Just over a month ago Crossroads Comedy Theater had no plans to do any live events until at least the fall. Now I am a day or so removed from our first full weekend of live, in person shows and already looking forward to the next! By all accounts it was a successful weekend of live comedy both for the theater and those performing. For many performers it was their first time on stage in 15 months and for many audience members their first time at a live performance in just as long. Based on the laughs created and enjoyed there wasn’t much stage rust to be seen.
Looking back it’s kind of funny how quickly things came together and grew from just one Study Hall show to send-off Michael Yudell to then include Not Yet Rated and then saying what the hell and adding Friday night shows and finally Sunday night as well. None of that happens without the wonderful people at Theatre Exile, our home whenever we can get it. Autumn, Amanda, Deborah, Doug, Ed, and TS were all so helpful from the booking to the tech needs to adjusting times here and there. They are a big part of the success of our first weekend of shows. I’m looking forward to our July and August weekends with more to come after that.
Those that frequented Philly Improv Theater no doubt recognized some familiar faces. Lisa Lawrence (former lots of things at PHIT) is why everything ran so smoothly this weekend. Lisa ran box office and then some over our first run. She came in early to make sure everything was ready, ran to Target to get audience masks when I forgot, as well as had two super helpful interns come in to usher and assist as needed- thank you Marquis and Keanu! Another PHIT pick-up was our tech for the weekend, Jaclyn Silvestri. Jaclyn walked into a rather challenging tech set up and made it all work without a hitch. She even ran Not Yet Rated’s tech, which is much more involved than your average lights up and lights down and not a show I typically hand off. She killed it. Someone you may not recognize from PHIT but was there nonetheless was Channing Billups who worked with us in the office. Channing came by to help out where needed, brought refreshments to folks, and took some great photos of shows. With Jaclyn in the booth, Lisa wherever she was needed, and Channing taking pics, I was able to just watch and enjoy our first run of shows. I’m beyond grateful to all of the above for their help in making everything work.
On Friday, Not Yet Rated: An Improvised Movie kicked off the live era of Crossroads Comedy Theater shows with a great one. We even had a couple members, Andrew Coppola and Wilfredo Diaz, that moved out of Philly during the pandemic perform while they were in town. Not Yet Rated has been doing online shows since October 2020, but nothing compares to a room full of people laughing right in front of you. Study Hall’s last show (just for a little bit) with Michael Yudell was fantastic. An oversized cast assembled to help send him off with lectures from Amy Donnella and Adam Rothman where we learned about cults, bogus cures, pandemic shams, lying kids, and more. After 14 months of online shows it was great to finally get back in person. Sunday was our first in person Extree Extree: Comedy Inspired by News and it was a soooo much fun. A mix of news clips ranging from the serious to the goofy inspired the show and the scenes were so funny and smart.Â
In addition to the above Crossroads produced shows we also welcomed some guest performances! Tia and the cast of No Diggity wrapped up our first night in such a fun way. Videos of Party (Up in here) by DMX and Hit Em Up Style by Blu Cantrell inspired the improvised scenes. We also had couple trivia winners walk off with the preferred prize of the night – sparklers. Saturday indie teams Daddy Issues and Hoffman appeared in Borrowed Time. Daddy Issues was super fun fast moving set and great use of the stage. Improv vets Hoffman performed a hilarious Pretty Flower format which took them to an Arby’s bathroom in Texas.
Audiences throughout the weekend were awesome. I had no idea what to expect as we are still in a pandemic, but we lit the beacons and people showed up ready to laugh. Great houses through the weekend with such great energy and support throughout. I’m so thankful to every person that came through the doors and I hope to see them come through every time Crossroads opens them.
So what’s next? More shows! And some workshops! We are back with live shows in Philly July 16th, 17th, and 18th. The flagship Crossroads shows Study Hall, Not Yet Rated, and Extree Extree will be on the schedule plus some special guest performances! Thank You Places: An Improvised Musical, the return of Hoffman, plus Sketch Buffet: A Sketch Comedy Showcase featuring The Incredible Shrinking Matt & Jacquie, Crying Alone in the Shower, High Dramma, Steve Swann & Joe Moore, and more! Check out our shows page to see what’s already on sale.
We also have our first classes on sale! These are workshops aimed at non-performers looking to get out of the house, brush up on their social skills, have a good time, and learn some improv! Two sections are being offered- one with Caitlin Corkery (Study Hall) and one with Marcely Jean-Pierre (Study Hall, Not Yet Rated). For more info and registration check out our classes page.
Thanks again for an amazing weekend. See you in a month!
Mike Marbach
Crossroads Comedy Theater Founder
