Following Success of PORTAL-PROV! Improv Show, North America’s Premier Sci-Fi Production Company Boldly Beams Up an Edsel
CHICAGO, Illinois -- Otherworld Theatre Company, the premier sci-fi and fantasy live theatre production company in North America, presents STARSHIP EDSEL, a Star Trek-inspired improv show opening October 1, 2022 with a special 90 minute premiere show and after party immediately following, and running the first Saturday of each month thereafter at 10 p.m. at the storefront theatre’s venue at 3914 N. Clark St., and streaming via YouTube.
Set aboard the Federation Starship Edsel towards the end of the 24th century, STARSHIP EDSEL is based upon a Live Action Role Play (LARP) written and developed by Brandon Brylawski, a producer and head writer of this farcical show. While the famous flagship of the Federation, the USS Enterprise, is boldly going where no one has gone before under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the Edsel and her crew have a less glamorous history. The October 1 premiere adventure features special guest star John Hildreth, Artistic Director of The Second City’s Training Center Chicago, who will have a recurring role in the show.
Starfleet’s Edsel-class starship is largely regarded as a failure in ship design and the only one of its kind. Somehow, serious flaws in architecture and engineering went unnoticed until launch, making the ship the joke of the fleet. The only ship of its class ever commissioned, the USS Edsel soon became a dumping ground for disruptive and incompetent personnel until Starfleet Command ordered the embarrassing vessel to be retired, to the relief of all involved. That is, until the Federation Council countermanded the directive for a new political operation at the last minute, placing them in a permanent parking orbit around the vacation planet of Atlantis, consigned to its new continuing mission: to entertain vapid and overbearing VIPs and boldly give tours of an ‘authentic Federation starship.’
“Turning a LARP into a serial show is a unique creative challenge,” said creator Brandon Brylowski. “Infusing the show with a Larry David or Christopher Guest-inspired improvisational style keeps STARSHIP EDSEL fresh and funny, while the show finds its anchor in a season-long arc that audiences will love, whether they’re Trekkies or not.”
“The ability to find humor in the things we love is what makes STARSHIP EDSEL so much fun,” said Otherworld Theatre Artistic Director Tiffany Keane Schaefer. “We at Otherworld Theatre love all things nerd, including Star Trek, and audiences do as well - our weekly PORTAL-PROV! improv show that opened last Spring still sells out week after week, so we know audiences will embrace the Edsel and her crew, even if Starfleet didn’t.”
STARSHIP EDSEL stars Jen Connor (“Captain Lilith Hardstone”), Bernadette Santos Schwegel (“Cadet Cornelia ‘Corn’ Hardstone”), Mark Soloff (“Lt. Commander Null”), Brandon Drap (“Ensign Dan Gianutore”), Janice Rumschlag (“Lt. Amalda”), Kelsey Blackwell (“Lt. Co’Ay”), Keely Smith (“Lt. Varilee Parr”), Laura Ann Parry (“Lt. Commander Tracey Beamer”), Judson Russell (“Dr. Croup”), Carlos Rivera (“Counselor J’Errrs’q”), Matthew Kawa (“Lt. T’Pang Gah”), Dylan Schaefer (“Commander Russell T. Stillwell”). Brandon Brylawski is creator, producer, and head writer, with Eric Scull and Jen Connor also writing. STARSHIP EDSEL is directed by Jack Bronis and stage managed by Charlie Minard, who is also in the Ensemble.
STARSHIP EDSEL opens Saturday October 1, 2022 with a special 90 minute premiere at 8 p.m. followed by an opening night party open to all audience members. Regular performances will be held the first Saturday of each month at 10 p.m., running approximately 60 minutes. Each show will be live streamed on Otherworld Theatre’s YouTube channel. Tickets are $20 ($40 for the October 1 premiere and after party) and can be purchased at www.otherworldtheatre.org. There are a limited number of Pay-What-You-Can tickets available for each performance.
(Top to bottom) Jen Connor stars as "Captain Lilith Hardstone" and
Kelsey Blackwell stars as "Lt. Co'Ay" in Otherworld Theatre's STARSHIP EDSEL
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