Wednesday, April 10th (Giggles and Wiggles)

On Wednesday, April 10^th in honor of National Pet Day, The Bit Players held a benefit show with proceeds going to the Potter League for Animals, a local animal shelter located in Middletown, RI.  Before the show, the audience got to meet two the of shelters celebrity pets; Lady, a female, black and white Welsh Terrier mix and Jay, a male,  black and white American Staffordshire Terrier mix. The two dogs are inseparable, and the shelter was hoping that they would be adopted together.  At the time of this writing, I am happy to report that the two lovebirds, Lady & Jay ARE being adopted!  The Bit Players wish the pair much happiness in their new home! As Peanuts cartoonist, Charles Shulz once said, “Happiness is a warm puppy!”

Lady and Jay, our furry Potter league friends

Hosting this pet extravaganza was our perky little player, Jessica Bradley alongside a plethora of others including, Vlad Tenenbaum, Clayon McFarlane, Kevin Killavey, Neal Leaheey, and Dylan Eberle, with musical accompaniment by Chase Ceglie, Devon Mello and newbie Mike Celemme.  Also supporting their fellow Bits were, Lobo Linhares, Anna Smith, Jim Foley, Stephanie Conrad, Patrick Dugan, and Mike Puppi who made cameo appearances throughout the show.

The Bit Players in "Story, Story, Die!"

Things got hairy quickly with “Story, Story, Die” about Joanna with her spatula at the rodeo.  In the story told by Jessica, Clayon, Kevin, Neal, and Dylan and directed by Vlad, Joanna meets Bob the bull riding cowboy.  Bob and Joanna, through a harrowing series of events, made flapjacks together and finally rode off into the sunset.

Dylan, Clayon, and Anna
perform "Good Cop / Bad Cop"

 “Good Cop/ Bad Cop” followed. In this Bit, with Clayon as the perpetrator in the dastardly crime of killing Elmo, with a hair dryer, at Home Depot, Dylan and Anna were the cops who coerced our criminal to confess to the crime.

Vlad and Clayon in "Stunt Doubles"

The Bit Players wove the pet theme into the next bit “Stunt Doubles”.  With the suggestion of “walking the dog” as their physical action, our acting divas Jessica and Neal performed the heartwarming scene about adopting their first pet, Russel, from the Potter League.  But when things were too “strenuous” for their abilities, they called on their stunt doubles performed by Vlad and Clayon.  From picking up poop, and washing their dirty dog, to taking Russel on his first “show dog” walk, the audience loved every minute of this energy filled bit.

Neal, Jim, Dylan, and Kevin
perform "Irish Jig" 

A lucky Irish audience member, Caroline found a few minutes of fame in a highlight bit about her pet Sparky, in the bit “Irish Jig” entitled -  Sparky the Teacher performed by Neal, Kevin, Dylan, and Jim.

Vlad and Dylan as zombies in "Remake"

In the next bit, “Remake” , pairs players had to perform a scene from the audience suggested location, of Airport Baggage Claim.  With each consecutive retelling of the tale, the new pair had to perform the scene in the new genre also suggested by the audience.  As you will see, Kevin and Neal started off the mayhem, followed by Jessica and Clayon retelling the story in a Children’s genre. Finally, rounding out the bit were Dylan and Vlad, remaking the story in the genre of Zombies.  Click here to watch this zany bit. ->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQKKa32IcI&feature=youtu.be

Kevin (left), Neal & Jessica (top right)
and Dylan (bottom right) perform in "Telethon"

Life many times mimics fiction, as was the case in this next bit, “Telethon”.  In this bit, a fictitious cause is obtained from the audience. Tonight, in honor of their special guests, The Bit Players performed the bit to raise money for “The Potter League”.  Bringing musical awareness to the cause were the talent.  First up was Kevin performing in the genre of Disco, followed by 70’s Rock duet of Jessica and Neal.  Topping off the bit were Dylan and Clayon performing in the genre style of Jimmy Buffet/Frag Rock.



All of the Bit Players in "Blind Freeze"



The entire cast was called to the stage for Blind Freeze.  In this bit the players take turns freezing the action and the next player in line must immediately turn around and jump into the physical pose of one of the players, reshaping the action it into a new scene.

The Bit Players perform "The Blues"

In this next musical bit, the audience provided a suggestion on a topic for which the Bit Players creatde an improvised Blues-style song.  Tonight’s the Bit Players finished out the furry frenzied night with a “Blues Song” entitled The Broken Car Blues.

The Bit Players perform improv comedy every Friday and Saturday night at 8:00pm at the Firehouse Theatre, 4 Equality Park Place (off Broadway), Newport, RI 02840.  Please call the box office for reservations and information about all of the shows   401-849-FIRE (3473)  And it is always BYOB!