Falcon Theatre presents Impro Theatre's 'Sondheim UnScripted'

Falcon Theatre
presents
Impro Theatre’s
Sondheim UnScripted
By Impro Theatre
Directed by Dan O’Connor and Michele Spears

Previews begin August 19, 2015

OPENS Friday, August 28 at 8pm

July 2, 2015 Burbank, CA – Impro Theatre returns to the Falcon Theatre for their third year, kicking-off the 2015-2016 Subscription Season with Sondheim UnScripted, co-directed by Dan O’Connor and Michele Spears. Sondheim UnScripted is “The most uproarious, side-splitting laughter-till-you-drop show…” says Entertainment Today. LA Weekly calls Impro Theatre “An outstanding cast that clearly understands the form and [has] the vocal power to sustain it.”

Impro Theatre’s Sondheim UnScripted is a completely improvised musical in the style of one of Broadway’s most acclaimed artists, Stephen Sondheim. The cast and musicians work together as an ensemble to improvise songs with the intricate rhymes, soaring counter melodies, and complex themes that are all hallmarks of Sondheim’s work, creating a wholly original, thrilling musical with every performance.

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PREVIEWS: August 19 – 22 at 8pm; August 23 at 4pm; August 26 & 27 at 8pm

OPENING NIGHT: Friday, August 28, 2015 at 8pm

SHOW CLOSES: Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 4pm

PERFORMANCES: Wed. – Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 4pm

PRICES: Previews $31.50 – $34.00

Opening Night $54.00 – $59.00

Weekdays (Wed/Thurs) $36.50 – $39.00

Weekends (Fri/Sat/Sun) $41.50 – $44.00

Student Rate (valid student ID) $29.00

WHERE: Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr.,
Burbank, CA 91505

TICKETS: (818) 955-8101 or FalconTheatre.com

TICKETS ON SALE: July 22, 2015

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Impro Theatre: Founded as Los Angeles Theatresports in 1988, Impro Theatre has evolved from a successful short form improv troupe into a critically acclaimed theatre company. Impro creates completely improvised, full-length plays in the styles of the world’s greatest writers, and every performance is unique. Locally, Impro has performed sold-out shows at South Coast Repertory, The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, North Coast Repertory in San Diego, the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, and the Pasadena Playhouse. Venues around the world include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, The Melbourne Fringe in Australia and Theatre Adyar in Paris. Impro has received multiple Ovation Recommended honors and Critics’ Picks in Los Angeles Times, Backstage and LA Weekly. Los Angeles Times calls Impro Theatre, “Amazing! The troupe spins an entire play into comedy gold right before your eyes,” and American Theatre Magazine says, “Here might be the salvation the theatre seeks.”

Dan O’Connor (Impro Theatre Artistic Director / Co-Director of Sondheim UnScripted / Ensemble ) is co-founder and Artistic Director of Impro Theatre. He has directed Chekhov UnScripted (Odyssey Theatre), co-directed Jane Austen UnScripted (Broad Stage), Sondheim UnScripted (OSF Thomas Theatre), Shakespeare UnScripted (Odyssey) and The Western UnScripted (Laguna Playhouse). He performed in the Improbable Theatre’s Lifegame Off-Broadway. He co-created and starred in the NBC/PAX television improv comedy show World Cup Comedy. Television/Film credits include VEGAS, Raising Hope, Campus Ladies, Malcolm in the Middle, Starstruck and Seinfeld. Stage credits include the American Conservatory Theater and A Noise Within. Television directing credits include the critically acclaimed ABC hybrid sit-com Sons and Daughters and Campus Ladies for Oxygen. Dan has taught and directed improvisational theatre to universities and companies around world including UCSB, DUKE, UT Austin, Dreamworks Animation and Cirque Du Soleil. He is a graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Dan recently gave a TED Talk at TEDx Napa Valley about teaching the world to improvise. www.danoconnor.net

Michele Spears (Co-Director of Sondheim UnScripted / Ensemble) is an actor, improviser, director/choreographer, and arts educator. A founding member of Impro, she has also performed with Theatresports, Inflatable Betty, Pulp Playhouse, and Disney’s Laughing Stock Company. Recent projects include: Object of Her Affection at REDCAT (director); Traveling Music at Stage 72 in NYC (director/choreographer); The Soltanoff/Findlay Project for Center Theatre Group (performer); Sondheim UnScripted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (director/performer); Important Things with Dimitri Martin for Comedy Central (actor); and Wake Up Your Weird at the O’Neill Theater Center which premiered in New York and is currently touring (director/choreographer). Her work has been recognized with LA Weekly, N.Y. Night-Life, Dramalogue, StageScene LA, and Santa Barbara Independent awards, as well as an American Choreographers’ Award nomination. She’s a graduate of NYU/TISCH, a member of the Directors Lab West, and currently teaches theatre at Harvard-Westlake School. www.michelespears.com

The Falcon Theatre is a 130-seat professional theatre that operates year-round in Burbank, California, built by Director/Writer/Producer Garry Marshall and his daughter Kathleen Marshall LaGambina. The Falcon opened in November of 1997 and launched its annual 5-play Subscription Series in 2002, currently produced by Kathleen and Sherry Greczmiel. Mr. Marshall founded the Falcon as a place where established artists and emerging talent can come together to create exciting work on stage.