Spring's 'mating season' expressed in Shadowbox Live's new sketch-comedy series
Shadowbox Live is getting frisky with the blossoming of spring.
The resident-theater ensemble is to venture behind closed doors for its new show about love, sex and relationships.
Blending company-created sketches and rock-pop hits, “Behind Closed Doors” is set to run April 18 through June 2 on an expanded four-performances-a-week schedule in the Brewery District.
“Coming off a long, cold winter, people want something fun and light to kick off the season. That’s why this themed show works so well this time of year,” director Julie Klein said.
“Spring is the reawakening of everything. It’s the mating season, after all,” said Klein, who sings and appears in two sketches.
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How the title “Behind Closed Doors” frames the themes
Like the other seasonal sketch shows with flirtatious titles the troupe has conceived since the mid-1990s, the title of “Behind Closed Doors” shaped its sketches.
“It helps the writers develop themes, rather than starting from a blank slate,” chief writer Jimmy Mak said.
Among the nine new sketches: “HR Nightmare" is about a human-relations representative (Klein) being tested by unruly employees; "Vow Movement" is about a preacher offering a young couple a more realistic view of marriage; and “Mental Gymnastics” is about a man inventing excuses to his girlfriend about coming home late, with two sports announcers rating his technique.
“With this round of sketches, we went outside the box more than usual,” Mak said.
Streaming competition
One of Klein’s favorite sketches is “Stream Wars,” about Netflix, HBO Max and other streaming services trying to talk a budget-conscious couple out of dropping them.
“Each one’s a character, with Netflix cozy like your guy next door, Apple TV acting like Steve Jobs’ super-wealthy elite and Hulu kind of a hippie, happy to please,” Klein said.
She said she considers the sketch timely.
“At first, it seemed affordable when everyone went from having cable to picking up streaming channels, but now, many of us are asking which ones we’re going to get rid of and why,” Klein said.
An Elizabethan change of pace
After co-writing dozens of sketches since 1996, Mak appreciates the change of pace and language in “The Ballad of Ladies Night.”
Framed as a long-form Shakespearean poem told in rhyme with Jamie Barrow as the Bard-like narrator, “Ballad” follows a woman (Leah Haviland) coping with inept advances by three men as she goes to a bar to meet “compatriots so hearty” (four women friends).
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“It’s fun to try something different... and we already knew the vernacular,” said Mak, who co-wrote “Ballad” with Robbie Nance.
Socially separated dating
One sketch actually set behind closed doors is “The Social Distance Between Us,” exploring post-COVID complications of Tinder dating.
“Now that things are getting back to normal after the shutdown, it’s fun to see what hookups would be like,” Mak said.
Ash Davis plays Rachel, opposite Barrow’s Brad, in the prop-heavy sketch.
“She’s a paranoid germaphobe, trying to get some but not wanting anyone to touch her. That creates a funny, problematic situation,” Davis said.
Home alone
Another sketch venturing behind closed doors is “Just the Two of Us,” about an unlikely couple accidently stuck in a bomb shelter after nuclear war.
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Katy Psenicka plays Natalie, opposite David Whitehouse’s Ted, a fellow employee accustomed to working from home.
“She realizes having sex is the only hope for the human race to survive, but he just wants her as a work friend,” Mak said.
“We initially imagined the guy wanting sex, but decided flipping the genders is funnier. Now Ted just wants to play board games, while Natalie tries to explain why sex is important,” Mak said.
An ancient setting
While most Shadowbox sketches are contemporary, “The Ass Trick” is set in the B.C. era as four Greek philosophers have created language and now are inventing symbols to go with their newly written words.
“The sketch explores the absurdity of perceiving something sexual in something that’s actually very innocent,” said Mak, who plays Bob, inventor of the asterisk.
“Ancient settings aren’t our forte, so it’s fun to go back in time and play with history,” he said.
Reality dating
Mak also plays Payton, going on his first real date in “Back to Reality.”
“He’s only been on reality-TV shows, so he doesn’t know how to act in the real world. Payton keeps turning to talk to the camera, but it isn’t there,” Mak said.
Davis conceived the sketch and co-stars as Payton’s date, Alexis.
“I’m not a reality-TV fan. I started making fun of them because nobody acts like that,” she said.
How songs balance the sketches
Each two-act show alternates sketches and songs, backed by Shadowbox Live’s house band.
“Our band’s really good and plays people’s favorite songs. The hardest thing about writing sketches is having to compete with that,” Mak said.
The production features nine Top-40 songs from the 1980s through the 2010s, such as The B-52’s “Love Shack,” The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” and Rihanna’s dance-enhanced “Love on the Brain,” choreographed by Psenicka.
“A lot of thought goes into a show’s lineup. I like to open shows with a better-known, upbeat song and a lighter, fun sketch, saving the more edgy or racy stuff for later,” Klein said.
How singers approach lyrics
Davis performs lead vocals with Brandon Anderson in the duet, “I Don’t Care.”
“Talking about how we’d portray the lyrics, we came up with a ‘frenemy’ situation, a falling out among friends,” Davis said.
Klein sings lead for Beth Hart’s “Better Man.”
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“Women will find the lyrics to this bluesy guitar-based rock song fun and empowering as it tells the story about a woman who’s found a better man than her ex,” Klein said.
“As a single woman, I appreciate the song,” she added, laughing. “I think lots of single ladies are looking for a better man.”
@mgrossberg1
At a glance
Shadowbox Live is to present “Behind Closed Doors” Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. from April 18 through June 2 at 503 S. Front St.
Tickets cost $35 to $270 for one-to-six-person tables. For more information, call 614-416-7625 or visit shadowboxlive.org.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Live music and comedy all can be found in Shadowbox Live's new series
