Improbable Frequency
A MIDWEST PREMIERE
BOOK & LYRICS BY ARTHUR RIORDAN
MUSIC BY BELL HELICOPTER
DIRECTED BY KYLE HAMMAN
MUSIC DIRECTION BY MIKE PRZYGODA
Feb 24, 2012–Mar 30, 2012
3829 N. Broadway
Dizzying wordplay, jaunty music, and quantum mechanics in 1940’s Dublin. What more do you need? The answer is spies. You need spies. Strawdog’s Kyle Hamman, director of Factory Theater’s smash hit Ren Faire! A Fistful of Ducats, teams with fellow ensemble member and composer/arranger extraordinaire Mike Przygoda to stage this quick and clever new musical, called “dazzling” by The New York Times but never before seen in this time zone.
Britain’s MI5 recruits crossword pro Tristram Faraday to decode a series of bizarre Irish radio broadcasts that appear to be predicting the weather. Despite Ireland’s neutrality during “The Emergency,” Dublin proves rife with fellow secret agents, Nazi sympathizers, IRA militants, and a randy scientist with a powerful new invention that could change the course of history.
“★★★…the cast, all of whom except the admirably understated Dailey play multiple roles, deliver delicious silly-putty portrayals…a welcome blast of high-brow gooniness to melt the late-winter blahs.”
— Chicago Tribune
“RECOMMENDED…mingles historical fact and figures with schoolboy whimsy, sometimes recalling a Monty Python sketch, a Tom Stoppard witfest…a pageant of hyperacademic, pun-filled fun… Director Kyle Hamman has fun with the script’s caricatures and complicated casting requirements… it moves along swiftly with the help of a comically elaborate visual design by set designer Joanna Iwanicka and lighting designer Jordan Kardasz… Musical director Mike Przygoda has crafted some of the most inventive band arrangements I’ve ever heard in an off-Loop theater—wonderful interplays between fiddle and flute, guitar and accordion, banjo and bass. With its witty wordplay and catchy music, Improbable Frequency is a diversion for the mind and a treat for the ears.”
— Chicago Reader
Cast
Michael Dailey*
as Tristram Faraday
Scott Danielson*
as Muldoon/Myles
Sarah Goeden*
as Philomena O'Shea
Jason Grimm
as John Betjeman/Meehawl O'Dromedary
Christina Hall
as Agent Green
Eric Paskey
as Erwin Schrodinger/The Colonel
Creative Team
Arthur Riordan
Author
Kyle Hamman*
Director
Joanna Iwanicka
Set Design
Jordan Kardasz*
Light Design
John Kelly*
Ass't Light Design
Rachel Sypniewski
Costume Design
Jeff Shields
Props Design
Mike Przygoda
Music Director
Bell Helicopter
Music
Mike Przygoda
Musician
Heath Hays*
Sound Design
Brigitte Ditmars
Choreography
Matt Buettner
Technical Direction
Jordan Muller
Stage Manager
Dan Laushman
Master Electrician
Sarah Burnham
Production Manager
* Strawdog Theatre ensemble member