Bedlam off AND on stage
From Cast Member Stephen Smith:
That's the best part of the show: You can only go with the flow. To try and fight the craziness of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants would only destroy you. But that's also the show's strength. I have never been involved in a show with such a relaxed atmosphere. Backstage, you try to get yourself as prepared as can be -- you lay out your myriad of costumes you'll be flying through during the show, you get your water bottles filled and ready.
Cough drops (I discovered that I ended up having to do something vocally straining for EVERY scene. Screaming, yelling, etc.) – and you think you're set. But the show starts and just takes you away. Props go awry, you get tickled because you messed up a lyric, everyone is ad libbing like crazy just TRYING to bring each other down, and the audience is eating it up. In past shows, I have never been allowed to have so much fun onstage. Never been free to break through the "fourth wall.” Never been given the freedom to say something off the cuff, or try something new that just popped into my head. It's great. I think it becomes part of the training Live theatre is just that: Live. It changes and things go wrong. But doing a show like this prepares one for just such an occasion. I think it turns mistakes into some of the best bits IN the show. -- STEPHEN SMITH