Foreplay – The Improvised Musical!
Foreplay – The Improvised Musical!
Conceived and Directed by David Charles
Musical Direction By Chris Leavy
Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park, FL</strong>
Who says it’s hard to write a musical? These guy crank out a new one every night, and not only is it funny, it’s in tune. David Charles pushes Long Form Improv to a new level with this two act musical format. It’s no series of games for the beginner, but a slick and successful frame for the advanced artist to show their stuff in a no-room-for-errors setting. The premise is straightforward – four actors play for principle characters: David Charles longs to go home and do laundry, Chelsea Dygan just got into an all girls dorm, Matt Horohoe works in marketing, and Layden Sadecky and his “lost puppy dog” look propose to his girl Kim. At intermission, we vote on who has the best storyline, and that actor becomes the star of the second act.
They open the show with “I’m Feeling A Happiness,” the sort of up-tempo number that you need to get any serious musical on its legs. The songs then alternate between the “I am” and “I want” numbers for the next two hours, working through all the variants of duets and ensembles and styles from Cole Porter to Walt Disney. While the dialog between the songs sways between brilliant and “huh?” the songs are consistent winners. A few of them really ought to so in the old song suitcase, Horohoe’s “I Can Be a Man” really left an impression. It’s the sort of number you could build a serious show around, one with copyright book and lyrics and a set that’s more involved than 4 doors and a clothing rack.
Other local improv groups will do single songs based off a suggested title and style, but this collection of predetermined melodies and off the cuff situations goes much farther and builds a real story line, and stays in the old SAK “no swearing” concept without cheap and easy sex jokes. Watching the actors and the front row audience, you could see an implied wager: one party stares with “I’ll bet you’re going to screw up” on their mind. The counterparty stares back with “You’re on.” You know who’s gonna win this one.
For more information on Winter Park Playhouse, please visit http://www.winterparkplayhouse.org
