Experience all your favourite films in one hilarious mash-up
Some of our most vivid memories come from the movie blockbuster – think of the first time you saw the T Rex in Jurassic Park, or the lightsaber duel in Star Wars, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray busting ghosts or Sam carrying Frodo up Mount Doom. This summer, Vancouver TheatreSports™ League (VTSL) pays tribute to the mega movie with The Big Picture – An Improvised Movie starting June 30 and running through the summer to August 27.
This is a live, improvised-adventure featuring lightning-fast comedy that can hold its own with any on-the-edge-of-your-seat big screen thriller or frothy romcom.
As in all VTSL productions, audience participation is key to the action. The actors on stage, and the audience in the seats, will together create a different ‘overnight smash hit’ each and every night of the show’s run.
The first half of the evening sees audience suggestions determining the genre of the yet-to-be-made ‘blockbuster’ (e.g. thriller, historical epic, adventure, fantasy, horror, western, sci-fi, musical, romance) along with other elements such as the characters, location, plot components and era. In the second half of the show, the ensemble improvises a performance of the entire ‘movie’ utilizing all the components that were determined by the audience in the first half.
The possibilities are endless – will Professor Dumbledore and Gandalf finally meet? Perhaps Indiana Jones will be eaten by the Great White or Scarlett O’Hara will fall for Doctor Zhivago? Maybe Maria will teach Dracula how to sing or E.T. and Wall-E will ride off into the sunset together.
While you’ll never know from one performance to another what the mash-up ‘movie’ will be, you can be assured that they all have one thing in common – laugh-til-your-face-hurts comedy. This is one blockbuster where the outcome, like the proverbial bag of popcorn, will leave you wishing you hadn’t reached the end.
Don’t miss the biggest ‘motion picture’ of the summer season, The Big Picture – An Improvised Movie playing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. June 30 to August 27 at The Improv Centre on Granville Island. Tickets, starting as low as $10/student and senior or $15/adult, are on sale now at vtsl.com.
About Vancouver TheatreSports™ League
Founded in 1980 Vancouver TheatreSports™ League is Vancouver’s #1 improv comedy company and a well-respected international leader in the art form. Alumni include improv super-stars Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles from Whose Line Is It Anyway. Boasting six International Improv Comedy Awards and having starred in several television specials, Vancouver TheatreSports™ League entertains more than 60,000 people per year through 11 shows a week, 52 weeks a year at its own theatre, The Improv Centre, located on Granville Island – Vancouver’s arts and culture hub.
Vancouver TheatreSports™ appreciates the support of season sponsors: City of Vancouver, CMHC Granville Island, The Georgia Straight and The Granville Island Hotel.
