Tonight we had a rehearsal for our upcoming show (on March 12th at 10pm at the Triad...go to www.broadwaysnexthitmusical.com for more info). In rehearsal we did some work on simply improvising some songs. It had been awhile since we had done some simple spot songs so it was a nice refresher. We did a few and it was great. Then we added a little twist. As well as starting out with the title, we also gave ourselves a random first line. We all wrote down some first lines and at the very last second, as Matt Cohen had already started to play the vamp, we grabbed a random line and sang it. We then lived in that image for awhile and eventually found our way to the title / chorus. The result of this exercise were plentiful. To start, we found unusual ways to get from point a to point b. I had the title "Caged". The first line I got was "chocolate is a lie". By being forced to start with that, I ended up talking about how the sweet things in life are tempting but reality tends to not be so sweet. I never would have found that way to the title / chorus had it not been for the "limitation" of that first line. It reminded me of the improvisers responsibility to force him/herself to walk the tightrope. By putting myself in a situation where I am forced to discover, I am allowing worlds to open up and in this case, those worlds were more unusual, creative, exciting, etc. As a listener, when others in the rehearsal tried the same exercise, I was completely captivated because I was on the journey with them. Throwing something out in front of you and finding your way to it makes you walk down a path you may normally never have chosen.
Come watch us surprise ourselves (and hopefully you) this Friday night at the Triad!
Come watch us surprise ourselves (and hopefully you) this Friday night at the Triad!
