The 11 O'clock Number
The 11 O’clock Number is Grindstone’s award winning improvised musical comedy! Based on suggestions from the audience the cast improvises a brand new musical comedy on the spot, complete with twisting plots and showstopping numbers. Laughs are guaranteed. You have to see it to believe it.
Phantom of the Paradise meets Phantom of the Opera.
A The 11 O’Clock Number review, by Andrea Noga (AYTC).
If you’re a lover of improv and musicals, this is the show for you.
The 11 O’Clock Number is a consistent Edmonton theatre show, playing at the Grindstone weekly throughout the year, currently exiled across the street at the FOH PRO Stage for Fringe. Though a new venue, the charm of this improvised musical is the same. They take a title, a location, and a song name at the start of the show and then it is just improv, improv, improv from there. While not offering the polish of a scripted musical, The 11 O’Clock Number makes up for it in energy and raw laughs.
The version of the show I saw was entitled I Didn’t Do It, an opera set murder-mystery. While the improvisers admit at the beginning mystery is a hard genre to improvise, (it ended up being more of a murder musical, and less of a mystery) they try with joyous commitment anyways. Erin Maxwell, one of the improvisers, stood out for her ability to center the improv back in the story. Even great improvisers sometimes struggle to keep on the narrative and avoid excessive tangents, and Maxwell knew how to keep the story moving. Her solo number, “President for a Day”, wouldn’t have been too out of place in a proper musical. However, the real standout was musician Curtis Den Otter. Improvising music throughout to fit into the scenes, Den Otter displayed an impressive talent as a pianist and as a keen listener.
In terms of the musical aspect, while all the performers were clearly gifted singers, some of the vocals were not quite what you would typically hear in a traditional musical. In fairness, it is much harder to improvise harmonies than to improvise jokes. However, even if the performers weren’t always in tune with each other, they were always attuned to each other. If they weren’t actively involved in a scene, they would become background singers, dancer, anything to make it feel more than a real musical. They would listen carefully to each other, which was imperative when they would improvise ensemble musical numbers. Towards the beginning, they would occasionally step on each others toes– metaphorically, meaning to interrupt each other or cut ideas short. However, as the show continued they found their rhythm and allowed all cast members to shine.
If you’re looking for a musical with a beginning, middle, end and a sensical summary– you’re in the wrong spot. The show I saw had Batman and Abraham Lincoln subplots. Absolutely not a traditional musical. However, that’s not what this show is trying to be. It is improv, with lots and lots of time for hilarious bits. And if you get some plot with it, that’s a bonus. You will laugh, and that’s what’s important.
The 11 O’Clock Number plays at the FOH PRO Stage