PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) —
“This Should Never Be A Musical: An Improvised Reality Show” may be unlike anything you’ve seen before. It’s the same characters, but in a different musical every night.<\/p>\n
“1812 is all comedy all the time,” says Jennifer Childs, co-founder and producing artistic director for 1812 Productions. “And I’ve always wanted to do a sort of reality TV thing with theater.”<\/p>\n
She says the production is taking 1812 “back to our improvisational roots.”<\/p>\n
Childs teamed up with longtime friend Mary Carpenter to co-create and co-direct this world premiere piece.<\/p>\n
Carpenter says the actors on stage are going to get suggestions from the audience for titles that “should never be a musical.”<\/p>\n
One suggestion they improvised was “An Arbor Day Story.”<\/p>\n
“And then these four performers are going to pitch them as if it’s their idea for a musical,” she says.<\/p>\n
1812 Productions is presenting the 3-week run on the Arden Theatre Company’s Arcadia Stage.<\/p>\n
“We have an incredible cast of improvisers,” says Carpenter. “We’re just practicing a lot of different skills.”<\/p>\n
“If you’re familiar with ‘Waiting for Guffman’ or ‘This is Spinal Tap,’ or any of those kinds of movies, it has very much that vibe,” says Childs.<\/p>\n
The actors will face reality TV-style challenges.<\/p>\n
“And it’s like ‘Great, oh, you get to sing a villain song,'” she says.<\/p>\n
Two actors sing, “We’ll Push Her Off The Train.”<\/p>\n
“And we have an incredible musical director, Jay Rosen, who is so gifted at playing in all different styles,” says Childs.<\/p>\n
The audience votes after each challenge until only two are left to compete in a final duet challenge.<\/p>\n
“When the audience comes back from intermission, they will vote on which one is the winner and then we’ll do a 30-minute version of that musical,” she says.<\/p>\n
“And the fact that it is completely made up every night, the magic trick of it is kind of astounding,” says Carpenter.<\/p>\n
“It feels unbelievable even though I know they’re improvising. Even as I watch them in the room, I’m still like, ‘No way, no way!'” says Childs. “It’s a really fun room to be in.”<\/p>\n
“This Should Never Be A Musical: An Improvised Reality Show” runs September 4 – 27, 2026, on the Arcadia Stage at the Arden Theatre Company.<\/p>\n
1812 Productions – “This Should Never Be A Musical: An Improvised Reality Show” <\/a>\/<\/p>\n