Odeon of Herodes Atticus Amphitheater
We had our first live improv show at Screenland Theater Crossroads last weekend. I was pretty nervous about the show, or I should say about the space itself and attendance numbers. I knew the show would be good after our last rehearsal in the space. Improvising makes me pretty nervous anyway. I’ve probably got over a hundred improv shows under my belt now and I could still puke on command about 2 minutes before stage time, but that’s another post…
Being in a brand new space was a little crazy. It’s a movie theater; no stage lights, no backstage, the tech booth was actually the projection room, which is sound proof except for a tiny little window looking out on the theater, and no actual stage was present, although there is stadium seating. (But there is a full bar so who cares, right?) There was a lot of new stuff going on for all the players in this show and the audience as well, to say the least. Once we got in the space I had to think that this how Grecian actors felt, looking up at a well-lit audience. It was a pretty, uh, interesting vibe.
On top of all that, we had no idea how many people would show up. We’ve been selling out the movie roasts, we probably turned 80 people away from the Karate Kid roast. (Which is a problem we’ll be fixing soon, stay tuned.) But we had no clue how many of that audience would show up for improv. As it turns out, about a third.
We had 26 on Friday night, which felt pretty small in that huge room that seats 150. They were, however, one of the most responsive and fun crowds I’ve played for. We had a good show and it was a lot of fun. It was also Tom Lancaster’s first show ever with the troupe. Considering all that he had on his plate, he knocked it out of the park. He was a blast to improvise with. I also personally thought that this was probably the best show I’ve seen Bess have. It was a good night. An interesting note is that it was First Friday in The Crossroads, which is one block East of the theater, and the weather was awesome. It was 68˚. I thought this would help our numbers, but maybe it hurt. Anyway…
On Saturday we had 88 show up, which was awesome. Unfortunately, it overwhelmed the ticketing counter/bar because they hadn’t really staffed up for a crowd after the 26 we had show up Friday night. Because of this, the show started 15 minutes late, which always bothers me, but the crowd seemed OK with it and no one complained. We had another good show all around. I don’t think it topped Friday night, but I was happy with it. It did start raining when we had about 15 minutes left, and I guess Screenland has a thin roof, because you could really hear it. Tommy actually worked it into the scene right when it started and got a big laugh, so we (us and the audience) were all in it together, which is always fun.
I heard lots of complimentary stuff after the show. I should say, I overheard lots of complimentary stuff after the show. I don’t really believe anything anyone tells me to my face about a performance. It’s not that I think I’m surrounded by liars, it’s my own insecurity. Anyway, it was a good weekend of improv. We all had a blast, and so did both audiences.
If you came out to the show, let us know in the comments what you thought about the space, the show; whatever. And thanks for your support! We now have two more months of movie roasting before another improv show, but I bet it will be even better than these last two. Onward and upward…
