Atlanta Improv Group, Dad's Garage, Extends Stay In Sarasota

Florida Studio Theatre is proud to announce that Atlanta's top improv group, Dad's Garage, will be extending their stay in Sarasota following the 11th Annual Sarasota Improv Festival.

After the Festival ends on July 13, Dad's Garage will be in residence at FST for an additional week, leading workshops and delivering special encore performances on July 19 and 20 in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre at 7:30 PM each night. Tickets for these performances are $15-18 each and can be purchased at floridastudiotheatre.org or (941) 366-9000. Workshops are $35 each and are limited to 16 people. Those interested in exploring their own spontaneous creativity can register for workshops at floridastudiotheatre.org, or by calling Pamela Smith, Education Administrator, at (941) 366-1350.

Winning Creative Loafing's "Best Theater and Best Improv Group in Atlanta" Award multiple times, Dad's Garage has become a favorite among festivalgoers since the Sarasota Improv Festival's founding in 2009. In fact, the group is only one of four that has never missed a Sarasota Improv Festival. Dad's Garage has been performing improv at least once a week-a typical weekend schedule consists of 6 performances-for 24 years. That means that Dad's Garage has completed, at the very least, over 1,200 performances.

"Dad's Garage is an institution in the Atlanta arts scene and one of the nation's leading comedy theatres," shared Will Luera, FST's Director of Improv. "Their legacy is so deep that they played a crucial role in my own development as an improviser. When I was barely months into my improv career, I remember visiting Dad's Garage for the first time and being blown away by the talent. It is an honor for FST and our Improv community to be able to host some of the top improvisers in the country for an additional week."

"We're super excited to extend our stay in Sarasota this year!" shared Matt Horgan, Associate Artistic Director of Dad's Garage. "Not only will it be a week staying and exploring in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, but it's a week where we get to work with and strengthen our relationships with all the great improvisers at FST!"

On July 19 and 20, Dad's Garage will perform their acclaimed, long-running mystery format, Murder, She Improvised. "We're excited to bring this show to Sarasota audiences this summer. It's an improvised murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, where no one knows who is guilty, until the detective decides in the show's final scene," explained Horgan. "We'll also be bringing FST Improv members into it as well, so we will be mixing it up with everyone and having a lot of fun on stage.

Representing Dad's Garage at the Festival this year are Andy Coen, Perry Frost, and Matt Horgan.

Coen has been part of Dad's Garage since 2008, and co-founded another improv troupe, Automatic Improv. When he's not making things up on the spot, Coen pilots shows for CNN, and works for Cartoon Network. Frost started her improv and theater training in 2008 at Dad's Garage, and has since founded an all-female noir improv team in Atlanta. Horgan has been improvising for 25 years, and has written and co-written several shows for Dad's Garage, including Benjamin Franklin: American Gigolo, Song of the Living Dead: A Zombie Musical, The Going Out of Business Show, Drove and Chick & Boozy's Christmas on Ice.

Workshop participants will learn from Dad's Garage artists about combatting uncertainty, embracing conflict and obstacles, and the fundamentals of narrative improv. There are workshops available for beginners who are interested in dipping their toe in the surprising world of improv, as well as workshops available for more advanced participants that want to hone and develop their improv skills.

Encore performances of Murder, She Improvised by Atlanta's top improv team, Dad's Garage, will take place on July 19 and July 20 in FST's Bowne's Lab at 7:30PM each night. Tickets are available for $15 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (941) 366-9000 or at floridastudiotheatre.org. Single workshops are $35 each.To enroll, please call Pamela Smith, Education Administrator, at 941-366-1350.

Photo: Jannie Jones by Forrest MacDonald and Alexander Stuart by Matthew Holler.

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