SPONTANEOUS BROADWAY

‘SPONTANEOUS BROADWAY’ was originally conceived by Kat Koppett and the New York Freestyle Repertory about 1995. ‘Theater Week’ magazine named Kat one of the ‘Unsung Heroes’ for creating the structure of this extremely funny Impro show.

This Jubilee Tour is in Perth at the Main Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco until Saturday 17^th November. Curtain up nightly at 7.30 pm.

The dimly lit stage has four chairs, a grand piano and a lectern. The ‘wings’ have black drapes and the backdrop is a projection of the New York skyline. In the centre of the stage is a black bucket, the ‘Bucket of Dreams’, in which the audience have placed their suggestions for the title of the evening’s musical.

          Onto the stage bounced Russell Fletcher, the smiling presenter for the evening. He introduced the talented pianist and Master of the Music, John Thorn, dapper in a green tapestry jacket. The first of the cast, and special guest, was one of Perth’s Kings of Impro, Glenn Hall appearing as the Cossack Vlad Ivostok. Then came the very funny, Alan Prior (Scott Brennan) the dancing talent for the evening, followed by another international star, the tough and rough, straight from Colombia, Rosita de Gaurdo (Rebecca De Unamuno). Finally, to join the cast in their uplifting opening number, appeared the wild TV star, Autumn Summer (Gillian Cosgriff).

         Each cast member chose a couple of topics from the Bucket of Dreams and in turn, they pitched a five-minute act representing each idea. The audience then voted on which storyline they thought was the best, before the cast went on to build an original story, full musical, combined in the long-form improvised performance.

        The cast left the stage whilst the musical director played an appropriate Overture to the selected musical, ‘I have never liked you – so go’.

        Non-stop, for the next 90 minutes the zany, at times wicked, humour flowed freely, with some very clever ad libs in this the world premiere musical that no one has seen before and will never be performed again. A unique night out.

The improvisation was top quality, although for the first time at one of these concerts I did feel that a set of predetermined skeleton storylines had been adapted to the titles chosen by the audience. However, there were some extremely funny situations adeptly delivered.

John Thorn skilfully adapted the improvised piano music from minor to major, from a romantic backing to the fast tempo of the chase as the singers required. The female voices were particularly clear, powerful and of beautiful tone.

This show has been a sell-out at the Sydney Opera House, the Spiegel Tent in Melbourne and the Edinburgh Festival. Impro is not my favourite from of entertainment, but I really enjoyed and admired this. Everyone left the show with a broad smile and a giggle.