the Land Beyond Woodfield

Instant Musical Earns Instant Extension for 2010 in Schaumburg

Thursdays at Laugh Out Loud Theater - a Night of Improv set to Music!

 

Schaumburg, IL – Due to popular demand, Laugh Out Loud Theater, THE place for improv comedy in Chicago's northwest suburbs, has announced the extension of their latest hit, Instant Musical through April Fool’s Day (no fooling!).  Instant Musical is a night of all-improvised musical comedy. Performances are every Thursday night at 8:00pm from January 7 through April 1, 2010 at Laugh Out Loud Theater at the Streets of Woodfied in Schaumburg.

 

The show, which debuted in October 2009, begins in a similar fashion to the Laugh Out Loud weekend shows, with the actors taking suggestions from the audience to create short improvised scenes, except every scene has a musical aspect to it. In these improv games, they utilize a variety of musical styles and techniques, from a doo-wop trio, to a love ballad, a rap battle or even a Broadway-style show stopper. After a brief intermission, the second act of the show is a completely improvised musical based upon one single audience suggestion.

 

Laugh Out Loud is excited to have a brand new musical director at the helm of this production, Jonathan Wagner. Jonathan has spent the last ten years traveling the country as a musician, actor and writer.  He was most recently seen as Barry (the Jack Black role) in Route 66's Jeff-Recommended production of High Fidelity (the musical).  From 2005-2006, Jonathan served as the Music Director for the Chicago Improv Festival, and is currrently a part of their scriptless theatre project, Storybox.  He toured with one of The Second City's National Touring Companies and scored and sound designed their Dysfunctional Holiday Revue.  Since coming to Chicago, Jonathan has worked with dozens of groups including: Comedysportz, The Cupid Players, Baby wants Candy, PAX TV's World Cup Comedy, I eat Pandas, GayCo, imp, Money in the pants and Infinite Sundaes.  He is currently a faculty member at the Second City Training Center.

 

The rest of the cast includes some of the top improvisers in Chicago with years of musical improv experience. They have performed at such theaters as iO (formally Improv Olympic), Second City, The Annoyance and ComedySportz.

Instant Musical

Thursdays @ 8:00pm through April 1, 2010.

Laugh Out Loud Theater, The Streets of Woodfield, 601 N. Martingale Road, Schaumburg.

 

$15 tickets are available by contacting Laugh Out Loud at 847.240.0386.

 

An Evening with Groucho comes to the Prairie Center in Schaumburg

Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 8:00pm  Frank Ferrante returns to the Chicago area with his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of legendary comedian Groucho Marx in this fast pace 90 minutes of hilarity.  The two act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes and songs.  Performance will be at the Prairie Center for the Arts located at 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg. Phone 847-895-3600 or log on to the Prairie Center web site for tickets and information.

Tom Arnold at Chicago Improv of Schaumburg Oct. 15 & 16

Tom Arnold headlines the Chicago Improv of Schaumburg Oct. 15 & 16. Starting out as a stand-up comic in the Midwest, Arnold gained national fame as a writer and actor on ABC's hit sitcom Roseanne. Among many other TV credits, he hosts Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

In 1983 Tom Arnold got his first taste of stand-up comedy when he performed at open microphone nights at the University of Iowa. Tom's comedy career had its ups and downs over the next several years until 1988, when he entered the Minneapolis Comedy Competition and won first place. With this victory in hand he decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a stand-up comedy career. Once he hit Los Angeles, things happened fast.

That same year he was hired as a staff writer for Roseanne's TV sitcom "Roseanne" (1988) and began to appear regularly on the show as "Arnie Thomas". He and Roseanne were married in 1990, with Arnold converting to Judaism prior to the marriage. They formed Rapello County Productions to develop projects for themselves. Tom Arnold is the co-host of Fox Sports Net's talk show "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" (2001). He also does voiceover work, and provides the voice for the "Oven Mitt" character in the TV commercials for the Arby's restaurant chain.