About Us
Get the skinny, mac!
The Liquid Radio Players perform totally improvised shows in the style of old-time radio, complete with live sound effects and music.
The troupe originally debuted this signature format at ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles in September 2000, and has since completed a number of highly successful runs at that popular venue, in addition to performances at LA landmarks like the Derby, the Friar's Club, the Museum of Television and Radio, and the Argyle Hotel. LRP has also taken its act on the road, appearing at the famed Chicago City Limits Theatre in New York City, as well as at Chicago's WNEP Theater, and the prestigious Chicago Improv Festival, where they garnered outstanding reviews and audience acclaim.
The
private dick... The gangster's moll... The lonesome
cowboy... The
double-crossing femme fatale...These and more are the classic characters
the Liquid Radio Players bring to life as they spontaneously enact
an entire radio drama before the audience's eyes. Audience members
choose
the genre (detective story, Western, adventure, soap opera, horror,
sci-fi or sitcom), provide a title for the story and character names
for the
actors, and name products they would like advertised during the show.
Then, seven of LA's finest improvisers take the stage in period
costumes, blank scripts
in hand and, standing in front
of vintage microphones, play out the requested show a la an actual
radio
broadcast from the 1940s. Two other players punctuate the story with
live sound effects from a fully equipped onstage Foley table, while
a keyboardist provides live music. The show also includes a rotating
roster
of variety acts that provide musical and comical tributes to that bygone
era.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
Liquid Radio Players really swings... A study in acting agility and wit... True to the old radio formula of crisp timing, but with superb staging.
The straight dope? It's improv, it's fun, and, shweetheart, this is one style of performance that deserves further investigation.
This group could have just as easily placed a radio on stage, allowed the audience to close their eyes and we would have been just as entertained... It was clear to see what a group could do when they not only studied the style they were performing, but took the time to fall in love with it.
The radio format is the brainchild of LRP Director Stan Morse.