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In GCTC’s FLOP!, three actor-comedians craft a musical from scratch

Poster art for Flop at GCTC — an orange ink drawing of three figures in different masks. iPhoto caption: Poster art by Jesús Rivera Zavala.
/By / Dec 6, 2024
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This December, Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) will present Klif Entertainment’s FLOP! An Improvised Musical Fiasco, created by Ron Pederson and director Alan Kliffer.

After a group of actors (played by Hannah Spear, Jan Caruana, and Pederson) discovers their playwright has quit, their choreographer has been cancelled, and their director has gone to rehab, they must scramble to create a brand-new musical on the spot.

In a high-wire act of skill, comedy, and desperation — and with a little help from the audience — the trio collaborates with improvising pianist Erik Mortimer to generate a result that’s different every night.

This run at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre follows the show’s 2023 world premiere engagement at Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre.

“Over the course of two weeks, we will create 16 brand new musicals on the spot,” said Kliffer in a press release. “It’s a thrilling ride that the audience takes with the cast, and, frankly, the audience creates the tone of the show! There is nothing else like it.”


FLOP! An Improvised Musical Fiasco runs at the Great Canadian Theatre Company from December 10 to 22. Tickets are available here.

Liam Donovan
WRITTEN BY

Liam Donovan

Liam is Intermission’s senior editor. He lives in Toronto. His Substack newsletter is available at loamdonovan.substack.com.

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