24 Here The Musical Main Image
HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
In Residency
HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
In ResidencyHERE: THE (IMPROVISED) MUSICAL (Columbus, OH) is one of the most celebrated shows globally in the artform. HERE is the original two-person improvised musical with Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto. Chicago Tribune Critic-Recommended (the highest-ranked improv show), Chicago Sun Times “Not to Be Missed,” and deemed “Nothing Short of Genius” by NPR, this show has been brought to 24 countries and 80+ cities worldwide so far. HERE is known for two residencies in two theatres: iO Chicago in Illinois, and The Nest Theatre in Columbus, OH, as a featured mainstage act around ongoing tours.
In HERE, Tara and Rance get one suggestion to create a theme through an opening number, design characters and storylines inspired by that theme, and effortlessly weave the strings together to discover one piece.
Funny, beautiful, and charming, HERE “has shown something new and amazing is possible in improvisation” and has been called "groundbreaking" by audiences around the globe.
Running Time
Workshops
Intermediate Musical Improvisation: Scenes, Songs, and Syzygy
Led by HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
Wednesday, July 17 | 7:00-9:00PM
In addition to Beginning Musical Improv's fundamental skills and practice, this workshop focuses primarily on "earning the song", musical improv theory, proper warmups, 2 person duets, group support from the sidelines, and mostly the integrity of a good scene that pays off musically - when there's just too much to feel that words no longer do it service. In this workshop we'll let go of tightly gripping structure and instead enjoy more of what magical musical moments can happen when we instead listen to the piece. Remember the joy of what made you want to start, now revel in the delight of leaning in further to let the musical ride expand!
Be Here Now: Joy and Presence in Scenework
Led by HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
Thursday, July 18 | 7:00-9:00PM
Presence is the name of the game. Come do two person scenework, actively listen, find the fun - It’s all right there in front of you. Part bohemian methodology and exercises, part scenework, this practice is both invigorating and full of meaningful conversation in this highly requested workshop with Tara & Rance.
It's Already There: Dynamic Scene Starts
Led by HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
Saturday, July 20 | 11:00AM-1:00PM
It's a wild artform, improv - we spend so much time considering and intellectualizing the need for presence and collaboration, but then miss opportunities to connect most authentically by getting in our own ways. We've all been in an improv scene that has felt like work - rather than allowing relationship to develop and content to arise, you've wasted the moments feeling lost about plot going on trying to force an agenda to happen. In this workshop through listening work, group exercises, and two person scenework with side-coaching, we'll find that everything you need was in the scene from the impetus as long as you lean into what makes the artform beautiful - creating with each other and listening to each moment along the way.
The Cast
Tara DeFrancisco
Rance Rizzutto
TARA DEFRANCISCO is a veteran performer of 6000+ shows on multiple world-renowned stages, including The Second City (TourCo, Dysfunctional Holiday Revue, Mainstage/etc), ComedySportz (Chicago + CBus ensembles and AD), and iO Chicago (Chaos Theory, The DelTones, defrancisCo, Armando, & HERE). HERE: The (Improvised) Musical has been called “Nothing Short of Genius” from NPR and rated 4 stars by The Chicago Tribune, and has been brought to 24 countries and 80+ cities worldwide to headline. Additionally, she is the Co-Founder, Artistic Director, instructor, and mainstage performer for beloved The Nest Theatre (Columbus, OH), a leading performance & educational community in Ohio, producing 35+ original mainstage shows and teams year-round, a space with active COE & "no-paperwork" scholarships for those under-amplified in the arts (LGBTQIA, BIPOC, persons with disabilities, vets, and those over 65). As an artist, you may also hear her in voiceovers (Sirius, Rocky Rococo, Crocs, 7 Little Johnstons), in commercials or industrials (Sheetz, Dish TV, Vegas.com, US Cellular, Sears, SunTrust), in movies (The Life and Death of An Unhappily Married Man), on Internet Game Shows (One Hot Dollar), and here and there in television (ABC Family, LOGO TV).
RANCE RIZZUTTO has been professionally improvising since 1999 on stages all around the world. Starting in Portland, OR, with ComedySportz, Rance soon found his calling as a mainstage performer after a big move to Chicago to work professionally in improvisation. He has performed in multiple tours with Second City Theatricals aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines, heading to Hawaii, the Caribbean, and multiple countries throughout Europe. In Chicago, he most connected with iO Theatre, where he became an adored mainstage performer and host featured on such beloved teams as Chaos Theory, The Deltones, Armando – and later, the lauded two-person touring duo, HERE: The (Improvised) Musical. He is the Co-Founder, Training Center Director, instructor & mainstage performer at revered The Nest Theatre in Columbus, OH. He is a mainstay at The Improv Retreat, a summit running for hundreds each year to invite adults to reinvigorate their joy for the arts. In addition to his hosting hundreds of live industrials, you can catch him on an internet game show (One Hot Dollar), and you may have seen Rance in television commercials for Hewlitt Packard or Sears, or heard his voice in animated commercials for Sears as well (as a bear, in case you’re wondering).
