Photo Flash: Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera ANYBODY Opens Tomorrow

ANYBODY: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera, created by the critically-acclaimed improv group, North Coast, will play at the Connelly Theater in the East Village starting on September 20. The fully improvised hip-hop musical is directed by Jody Shelton (Baby Wants Candy) and will run for five performances through Saturday, September 23.

Inspired by the smash Broadway hit, Hamilton, North Coast's ANYBODY takes an audience suggestion of any historical figure to create a full-length improvised hip-hopera. With past shows centering around Nikola Tesla, Frederick Douglass, and Louisa May Alcott, North Coast creates a dynamic show every night with their fast and funny improvised beats, rhymes, and storyline.

North Coast is comprised of an eclectic mix of improv comedy veterans who are known for their seamless melding of freestyle rapping and improv comedy. Since their inception in 2009, the group has played to packed houses in New York City and also nationwide at comedy theatres and festivals. International credits include the Iceland Improv Festival, Hoopla and C3Something in London, and comedy festivals in Canada (Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg). For the past few years, North Coast has been wowing audiences at the Peoples Improv Theater in New York City every Saturday night with the weekly signature show.

The company was named one of the "Top Ten Best Comedy Shows" by Time Out New York, and has been featured on Vh1, in Slate's Podcast The Gist, The Village Voice, and The New York Times.

The cast features, Richie Alfson (Shadows, Raptime), Katy Berry (Baby Wants Candy, Magnet Theatre), Steve Jeanty (Off Top, Ski Legend), Mike Poole (My Mommas Biscuits, Off Top), Meg Reilly (Baby Wants Candy, Broadway's Next Hit Musical), James Robilotta (Mock Turtle Soup, Veal), Rachel Rosenthal (Blank! The Musical, Reckless Theatre), Douglas Widick (Baby Wants Candy, UCB Maude Night), and RJ Williams (10K hours, Dallas Improv Theatre).

Performances take place at the Connelly Theater, 220 East 4th Street (between avenue A & B), New York, NY 10009. Subways: F to 2nd Avenue (closest), 6 to Bleecker Street, B/D/F/M to Broadway-Lafayette. Running time: 60 minutes.

Tickets are $30 and are available at www.northcoastanybody.eventbrite.com

Performance Schedule:

Wednesday, September 20 @ 8:00 pm

Thursday, September 21 @ 8:00 pm

Friday, September 22 @ 8:00 pm

Saturday, September 23 @ 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm

More info is available at www.northcoastnyc.com/anybody

Jody Shelton (Director) began his career as musical director for the Second City National Touring Company, and performed with renowned musical improv ensemble Baby Wants Candy for fifteen years. In 2012, he co-wrote the hit parody 50 Shades! The Musical, which had an extended run at the Elektra Theatre in New York, and has been performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. 50 Shades! can currently be seen at Bally's in Las Vegas. Jody's latest musical, co-written with Emmy and Peabody winner Peter Gwinn (The Colbert Report) is the Jeff recommended The Story of a Story (The Untold Story), which opened at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago in October, 2015. Jody has also released three critically acclaimed albums as solo artist, and two more with his band, Daughter & Son. Jody's next projects include a documentary series for television chronicling the writing of a new musical through improv, and a new musical parody called Star Wars: The Farce Awakens.

Photo credit: Kevin McNair

Cast of ANYBODY

Cast of ANYBODY

Cast of ANYBODY

Cast of ANYBODY

Cast of ANYBODY