Ripley: 2019 Year in Review
We don’t know about you, but A LOT happened in 2019! For Ripley, we got our improvised episodic series, As We Go Along, through post- production, put on a full-on dystopian fundraiser, had a run of our very fun 80’s wrestling show (GLAM), hosted a series of workshops, developed a new genre, (ENCOUNTER) based on our namesake, had a blast at our Halloween immersive event, and began using improv to develop scripted material. Holy Moly. Of course, we couldn’t have done any of it without your support, encouragement, and faith in us. So, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
As We Go Along is now being submitted to film festivals across the country! Of course, a lot of work happened this year to get us to this point, including editing (Kelly Lohman, Kate Enge, and Jessica Lynn Verdi), scoring the film (Alex Caa and Kristen Baum), sound design (Lauren Kleeman), and color correction (Andrew Finch and Mark Anderson), title design (William J Meyer), Poster Design (Kim Van Ness and Mitch Baker) and those that jumped into coordinate and guide the post process (Laurie Jones, Kathryn Brillhart).
Just to remind you of some film fun, you can take a look here:
Lauren Kleeman and Laurie Jones working on ADR
Kelly Lohman editing while she should have been relaxing in Hawaii.
Our first show of the season was GLAM, which we’ve done many of times at Impro Studio. It is a fun world to play in. Based on the hit Netlix show, Glow, GLAM is completely improvised (even the wrestling.) We were thrilled we got to honor a reward for Clancy Heard from the Ripley Film fundraiser, who is one of our favs!
Clancy Heard and the cast of GLAM!
Aliza introduced a brand new character to the stage, Vicky Ramos!
So many of you came out to enjoy our Dystopian Gala, coordinated by Amanda Troop and it was so fun that even the Capitol didn’t complain. You came dressed up in dystopian or Capitol gear, participated in our show by giving us off-the-wall suggestions, and played with us!
Amanda Troop corralling the Citizens!
Ripleys and the volunteers!
Madi… being totally normal!
We even made time for some fancy parties!
Amanda Troop, Sara Mountjoy-Pepka, Kelly Lohman, GETTY IMAGES
This year, we taught several Ripley workshops on using improv for auditions, miming, writing, and so much more. We were thrilled to share our knowledge and experience with you!
We have been busy working on script writing using our improv. It’s a new venture, and a very exciting one. Ahsan and Sara are just serious in this photo...not sad!
Sara and Ahsan are just serious in this photo… not sad!
Last but certainly not least, we did a full run of Encounter, directed by Madi Goff and Sara Mountjoy-Pepka based on our namesake Ripley (Alien). We enjoyed jumping into the world of sci-fi with you and our amazing guests which included Lissette Jean-Marie, Ryan Smith, Justin Barnes, Valerie Kuhns, Riley Silverman, and Marian Yesufu! If you missed the shows, you can look on our Vimeo page!
If you haven’t seen the amazing work of our technical improvisers, Alex Caan and Arlo Sanders (who live scored the show), then watch here : https://ripleyimprov.com/ripley-blog/technicalimprovisers
ENCOUNTER poster, design by Aaron Harvey
ENCOUNTER rehearsal still with guest artist, Ryan Smith
Oh! And while we were during a run of Encounter, we had a spooky, immersive Alien Encounter Halloween event. Madi Goff wrote the Immersive story and well… not everyone survived.
Jessica Lynn Verdi, Justin Barnes, and Mary Cheiffo behind the scenes of the immersive event.
The entire Halloween Immersive Event crew!
So all in all we are so grateful for what 2019 brought us. It was a lot of hard work, but we are enormously thankful to get to do what we love. Thank you again for your enduring support. We wish you a very joyful New Year!
The Ripleys