????? The Improvised Broadway Musical Will Debut at The Ferguson New Musicals Lab

????? The Improvised Broadway Musical, co-created by New York improv veterans Ali Reed and Adrien Pellerin, and co-creator director-choreographer Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, was the premiere workshop-based production at the New Musicals Lab at the Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts at Christopher Newport University.

Joining Reed in the cast were John Byrd, Charlie Grass, Katie Murphy, Bryson Olivo, Tanner Payne, Matthew Stevenson, Remy Thompson, Madeleine Witmer, and special guest, New York-based actor Kiki Mikkelsen. Improvising along with them was Music Director Pellerin on the piano, Christian Allen on percussion, and lighting designer Sarah Shulman, who also provided improvised mood and setting for the duration of the performance workshop.

The lab began on June 4 and concluded on June 17 -- and was an unprecedented success. "This incredible opportunity gave us the 'Broadway treatment'. Bruce Bronstein, the festival's founder and producer, said 'yes, and' to all of our requests," said Reed of her experience. Pellerin added, "Workshopping our show in the Ferguson Center's Broadway-caliber Peebles Theatre allowed us to dream big and see what is possible if we take musical improv out of the comedy theatres and onto a Broadway stage. We're so excited to continue developing this show."

Due to the success of this summer's work, the company will be back on October 14 to present the next evolution of the project to Ferguson Center audiences as part of their season.

Over the span of ten days, the company participated in various workshops, focusing on how to properly structure a full length improvised musical and creating songs in performance based on traditional musical song structure. These workshops were led by Ali Reed, Kiki Mikkelsen, Adrien Pellerin, and Ilana Ransom Toeplitz. The cast quickly became comfortable with the structures and formats and performed for three straight nights in front of a live audience.

"The company took to improvised musical theatre faster than any of us could ever anticipate," commented Ransom Toeplitz, "I believe this is greatly in part of the strong musical theatre training our company brings to the table. And of course, the power of 'Yes, and...'. We are just thrilled that this project will continue to live on, past this workshop. We all really, really needed to laugh after this past year and I believe that laughter can be our most powerful common denominator, if we let it."

Show titles included in the production's three night run were "Which Witch is Which?," "My Lipgloss is Poppin'," and "The Mannequins are Alive in Scotland." In addition to the one-hour, long-form musical, the cast also interacted with the audience through various shorter scenes each night that included a recreation of an audience member's daily routine, an impromptu duet in the house, and a guest star performance of an improvised song based on an audience suggestion.

The production team for ????? The Improvised Broadway Musical improvises alongside the cast. The show was directed and choreographed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz. The workshop could not have been possible without the work of Bruce Bronstein (Executive Director of the Ferguson Center of the Arts) and Colin Ruffer (Artistic Producer and Music Supervisor).

Other members of the production team included Kyle Ronyecs (production stage manager), Kevin Brunette (assistant director), Matthew Burgess (assistant stage manager), and Lindsay Levine (production assistant). Both Pellerin and Reed shared, "From our first walk-through of the space, to our final curtain- the team at The New Musicals Lab at The Ferguson Center, supported and helped bring our vision to life. We can't wait to come back!"

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