Who has seen "Shear Madness"?- Page 2

[Esparzafan]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 9:57am

I saw it a few times in SF and it's brilliant! The ending changes depending upon the audience, so it's a great show to experience more than once.

[AndSoItBegins]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:35pm

There is also a production running in Austin Texas again, as it was a big hit years ago. www.zachscott.com

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:40pm

Funny show. When I saw it the gay hairdresser kissed the butch cop on the lips and the whole cast broke character...just like on Carol Burnett. It was hysterical!

[otis33]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:44pm

Brendan - true that 95% of the show is scripted, with lines to pull from for just about any situation. There are a few moments that are supposed to look like adlibs that aren't. But we were given a lot of freedom to try new things and rewrite jokes to localize them...many times on the spot, which would crack fellow actors up.
Amneris - I went on as Tony, the HairDresser, several times. SO much fun! I miss doing the show.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:04pm

The rich lady did it the night I saw it. It was so funny!

[fluerette]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:57pm

I saw the show in DC about 2 years ago, I had so much fun. I wish I could see it again.

[tz0o]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 3:47pm

"one of my CLOSEST CLOSEST friends Brad Letson is playing the Gay Hairdresser in this show. I ADORE him and can not wait to go see it in a few weeks in DC!!!!"

Yes, that's the one that I saw. He stole the show!

SPOILER!



Me and my friend wanted to vote him as the murderer, just to see what would happen, but everyone else voted for the obvious choice. Stupid audience.

[kates422]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:46pm

I loooooved this show! Also saw it in DC. I laughed hysterically!

[uncamark]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:42pm

"Shear Madness" happens to be returning to Chicago this spring at a new studio space in the Chicago Theatre. This is after its two-decade run at the Blackstone Hotel (now a condo conversion), which ended a few years ago only because the building had been acquired by the Maharisihi (no kidding), they were kicked out and couldn't find a new space.

It is a fun show, although it is not great theater (and some of the Tonys play that character almost into the insulting stereotype category). The Washington Post theater critic raged a few years ago about it being at the Kennedy Center (in a space known, oddly enough, as the Theater Lab) and people in Chicago off-Loop theater liked to show contempt for it (a late-night "Dating Game" parody that an off-Loop NFP did had as one of the prices "that smash hit 'Shear Madness!'"--pronounced with emphasis on the "sh" sound before "hit"--I think that will get by the censor), but it paid or pays the bills for a lot of actors where it plays, many of whom are now in the "Shear Madness" stock company that goes around and starts new productions. It's a perfect show to do in between your more artistic gigs, once you're part of the gang.

No, it's not brilliant, but I can't register righteous disdain for it.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 2:29am

I saw it in 8th grade in DC> I remeber one of my friends as a joke asked the gay guy what he was doing tonight and he replied "Well I know what im not doing!" and we all cracked up and he started strutting, ah good memories.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 8:46am

Wonderful! It's very nice to see the nearly 100% excitement about this show. Shill alert... If you haven't read the article in the first post of this thread... take a look. If you have, thank you. :)

[mikem]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:44pm

"When I saw it the gay hairdresser kissed the butch cop on the lips and the whole cast broke character...just like on Carol Burnett. It was hysterical!"

Hmmm. . . when I saw the show in Boston about 15 or 20 years ago, the same thing happened. I thought it was spontaneous, but after reading this thread, I'm not so sure. Can someone who knows spill the beans -- is this one of those scripted "spontaneous" things?