MAKESHIFT MONOLOGUE MADNESS Plays for Laughs at Crown Point This January

You may have heard this one before. A politician, a ghost hunter, a radio personality, and a host of other interesting people walk into a courtroom. They each share personal stories about life, love, and work with an audience of people from the community and a bunch of actors perform improvised scenes based off what these people share to the point of hilarity. At the end of the night, everyone walks out remembering the good experiences they just had and come back for more the next night.

Oh, you've never heard of this? Then head over to the beautiful, historic Lake County Courthouse in downtown Crown Point, IN in January to catch Makeshift Monologue Madness to see what it's all about.

Crown Point Community Theatre (CPCT) has been featuring improvisational theatre - described as "theatre without a script" - at their theatre along with their well-known schedule of scripted plays and musicals for quite some time. They've created a house improv team called Makeshift Up who has successfully been bringing short-form improv a la "Whose Line Is It Anyway" to the area for over a year and a half. They've also recently began performing themed showcases for special holidays such as Halloween and Christmas with longer, more involved pieces such as doing improvised plays and scenic games that you wouldn't see normally at a short-form show.

With Makeshift Monologue Madness, they are now looking at performing what is known in the improv community as an "Armando". In an Armando, guest monologists are invited each night to tell true (or mostly true) personal stories. Afterwards, Makeshift Up improvises scenes based on those monologues. Makeshift Up will be featuring community business leaders, politicians, teachers, and community leaders each night. Some storytellers include the Mayor of Crown Point David Duran, 2014 Indiana High School Educator of the Year by the American Legion Don Bernacky, and radio personalities Mike Puente of 91.5 FM WBEZ and Steve Zana of 107.1 FM The Z.

"When I began putting this show together, the idea was to find a way for CPCT to engage the community," says director Nelson Velazquez, Head of Improvisation over at CPCT as well as the director/ensemble member of Makeshift Up. "We reached out to various members of the community from different walks of life that not only could tell us some very interesting and fun stories to play off but could introduce new audiences to the joy and wonder of storytelling and improv. I want people to be engaged and interested in the anecdotes they are going to hear and watch. Each night promises to be completely different with a wide array of people speaking."

Crown Point Community Theatre's house improv team Makeshift Up presents a night of storytelling and improv with local well-known leaders in the community.

IF YOU GO:

January 13-January 22, 2017

Lake County Courthouse
109 Avenue South Court
Crown Point, IN 46307

Evening shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Matinee shows Sundays at 6 pm.

Tickets $17
Available at bit.ly/cpctmmm or cpct.biz

Featuring:
Johnny Leopardo
Lori Ryser
Marc Ryser
Robert Starks
Lisa Szanyi
Ron Szanyi
Nelson Velazquez
Adam Weiss Bradley

Directed by Nelson Velazquez
Technical Direction by Angela Heid

CPCT is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation, based in Crown Point, Indiana, which exists to promote and support community theatre, community programs and the arts for the enrichment and welfare of the citizens of Crown Point, Indiana, the citizens of Lake County, Indiana, and the greater theatrical patronage of the surrounding region, and to further the education of and provide entertainment to its members and the community in the area of theatrical arts. CPCT is a member in good standing of the Northwest Indiana Excellence in Theatre Foundation (NIETF) and the Indiana Community Theatre League (ICTL), and continues to seek ways to reach out to the community.

Pictured: (foreground) Lori Ryser, Johnny Leopard; (background) Ron Szanyi, Robert Starks, Lisa Szanyi

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