THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV

Based on Gaston Leroux’s Internationally Acclaimed
Twentieth Century Gothic Dazzler
Le Fantôme de l’Opéra

OPENING JULY 9
PREVIEWS BEGIN JULY 2

Starring
Andrew Fox,  Stoddard Blackall,  Nathan Chang,  Kelly Leissler
Brian Matthew Byus,  Olivia Howell,  Danielle Heaton,
Ellie Bensinger
Featuring
THE AUDIENCE

At
SOPHIE’S at BROADWAY

Created By
Jordan Scott Gilbert & Philip Lakin
Directed by Philip Lakin
Produced by Jordan Scott Gilbert
Scenery, Lighting & Sound Design by
Ocean Bay Entertainment, Inc.

Highlighting The Great Subjects of Comedy
Emotional Frenzy,  Desperate Retaliation,  Broken Promises,  Death Threats, Terrorism, 
Murderous Explosives,  Torture Chambers,  Kidnapping,
Stockholm Syndrome,  Broken Hearts,  Defeated Spirits,  Schizophrenic Voices,
The Great Operas of Europe and Faces That Resemble Rotting Corpses

  Enterprising producer Jordan Scott Gilbert will open his THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV on Wednesday, July 9th at Sophie’s At Broadway (318 West 53rd Street – between Eighth 
and Ninth Avenues).

Preview performances begin Wednesday, July 2nd.

An interactive musical comedy improvisational retelling of this planet’s most haunting love story, THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV is based on Gaston Leroux’s Twentieth Century Gothic dazzler, which has sold millions of copies while single-handedly subsidizing Broadway for the last three decades; not to mention the various film adaptations that have lined the pockets of movie executives in Hollywood and abroad.

Keenly aware that the worldwide Reality Show Industry is devoured by over 100,000,000 weekly viewers, director Philip Lakin and Mr. Gilbert have created an emotionally driven narrative between a handsome celebrity, an unsuspecting virginal beauty and a disgustingly ugly obsessed stalker that cries out for AUDIENCE INVOLVMENT, PARTICIPAION and COLLABORATION .

They have taken the French million-dollar novel and opened it up for suggestions from the world’s hippest and quick-witted audience – the New York ticket buyers.
The courageous cast will, on the spot, embrace the audience’s re-writes and brilliantly incorporate them into their own unfolding universe.

Created by Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Lakin, THE PHANTOM of the IMPROV will come to be known as the dawn of REALITY THEATRE.
 

THE ORIGINAL STORY

As EVERYONE knows Mr. Leroux’s narrative goes like this:  The lovely and beautiful Christine Daaé travels Europe with her famous fiddler father whose folk concerts are sure-fire sell-out events until he dies and she goes to live with his benefactor’s elderly widow and reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, the handsome Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny who encourages her burgeoning music career at Paris’ Opera House where she begins to hear a haunting and other-worldly voice in her head which turns out to be the voice of  Erik: The Phantom, a physically deformed and mentally disturbed musical genius who also happens to be one of the original architects of the Opera House under which he has made his home to which he drags Christine after a headline-grabbing audience-crushing horror of a plummeting chandelier which he orchestrated after being ignored by the Opera’s management.  Erik: The Phantom is madly in love with Christine and completely besotted by her voice as opposed to Raoul who is obsessed by her perfect body and angelic face.  Speaking of faces, Erik: The Phantom’s is described in the novel as resembling that of a rotting corpse which seems less and less to bother Christine as she embraces a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and begins to fall for the murderous freak who releases her back into society so that she can star on the stage of the Opera House after which he re-kidnaps her and threatens to blow the Opera House to smithereens if she does not agree to be his wife.  Erik attempts to drown Raoul.  Christine kisses Erik who is so flummoxed by this display of kindness that he re-releases her on the condition that she promises to bury him when he dies of a broken heart which he does three weeks later.

Skip to the year 2014.

THE AUDIENCE’S ASSIGNMENT

The audience will be asked to improve on the novel’s outrageous narrative. 
Their suggestions will be embraced by the cast on stage and incorporated both musically and dramatically. 
The audience needs to be as creative as the cast is quick to respond.
This is a duel of wits.  This is a challenge of dramatic and comic genius.
This is the most high-stakes show in the Broadway neighborhood.
This is the NEW reality.     This is REALITY THEATRE.

THE PLAYERS

Andrew Fox
(Theatre: Twisted, Foreverman, Roads Courageous, Edges   Film: Dream Lover,  Thunderstruck: An AC/DC Movie Musical, Solomon Grundy: Born on a Monday)
Stoddard Blackall
( Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, Petting Zoo, A Stoddy Story ) 
Nathan Chang 
(Upright Citizens Brigade, Boomtown, Joseph And The Amazing …, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spelling Bee, Seussical, Steppin’ off the Sidewalk {Bistro Award})
Kelly Leissler
(Love, Genius and a Walk, [title of show], Ragtime, Evil Dead The Musical)
Brian Matthew Byus 
(At Trouble's End, On Baile's Strand, The Three Sisters, The Living, Taming of The Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Waiting For Godot, Orpheus Descending.  LAByrinth Theater Company: 2014 Winter Ensemble-Intensive)
Olivia Howell 
(The Berenstain Bears (Off-Broadway), Eight is Never Enough Comedy Troupe (Off- Broadway), The 39 Steps, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Peter Rabbit, A Year With Frog and Toad, and Fancy Nancy (Tour).
Danielle Heaton 
Off-Broadway: On The Town, Bat Boy, The Killing Room.  Comedy Group: Cross Line Baby
Ellie Bensinger
Theatre: Legally Blonde, Tartuffe, The Pajama Game, Tick...Tick...Boom!,
Candide   Television: The Blacklist   Film: Titanic, 10,000 Saints

The Performance Schedule
Wednesdays @ 8:00pm
Thursdays @ 8:00pm
Fridays @ 8:00pm
Saturdays @ 8:00pm
The Tickets  $35
There is a Two Item Minimum
Seating is first come, first serve.
Buy Online: www.phantomimprov.com
Buy by Phone:  1-800-838-3006
The Venue
Sophie’s At Broadway
318 West 53rd Street
( between 8th & 9th Avenues )
 

THE DIRECTOR

PHILIP LAKIN is an actor/director/producer who loves nothing more than bringing stories to life.  Recent directing credits include Kennedy’s Children by Robert Patrick and Princess by Catherine Davidson. As an actor, he has appeared in A Good Night To Die (Tribeca Film Festival), Nikki and Sarah Live (MTV), Law & Order (NBC), and several theaters all over the tri-state area.  Mr. Lakin is currently launching his first start-up: Actor Dash, a speed-networking event for actors and content creators.    

                                                                  THE PRODUCER

JORDAN SCOTT GILBERT has worked with some of the most successful actors, writers, directors, and producers in the world.  He is the President of his own independent production and casting company, representing film, television, and theatrical productions worldwide.   Jordan is Co-Producer of the 3-time Tony Award nominated and Drama Desk Award winning Broadway production of Ghost The Musical with Paramount Pictures, for which he was named the first Broadway Producer Of The Year by The Examiner and Broadway Global, and received a Drama League Award nomination, among many other honors.   Jordan also produced on Stephen Schwartz's London revival of Pippin starring Frances Ruffelle.  Recent credits include Ball Boy, Disney's They Spoke Out: American Voices Against The Holocaust, We Are Lights starring Melba Moore and Nick Wyman, Peace Aqua starring Andrea McArdle, and Showbiz Talk with numerous Academy, Tony and Grammy Award winners.  Jordan first served as assistant to the lead producer on the Broadway musical A Tale Of Two Cities.  As a performer, Jordan has appeared on Broadway, as well as in several stage, film and television projects, including celebrity-studded charity events for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Lincoln Center, Studio 54 Below, National Opera Center, among many other venues.   Jordan is releasing his debut EP later this year and will be in pre-production for a new musical aimed for Broadway, as well as a major motion picture.  

www. phantomimprov.com