In "Crisis": New Musical Game Show Brings (Comic) Relief

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 30, 2010 8:30PM

The economy is still in the dump, job security is still low, there's a giant-ass oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and people across the political spectrum have taken to creating gigantic signs to further their cause. Truly, we are living in a time of crisis. But lucky for us, some of Chicago's sharpest minds have created a solution: "CRISIS: A Musical Game Show." Created and hosted by John Pierson, Dan Kerr-Hobert, and Clifton Frei, the show takes its cues from classic game shows of the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Each performance, attendees who get to the theater early enough - at 7:30 p.m. - will get to take an old-school Scantron quiz to test their knowledge. The top eight scorers will earn their place on two teams of four that will compete against each other. Once one team earns supremacy over the other, the winning team's four members will then compete against one another in "a free-for-all dare game" to become that night's winner. Each night's winner will participate in a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire-style game for a chance to take home a cash prize of up to a third of the night's door sales. Another three percent will be donated to the charity of the winner's choice. Come the weekend of June 12 and 13, all winners will reconvene in the championship round to compete to be the top executive.

But there's more to the show than just the game. Musical numbers and a multimedia mix of interactive commercials and PSAs will also spring up each night of the show's run. And in true Neo-Futurist fashion, each night will feature a different mix of questions, commercials, and actors, ensuring that no two performances are the same. We talked to Steve Heisler - one of the creative minds behind the show along with John Szymanski, Curtis Williams, Megan Mercier, Bilal Dardai, and Evan Hanover - about the process of writing for the show. He told us, "There's a script, but it's extremely loose. But there's something deeply cathartic about taking ideas and running with them in the moment. In Chicago, we like to make it hard on ourselves."

We got our hands on one of the PSA's that will be appearing during the show's run. This PSA was directed by Craig Benzine, Wheezywaiter.com and features Jim Fath and John Bohan.

"CRISIS: A Musical Game Show," debuting Saturday, May 1, and playing every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through June 5; championship rounds Friday, June 11, and Saturday, June 12, 8:00 p.m., The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland, $15 via Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at 773-275-5255