Be a Part of Broadway’s Next H!T Musical

Oct. 16, 2015

According to Playbill magazine, the writing and development of a play or musical can take years, then rehearsals generally take between six and eight weeks. This translates to a lot of time and effort going into the average Broadway show.

“Broadway’s Next H!T Musical”, by contrast, is completely unwritten and can never be rehearsed in its entirety. Yet, the show is getting rave reviews as it tours from coast to coast.

How is this possible? We talked to the show’s co-artistic director, co-producer and performer Deb Rabbai to find out.

VARIETY PACK

Rabbai first became interested in stage improv when she saw a performance by Chicago City Limits.

“I saw it and immediately thought, oh, I want to do that!” she said.

The native New Yorker graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and now performs regularly with the same show that first inspired her. In addition to her work there and on shows like Conan O’Brien, she became involved with “Broadway’s Next H!T Musical” (BNHM) in 2009.

The show maintains a presence in its hometown of New York City, usually in the winter, and tours the rest of the year.

“Our whole cast of ‘BNHM’ are improvisers,” she said. “Some started in high school or college, some later; some have experience in commercials or musical theater. Most everybody does shows and jobs outside of this show and it’s all that variety that helps make our show great.”

YOU WRITE IT

Attending “BNHM” offers a far different experience than simply picking up your program and having an usher show you to your seat.

When you arrive in the theater lobby, you’ll be asked to write down a made-up song title that will be collected and given to the performers. An emcee guides the proceedings, opening the show with thoroughly researched comments and jokes about the host city (look out, Traverse City!) and encouraging audience participation.

The audience’s titles then become the building blocks of the entire show. They’ll be drawn at random by different cast members, each of whom will turn a title into a completely new song on the fly.

These songs might be pop, rock, sad ballads, boisterous jigs or melodramatic Broadway melodies. It all depends on what your words inspire.

SUDDENLY, A SHOW

After a lightly sardonic awards ceremony, in which the audience picks its favorite song (based on what the cast members did with the audience-supplied song titles), the full cast will turn that song into an entire improvised musical, complete with distinct characters, plot twists, dialogue and more music.

It seems like an impossible task, but this cast does it with flair, crafting a wholly unique show every time.

“Every single show is created right in front of the audience,” Rabbai said. “If it looks like magic, that’s because it is!” It’s magic with a lot of work behind it. It’s impossible for the cast to rehearse the show, as they themselves never know what the show will be, but they spend ample time practicing musicality, rhyming, storytelling and, of course, improv.

STAGE DISCOVERY

“Rehearsal sounds like a misnomer,” Rabbai said, “so I like to explain it more like a basketball game. You can’t practice the game itself, but you can practice dribbling, shooting baskets and running up and down the court. That’s pretty much what we do.”

Once this multi-talented cast takes the stage, the results of all the preparation are hilarious. We can’t tell you any more about it because we don’t know what form the show is going to take, either.

“What I can tell you is that this show, for me, allows me to showcase my skills to perfection,” Rabbai said. “And our cast is full of such great performers. We try to make characters and songs that honor the audience’s suggestions, while also making them entertaining and unique.”

“We are essentially making this show with the audience, with other people, and I love having that moment of discovery right along with them.”

“Broadway’s Next H!T Musical” will take the stage at the City Opera House in Traverse City Oct. 24 at 8pm. For tickets and more information, visit cityoperahouse.org or call the box office at (231) 941-8082.