting interactions, and we practice creating songs from scratch.  We will often pick a type of musical number – a solo song about wanting something, or a big opening group number, or a love duet – and then we do a whole bunch of them, so that everyone gets to create one a few times and we give notes and talk about how to make each type of song stronger. The second mode is just creating whole shows.  We’ve created whole musicals in rehearsal, some of them really good, and no one saw any of them, but every one of those musicals was important to create because it lets us practice putting a show together and figure out what does and doesn’t work.”

    Are there any specific challenges you had to consider in producing the show that were different from a typical improv performance?

    Sarah: “Having a pianist (Brian Tysl) who is essentially another character in the show is different from a typical #Hashtag performance in that we don’t have the same on-stage relationship with him – for example, constant eye contact or the ability for physical contact – as we would with another performer. But we still trust him implicitly as we would anyone else. (He) really helps to shape the show by the way he starts a song, the style he uses, or even the type of sound – funky organ versus a sweet piano – he uses. Pacing is also another challenge; it’s not a smash-mouth, short-form show. We have to put together on the spot two, well-timed thirty-minute halves that make a cohesive one hour story –  and all without boring or confusing our audience.”

    Alex Lefeld: “This is show is a creation by the community, for the community, so it was nice having a lot of hands helping with all aspects of the show. #Hashtag Comedy was courteous to allow our group to share the stage with them at Shadowbox in order to make this a continuing show, it also helps to have #Hashtag members in the group. This show is a little easier to advertise because you don’t have to explain what a musical is when you sometimes have to reiterate what improv is.”

    What makes a great musical, in your opinion? 

    Sarah: “I think in many ways, a great musical is about personal taste, but mainly, a great musical will have at least one number that wows you, one number that tugs at your heart, and one number that you hum on the way home.”

    Alex Dodge: “I’ve always liked Peter Brook’s quote: ‘be interesting.’  It seems so simple, but, really great musicals manage to be interesting, and they can do it in a lot of ways.  It can be a really compelling character like in Sweeney Todd or Company, or as complex social critique in Book of Mormon, or it can just be funny like Urinetown!

    Alex Lefeld: “Big showstoppers, dynamic characters, relatable relationships, humor, drama…I could go on all day. The main thing would be characters that you can connect with and share the experience with. Someone you can empathize with on a very personal level and share a story with. That’s what makes a good character, which makes a great musical.”
     
    I’m curious – for each of you – what are your favorite musicals and what elements would you most like to extract from them to create your characters on stage?

    Sarah: “I have a few favorite musicals, and all for different reasons. I love Chess because it’s a mess, but it’s a beautiful, 80’s rock opera mess and it was written by members of ABBA. I love The Last Five Years because it’s conversational and truly captures what it is to fall in and out of love. And I love The Book of Mormon because it has everything you could want in a Broadway musical, plus no-holds-barred biting commentary. At the end of the day, though, each of my favorite musicals have a lot of heart, which is what I hope every TBD: the Musical! ultimately has every time we get to take the stage.”

    Alex Dodge: Cabaret is probably my all time favorite.  The show is beautifully written, there is interesting satire and critique, the characters are compelling, and the music is surprising and bawdy and fun.  And then you add Bob Fosse to all that and the result is this weird, ironic, haunting set of stories.  I’d love to pull the energy and irony from that show onto our stage.  I want our shows to not just be funny, but to make some social commentary and build themes the way that show does.”

    Alex Lefeld: “My favorite musical is Avenue Q, and I would love to share the humorous reflection of real life that those characters share on stage in our production. That show is also extremely funny and it never hurts to want to make people laugh.”
     
    You have two performances scheduled for now – is there a hope to do more or to create a regular show from this first run?
     
    Sarah: “Absolutely. This show has legs, and we plan to develop a core following from these two performances and make this show the perfect way to start a weekend.”

    Alex Dodge: “These first two shows are about building an audience and introducing ourselves to Columbus.  We want this show to have a regular run.  If we are going to do that, we need an audience.  So come see it!”

    TBD: The Musical! will debut on Friday, May 13, 7:30 pm (with a second show scheduled on Friday, May 27) at ShadowboxLive’s Backstage Bistro in the Brewery District, 503 South Front Street. Tickets are $5.00 and are available via the Bistro’s website, or they can be reserved by calling 614-416-7625. You can learn more about this and other performances from #Hashtag Comedy by visiting their website, and see what Fake Bacon Improv is up to here.

    CLICK HERE to check out upcoming comedy events on our Events Calendar!

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    Grant Walters
    Grant Waltershttps://columbusunderground.com
    Grant is a freelance writer for Columbus Underground who primarily focuses on music and comedy. He's a Canadian transplant, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and schooled in Vancouver, British Columbia. Grant is also the co-author of two internationally acclaimed books: "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1960s" and "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1970s." He has also penned numerous articles and artist interviews for the nationally recognized site, Albumism.
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