New Festival Features Three Days Of Musical Improv Shows
18 acts from around the country will perform in Oakland this October
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 14, 2024
Eighteen acts from around the Bay Area and as far away as Chicago and Hawaii will take to the stage for the first-ever Bay Area Musical Improv Festival, October 25-27 at the All Out Comedy Theater in Oakland.
The festival is dedicated to musical improv, an artform in which every note, every melody, every lyric and every rhyme is entirely improvised on the spot, inspired by suggestions from the audience.
The selected slate of performers range from an improvised musical in the style of Steven Sondheim to an improvised opera to improvised German synth-pop to an improvised rock music festival.
"I'm thrilled by the diversity of performers we have," says Pat Pow-anpongkul, a co-founder of the festival. "There are so many unique genres and formats and groups trying exciting approaches to musical improv-this festival truly has something for everyone."
The festival will also feature daytime workshops for new and experienced musical improvisers and end with a musical improv jam featuring a live rock band.
The Bay Area Musical Improv Festival is the first musical improv festival in the country since March of 2020.
"It's so exciting to be the first musical improv festival after such a long time," says Olivia Puerta, a co-founder of the festival. "I think that's helped us attract some absolutely incredible performers from places like Chicago and Portland and Honolulu."
"And of course our local talent is equally exciting," says fellow festival co-founder Molly Robertson. "As the community here has re-grown over the last few years, we've seen this emergence of new performers and new teams, who will join some of the long-established acts like BATS and Flash Mob Musical for a really dynamic mix."
The festival is being organized by Bay Area Musical Improv, a new California 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing opportunities for local musical improvisers to connect, learn and grow.
Tickets will go on sale for the general public in September.
For more information on the festival or to become a sponsor, visit www.bayareamusicalimprov.com/festival
Bay Area Musical Improv Festival Schedule
Friday, Oct 25 at 6:30pm
Un-Scripted Theater Company
Yes Ma'am (Madison, WI)
Friday, Oct 25 at 8:30pm
An Improvised Sondheim Show (Chicago, IL)
Knockoff Broadway
Saturday, Oct 26 at 6:30pm
Flash Mob Musical
Warriors of Ver-Choo (Honolulu, HI)
We're Gonna Need Your Help With The Chorus
Whiplash! (Portland, OR)
Saturday, Oct 26 at 8:30pm
BATS Improv
Fourte (Portland, OR)
La Spazzatura
Sunday, Oct 27 at 4:30pm
All That Jazz!
Ask Leonora
Dumpster Fyre
Worlds Collide
Sunday, Oct 27 at 6:30pm
B.A.B.E. Presents: I Love Musicals (Portland, OR)
Basic Pitches (San Diego, CA)
Rama-Lama Sing-Song
About Bay Area Musical Improv:
Bay Area Musical Improv is a new California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to supporting the development of musical improvisers by providing opportunities for education, practice, performance and community building.
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