BLIND DATE Opens HVT's Season Tonight

To open its 22nd season, HVT presents a first: an entirely improvised comedy! Blind Date, playing tonight, June 16 to 28, is a 'spontaneous theatre' creation, conceived by master improvisor, Rebecca Northan, in 2010. It has since garnered rave reviews in New York, London (UK), Toronto and Calgary.

There's nothing like the thrill of a first date ... anything can happen. With the smash-hit, Blind Date, audiences experience all the exhilaration and excitement of new love as Mimi goes on a blind date with a different man, plucked right out of the audience, every night! This fast and funny fusion of improvisation, theatre and social experiment has men and women falling under the spell of Mimi's charming allure and celebrating her audience-member-turned-romantic-hero night after night.

Blind Date was originally commissioned in 2009 as a 10 minute piece for the Spiegelshow as part of World Stage at Harbourfront Theatre in Toronto. Having caught the eye of Broadway producer, Kevin McCollum (RENT, Avenue Q), it has since toured across Canada, the US, and played off-Broadway and in London's West End. At 350 dates and counting, 'Mimi' is a role that is currently played by four different, extremely talented improvisors. All four 'Mimis' trained at the Loose Moose Theatre Company with world renowned improv guru, Keith Johnstone."

"The idea for Blind Date is one that I have a hard time taking full credit for, admitted creator Rebecca Northan. "It actually 'thunked' into my head fully formed when I was put on the spot and asked, 'What ARE you going to do in the Spiegeltent next week?' Who knows where ideas come from; I'm just grateful this one showed up! We've met so many wonderful men, and their partners. The whole ride has been a true gift. What started out as a 10-minute turn blossomed when I asked myself, "What if we took the time to really get to know 'the guy'?"

Hudson's Mimi, played by Christy Bruce, said, "There is no other experience like Blind Date! I've spent most of my life improvising, but this play takes it to a whole new level. For me, it's not just the challenge of improvising with a person I don't know (and who's never improvised before), it's also about getting to know another human being that well in 90 minutes and showing the audience (and the date) how amazing every single person is. That's the true joy of the show for me."

Actor, improvisor and Loose Moose Theatre alumnus, Jamie Northan, is the Stage Manager and Sound Improvisor; writer, director and actor, Bruce Horak, is the Scenographer, along with actor, Lindsay Mullan, who also understudies Mimi.

Photo by Little Blue Lemon Photography

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