The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are on sale for a one-night, exclusive area engagement of the show that’s been called “a musical of, by and for the people” — Broadway’s Next H!T Musical.
Scheduled for a single 8 p.m. performance on November 6, this represents a first-ever trip to the Pollak Theatre stage for the all-improv, audience-interactive comedy tunefest that boasts a format in which “every song is fresh; every scene is new; every night is different.” It’s also the latest in the 20th annual slate of Performing Arts Series events at Monmouth.
The formula for fun couldn’t be simpler: using the concept of a theatrical awards show, a troupe of master improv comedians solicits ideas for “hit” showtunes from the audience, and proceeds to transform the spontaneous suggestions into a merrily make-it-up-as-we-go-along mashup of music and laughter.
Things get even more delightfully out of control when the audiences votes for its favorite song of the evening — and the cast turns it into a full-blown improvised musical, complete with “memorable characters, witty dialogue, and plot twists galore.”
The musical that “could be written by YOU” is a co-production of artistic directors and NYC-based improv veterans Rob Schiffman and Deb Rabbai, a pair of pros whose formidable collective credits as performers, directors, and teachers (Chicago City Limits, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The School for Film and Television) should in no way detract from the off-the-cuff fun and games to be had on the H!T Musical stage. The producing partners have assembled a company of colleagues with proven skills on the improv comedy circuit, for a show that made its mark at such Manhattan institutions as Don’t Tell Mama and Off Broadway’s Triad.
With this year’s recent Tony telecast providing fresh fodder for the “Phony Award” conjurers of the H!T Musical troupe, the cast is ready to take their act on the road, here in the milestone10th Anniversary year of the Center for the Arts at Monmouth. Irreverent, indisputably talent-packed, and one hundred percent improvised from start to finish, it promises to be an experience that will be appreciated by theatergoing regulars and casual bus-trippers alike — and with no risk of “spoiler alerts” as to how it all plays out.
Tickets for Broadway’s Next H!T Musical are priced at $25/$35/$45 and can be reserved through the Monmouth University Performing Arts Box Office at 732-263-6889, or online at www.monmouth.edu/arts.
Tickets for other upcoming events in the 2015-2016 Performing Arts series at Monmouth University — including and India Ink Theatre Company’s The Elephant Wrestler (Nov 7) — are also on sale now.
To schedule interviews, please contact Kelly Barratt at 732-263-5114.