1812 Productions is kicking off its 30th anniversary season with a world premiere production of a show that will change every night. Yes, it’s improv which they bill as a new musical adventure. These are the Final 4.
Each night, they ask the audience for bad musical titles, a strong emotion, and a one-syllable word, and then, the cast of five and a pianist/music director improvise songs and scenes. The audience votes on the best, which the cast then creates a 30- minute version of, for the second act.
I am not usually a fan of improv, but in the past, 1812 has blown me away with so many creative and hilarious shows that I was curious on how they would handle a piece like this, with no script. And I discovered when I saw no asterisks next to the names in the program, I realized that none of the actors were equity. Well, that didn’t make a difference. They were all great and clearly knew how to respond to prompts from the audience and from each other.
It is about a contest where four different plays are vying for top spot and a performance. We watch as the actors act out the “scripts” that the audience recommended and the actors created. Four teams perform based upon the cues from the audience. The music shifts . It’s unbelievable! How can they be SO good. Then we vote as the group of four plays finally dwindles to a winner.
The host of the contest is Kristin Finger. That’s her real name as the actors in this production are only called Performer. She moderates and every night there will be different pieces and different prompts and different winners.
In the second act, they act out the winning piece in a half hour. It is more linear, though the amazing lines they come up with are as good as any prescript. Finger joins the other four (David Dritas, Kelsey Hebert, Eliana Fabiyi, and Mykey Carpenter) in the play. And then there is Jay Rosen, the Music Director and pianist. He is improvising as well. He must figure out when to come in to support the actors in song.
I’m not going to tell you which piece they selected and performed in the second act. There’s no purpose to that since what you will see will be completely different from what I saw. I will say this- I liked the first act but loved the second act. In the opening act, they went for the silly comedy often. There was a lot of laughter from the younger people in the audience. The older crowd was laughing more in the second, more poignant act.
This is a most unique piece of theater. It’s about memory. It’s about love. It’s about feelings. Mary Carpenter and Jennifer Childs, who created it, also directed it. I would have loved to watch the rehearsals. How can they prepare? So much brilliance on so many levels!
“This Should Never Be A Musical: An Improvised Reality Show” Co-Created by Mary Carpenter and Jennifer Childs at 1812 Productions, at ArdenTheatre Company’s Arcadia Stage, 40 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, 215-592-9560, info@1812 productions.org Thru September 27, 2026
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 