Announcing Our 2023 VIP: Very In Progress Roster
Our full roster of VIP: Very In Progress shows for 2023 is here!
VIP: Very In Progress is our artist development program that supports and showcases work-in-progress performances, with a current aim for more ensemble-based work.
Our VIP shows are an elite opportunity to get weird and get risky -- a place for artists to try shit out and take big swings. For our guests, it’s a chance to discover people you’ve never heard of but should know, or witness your favorites do something they’ve never done before.
Check out this year's roster and get introduced to what’s being developed with VIP in 2023 below:
JANUARY
★
JANUARY ★
SCIENCE, PEPSI™ & HISTORY: The Mind at 90%
by Will Duncan
I want to perform this show as much as possible. It's a lot of fun to do, I hope it's a lot of fun to see, and it captures and delivers some of the EXACT artistic impulses/ideas/vibes/statements that I want to be creating/performing as a 27 year old british man!
About the show: Will just moved here from England and it's his first day of middle school. Will he do something so cool that everyone loves him, or get completely owned by the American public education-industrial complex?
Check out more Science, Pepsi™ & History: The Mind at 90% this March. Tickets & info to come.
Good Showbiz
by Eli Leonard
My dream is to build an iconic piece of funny Jewish theater to pass down to the next generation of performers, and in that pursuit, to tour Good Showbiz around the world.
About the show: Good Showbiz is a celebration of the spirit and the vibrant history of Jewish showmanship. Eli Leonard hosts an immersive spectacle of tradition embroidered with feats of physicality, musicality, comedy, and stagecraft, all culminating in a rarely attempted dramatic monologue. It is fair to say that Good Showbiz is, no doubt, a funny theater show; however, as Eli will make abundantly clear throughout the hour, Good Showbiz is also a business. To be in the Showbiz audience is to participate in the vital work of bringing this show to life. And of course for that work, all will be fairly compensated.
Check out more Good Showbiz this March. Tickets & info to come.
FEBRUARY
★
FEBRUARY ★
Sweet Lorraine
by Jordan Temple
With ‘Sweet Lorraine’ I aim to take the essence of these shows and capture the unique, loving intergenerational relationship that I had with my grandmother.
I want people to feel connected with this show and for it to be able to build a real audience that starts at The Elysian, then tighten it and have it in a place that I can tour with it next year. I want people to feel like they know me better and know Lorraine better. This show is a bit of an emotional undertaking so I want the rehearsals to feel focused and to really make the performance nights feel special. I want all of it to feel like practice towards the larger goal of producers and people seeing something truly special in it.
About the show: Sweet Lorraine celebrates the life of Jordan Temple's grandmother and best friend, Lorraine Temple. Jordan tells the story of her life through jokes, stories and one act plays pulled from his fondest memories with her. Through this performance, her grandson hopes to show you how special their bond was and hopefully remind you of your relationship with your own grandmother.
Check out Sweet Lorraine this February. Tickets & more info here.
MARCH
★
MARCH ★
Fart Piss Puke
by Camirin Farmer
My exploration into my deeper self has always been led through comedy, and The Divine; they both go hand in hand in my life. Both have been integral in exploring all aspects of my identity, especially the ones at face value: my Blackness, my queerness, my transness, my mental illnesses, all of my "others." With this show I want to let the audience into the dichotomy of intimacy, and performance that I struggle with, and how the Divine Comedian holds me in that journey.
About the show: Fart Piss Puke: The Holy Trinity. The Divine in physical form. Our bodies must transform into a vessel for something greater than ourselves. Camirin Farmer was placed here to help you channel & expunge. It's all got to come out. It's all going to.
Check out Fart Piss Puke this March. Get tickets & more info here.
APRIL
★
APRIL ★
by Jessy Morner-Ritt & Izzy Gerasole
Joy and Butler live to serve...kind of. And as lifelong customer service workers and women, so do Jessy and Izzy...kind of. This new iteration of their show sees Joy and Butler as two cartoon characters come to life while Jessy and Izzy look deeper at Joy and Butler's relationship to one another and the greater world they not so sweetly serve.
About the show: Pack your bags and check into the broken down bed & breakfast run by the desperately delusional Joy (Jessy Morner-Ritt) and her stalwart yet surly Butler (Isabella Gerasole). Part-play, part-clown and part-improvised variety show, this bed & breakfast has welcomed fabulous guests from comedians and musicians to an elderly woman named Lois whom Jessy and Izzy met at a bachelorette party. Each audience member is a guest at the B&B, with their seat becoming their room (complete with mimed doors that Joy knocks on incessantly). Each show concludes with wine, cheese, and a sing-song recounting of the lesson Joy and Butler have learned from the sideways parable they enacted that evening. Ranked by The Comedy Bureau as one of the best things in comedy 2022, join Joy and Butler in the salon as they navigate mayhem and misadventure in really weird/ugly outfits.
Check out Joy’s Bed & Breakfast this April. Get tickets & more info here.
MAY
★
MAY ★
DISNEY VORTEX
by Amanda & Amber Miller
We are two Black fangirls trying to understand ourselves and our memories through Disney Channel song and dance. So yes-- the show may seem like a silly celebration of pop culture, but at its core, it's a psychological quest for catharsis through centering and legitimizing Black/queer/femme PASSION. We're on a quest to celebrate what we love in a nuanced/fun/shameless way and provide that healing space for others as well.
About the show: Join real-life sisters Amanda and Amber Miller as they sing, dance, and jazz square their way through the DISNEY VORTEX! In this autobiographical musical revue, Amanda and Amber are Black fangirls grappling with their formative idolization of (predominantly white) Disney Channel stars. Through a combo of musical numbers, drag, and sketch, they must ultimately level up to self-actualize, finally breaking out of the intoxicating realm known as... the Disney Vortex.
Check out Disney Vortex this May. Get tickets & more info here.
JUNE
★
JUNE ★
CHURCH GIRLS
by Shanell McKinnie & Lamarr Spencer
It's rare to see BIPOC women represented in the faith deconstruction space, but this show puts them front and center as we follow the journey from preacher's kid to pussy popping on a handstand. With this show, we will rip the wires out of organized religion's back, Gremlins style, and hopefully leave the audience questioning their beliefs about spirituality, and what it means to be “saved”.
About the show: When four young, devout Christian women are left behind by The Rapture, they use this opportunity to take part in the sins they always wanted but were too chicken shit to try. The audience will helplessly bear witness as these women go down the rabbit hole of sexual discovery, drug use, and bodily autonomy. With a little psychedelic assistance, our girls transcend to new planes of consciousness, coming face-to-face with the iconic women Christianity tried (and failed) to cancel. No longer in fear of Sky Daddy, these church girls unlearn everything they thought they knew about religion, instead forging their own definition of what it means to be divinely protected and spiritually aligned.
Check out Church Girls this June. Tickets & more info to come.
JULY
★
JULY ★
Ethically Sourced Gossip
by SKIMS MODELS (Emily Browning, Skarllett Redd, Kristin Wallace, Erika Sanchez, Lincoln Rzonca)
We’re here to create a space for weirdos to develop original characters in an ensemble format while consensually bringing audience members along for the ride.
About the show: A diverse ensemble absurdities little bites of life through sketch and video. Each sketch takes a mundane everyday event and turns it upside down: getting coffee, casual dating, funerals and receiving your first AA token.
Check out Ethically Sourced Gossip this July. Tickets & more info to come.
AUGUST
★
AUGUST ★
RE-MEMBERING
by bodybodybody (Kat Toledo, Meat Bar, and Kirby Chen Mages)
About the show: Kat Toledo, Meat Bar, and Kirby Chen Mages' ensemble 'bodybodybody' presents RE-MEMBERING: an hour-long neo-pagan ritual /slash/ sketch show that gives a new meaning to "body humor". Their feet will be your telenovela, their chaps will be assless (and getting slapped with raw meat), and their bodily fluids are "FOR SALE". Their work, though viceral and abject, is warm and absurd ~ offering the audience a safe night of theater to consider new ways to use, play with, and get curious :) about their bodies.
Check out RE-MEMBERING this August. Tickets & more info to come.
Open for Bone Business (Please Clean Your Bones Bitch) Thank You and Come Again
by Amy Chiao & The Bone Team
Was 2022 bone theater too comedic for actual sales? Or not funny enough? At last October's Spaghetti Festival, the Bone Business Lady, BBL, failed to enlist a single Certified Pro-Bone(r) Cleaner @ the Elysian. The failure of many bones, sweat, and tears. But she's not out of business just yet! The Elysian Theater has kindly offered her one last chance to rework her sales pitch before the recession hits. BBL will be expanding the boniverse's business model(s) with new bones products (home edition), 0nlyb0nes content, and recruitment strategies into forms that bleed from guerilla marketing tactics to durational devised gestures in collaboration with her BONE TEAM or anyone audience member who wants a free creative, carnivorous meal.
About the show: Why throw away your chicken bones in the trash when you can make a buck right back into your wallet? Bone fashion is the new rhinestone for Spring 2023. Meet the Bone Business Lady and learn how YOU can capitalize on the pleasurable oral act of consumption. A bone business lifestyle challenges modern forms of labor inspired by visionaries of maintenance art and craft therapy.
Check out Open for Bone Business (Please Clean Your Bones Bitch) Thank You and Come Again this August. Tickets & more info to come.
SEPTEMBER
★
SEPTEMBER ★
THE BIG VALENTINE
by Rob Haze
This show is to explore a more vulnerable tone as a follow up to Frontin'. Rob examines who he was in relationships from a new perspective.
About the show: Rob Haze, a traditionally observational comedian, dug into his dating history all the way back to grade school when he would give The Big Valentine intended for his teachers to his crush.
Check out The Big Valentine this September. Tickets & more info to come.
SHOW OF CATASTROPHE
by Rachel Ho
We are an ensemble of clowns looking to create stupidly life-affirming moments amidst a spectacle of disaster. This will be a devised theater show with an emphasis on process. Once we figure out the formula we’ll be able to simulate any catastrophe of your choice to 100% macroscopic accuracy.
About the show: A huge catastrophe, gloriously choreographed, spectacularly staged, and executed impeccably.
+ an ensemble including Araceli Lemos, Brian Byrne, Camirin Farmer, Vince Lopez, Ian Farley, John Bradford, Nicholas Hemerling, Cristina Fernandez, Matthew Doyle, Reshma Meister, Paul Schlesinger, Magi Calcagne, Melissa Achten Klausner, Eli Klausner, Darrian O’Reilly
Check out Show of Catastrophe this September. Tickets & more info to come.
VIP: Very In Progress is our artist development program that supports and showcases work-in-progress performances, with a current aim for more ensemble-based work.
VIP shows are an elite opportunity to get weird and get risky -- a place for artists to try shit out and take big swings. For our guests, it’s a chance to discover people you’ve never heard of but should know, or witness your favorites do something they’ve never done before.
If this sounds cool to you -- you’re right, it is! Look for the ★ on our calendar to catch a one-of-a-kind, VIP performance, or check out our upcoming VIP shows here.
VIP: Very in Progress is supported by donations from people like you. Share your support here.