BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Improvisation is a mainstay in music, in genres as diverse as jazz and jam bands.
Now ArtsQuest will look to take it a step further — presenting a whole Broadway-style stage musical created spontaneously from audience suggestions.
ArtsQuest's annual Improv Comedy Festival will return to the SteelStacks campus for a 13th year on Jan. 23-24, the organization has announced.
And the second day of the two-day festival will be headlined Saturday by "Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!"
Tickets are available at the ArtsQuest website or at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.ArtsQuest release
The festival will start at 5:15-10:15 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Blast Furnace Room at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.
It will continue 2-9:45 p.m. Jan. 24, with an afterparty scheduled for 10:15 p.m.-midnight.
Tickets for the festival are $28 and $27 for ages 25 and younger or seniors for Jan. 23 and $33 and $31 for ages 25 and younger or seniors for Jan. 24, or $50 and $47 for ages 25 and younger or seniors for two-day passes.
Prices will increase starting Jan. 19.
Attendees ages 13-17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Tickets are available at the ArtsQuest website or at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
'Made up on the spot'
The two-day "marathon of spontaneous hilarity featuring improvisational teams from across the country and around the world delivers nonstop, high-energy comedy," ArtsQuest said in a release.
"Once the shows begin each day, the laughter doesn’t stop until the final act."
"So every night is the ‘Opening Night’ of a musical that has never been seen."ArtsQuest release
The Friday headliner will be Connor Ratliff presents The Acting Class. It's a one-person improv show disguised as an acting class, from Ratliff, creator of the "Dead Eyes" podcast.
Friday also will offer performances by 15 improv teams, including five from the Lehigh Valley: Jen and Andy’s Bogus Journey, Staycation, Synced Up and We're Good, You're Great and This Movie Does Not Exist.
ArtsQuest said in a release that "Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!" "is exactly that: a Broadway-style musical that is made up on the spot, based on audience suggestions."
"So every night is the ‘Opening Night’ of a musical that has never been seen," the release said.
Saturday’s post-headliner, Barko, "brings calculated slapstick improv to the stage," the release said.
"Award-winning physical theater artist Nick Gillette, martial artist/philosopher Pim Van and polymath clown/writer Sam Miller find the humor in the everyday parts of our daily routines," it said.
Saturday also will offer 26 improv troupes, including three from the Lehigh Valley: Tim for Short. Naughty by Nurture and Cobra.
The festival also will feature improv teams from New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Connecticut, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
For a full schedule, go to the ArtsQuest website.
