Musical Improv 4B: Improvised Broadway Musical

Discover your inner Rogers and Hammerstein or Lin Manuel Miranda by learning how to improvise a classic Broadway Musical, one show-stopping number at a time.

Musical Improv 4B is a deep dive into the Broadway musical, focused on the same form used by All Out Comedy’s critically acclaimed musical mainstage team Knockoff Broadway. 

In this class, we’ll explore the song forms and narrative structures of a classic Broadway musical, from opening numbers to “I want songs” to 11:00 numbers to closing numbers. Students will learn how to set up a compelling protagonist and antagonist, then navigate the ins and outs of a satisfying narrative story.

This class builds on the song forms we learned in Musical Improv 1 and 2, as well as the scenic skills we started developing in Musical Improv 3. By the end of this class, students will be equipped to improvise an entire Broadway-style musical based on nothing more than an audience suggestion.

Students will leave this class with several new skills including:

  • How to improvise an opening number with broad tentpoles;

  • How to use vulnerability to establish a perfect “I want” song;

  • How to identify a strong antagonist and set them up for success;

  • How to collectively develop a compelling character arc for the protagonist;

  • How to avoid plot pitfalls and let the story unfold organically;

  • How to pay off your narrative with a satisfying 11:00 number.

This class culminates with a performance of a complete improvised Broadway musical, featuring show-stopping numbers, a compelling story and an extra dose of theatricality.

Details

Requirements:
All students enrolling in this class must have completed Musical Improv 3: Earning Songs at All Out Comedy, as we will be working with specific skills and concepts from that course that are not commonly taught at other theaters in the Bay Area.

If you haven’t completed Musical Improv 3 at All Out Comedy and are interested in this course, you’ll need to send us an email to be considered—Do not register for this class unless you’ve received approval.

Dates: Thursdays, 7:00pm-9:30pm, July 17-September 4 (20 hours)

Location: All Out Comedy Theater, 2550 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610

Registration: $379

Wellness: If you have symptoms of feeling sick the day of class, please stay home and contact your teacher.

All students will receive a student ID card during their session. This gives students access to watch as many shows for free while taking classes.

The Instructor: Jed Levine

Jed is an All Out Comedy instructor and mainstage cast member with over a decade of experience as a musical improviser, coach and teacher. You can find him performing improvised musicals twice a month with the team he co-created and coaches, Knockoff Broadway. He also coaches several independent musical improv teams and the All Out Comedy musical improv house team RiOt: An Improvised Rock Opera.

Jed is a graduate of the Second City Musical Improv Conservatory in Chicago and is an alumni of the critically-acclaimed musical improv company Baby Wants Candy. In the Bay Area, Jed has been a guest player for improvised musicals at BATS Improv and teaches musical improv at Leela in San Francisco where he coaches the musical improv P.I.E. team there. Jed is the founder of Bay Area Musical Improv, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for local musical improvisers, and a co-founder of the Bay Area Musical Improv Festival.