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Sarasota Showcase
Featuring Improv Teams: The Early Birds, BUSTED!, and ImpromptuSarasota Showcase
Featuring Improv Teams: The Early Birds, BUSTED!, and ImpromptuSarasota Showcase features three FST Improv Student House Teams: The Early Birds, BUSTED!, and Impromptu. Each of these teams have studied improvisation through The FST School, and have gone on to create and perform in troupes of their own.
Single Tickets: $5, or add this performance to any Saturday or Weekend pass for free during checkout
BUSTED! (Sarasota, FL) is an all-female improv troupe founded in 2018. We believe in the art of play and enjoy creating humorous real-life situations where female relationships are represented. BUSTED! is an FST Improv Student House Team.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL (Sarasota, FL) is a group of experienced improvisers who met at Florida Studio Theatre's improv program in Sarasota, FL. Each performer has several years of comedy improvisation experience. Some came to Sarasota from improv theaters in NY, Chicago and LA. Several have also performed at McCurdy's Comedy Theatre, on TV, in movies and other comedy venues. They have performed in over 125 shows and comedy festivals from West Palm Beach to Boston. They perform a series of totally improvised rapid fire games (think "Whose Line Is It Anyway?") with audience participation. They also perform long form improv including free form montage and The Armando. Early Bird Special is an FST Improv Student House Team.
IMPROMPTU (Sarasota, FL) began their improv journey in the Florida Studio Theatre Improv School under Will Luera, and was enhanced by the introduction of their coaches from Impro Theatre LA, Lisa Fredrickson and Jo McGinley. Building on their team skills of storytelling and theatre, the group found their passion in unscripted theatre set in the post-war era, especially Southern Gothic (inspired by the great American playwrights - Williams, Miller, and Inge), and in Passion Noir, a period thriller. The team has studied with many of the leaders of narrative theatre in both the U.S. and Europe, and has been selected to perform at festivals in England, Sweden, Paris, Canada and across the U.S. They're thrilled to perform in their home base Festival! Impromptu is an FST Improv Student House Team.
BUSTED! Cast
Cathi Carson-Freymann
Valeria Sloan
Maggie Mandell
CATHI CARSON-FREYMANN started out performing as an actor in national commercials. She was first introduced to improv at Florida Studio Theatre when she decided on a whim to take a class. After that she was hooked. Cathi performs with the all female improv troupe BUSTED! She is also a member of Florida Studio Theatre On-Deck Sketch group. When she isn't on stage she is an attorney and mom of two.
VALERIA SLOAN has been playing Improv around Sarasota for the past 20 years. At FST for about 10 years. She is a founding member of BUSTED an all female troupe. She is also a member of the Duo and Cheeze&Crackerz. She looks forward to being a part of the FST Improv Festival.
MAGGIE MANDELL is an actor and improviser, and has been performing since 2016. She played the character Rachel Barnes in the comedic short film Barely Inspired, shown at the Sarasota Film Festival. She was cast as Marcy in the play Lateral Moves which won Best New Play in the Player’s Studio New Play Festival 2022. Maggie is currently a cast member in the all-female improv troupe BUSTED! And a writer and actor for the On-Deck Sketch Group at Florida Studio Theatre (FST) in Sarasota, Florida. She starred in the sketches “A Pirateʼs Life for Me” as Wonder Women, “When Black Friday Comes” as news reporter Holly Hill, “Who We Gonna Eat?” as Stella the Vegan Zombie, and “The Check” as the Waitress, and more.
Early Bird Special Cast
Jeff Sherman
Nanci Rand
Lynn Means
Suzanne Williams
Tony Stanol
Colleen Sherman
JEFF SHERMAN I love how improv challenges me, making me think on my feet, work cooperatively, and entertain. Collaborating with talented improvisers, like we have in The Early Bird Special Improv troupe, makes each experience unique and memorable.
NANCI RAND I am a Miami Beach native and Atlanta transplant 20 years ago, and draw from my life experience when I'm on stage. Being the symbolic Jewish mother in the Early Bird Special is just another way for me to justify fixing problems (that may not need fixing) feeding people (that may not be hungry) and giving unsolicited advice.
LYNN MEANS With every class and show, my excitement increases because there is always more to learn. My goal is to put these improv skills into my muscle memory. The joyful bliss lies in being in the moment. That is when I often find exactly what to do and say just in the nick of time. Because of improv, my listening skills and courage to be creative have immensely improved. Improv is life-changing.
SUZANNE WILLIAMS A desire to expose myself drove me to the improv classes at Florida Studio Theatre and ACES. This story has a happy ending with the Early Bird Special Improv troupe, and since I have been with them, I look much taller.
TONY STANOL I've always loved to laugh. I grew up watching sitcoms with my family in New Jersey. I wrote satirical articles for an underground newspaper in high school and the campus paper in college. My advertising career took me to Los Angeles where I got a Groupon for improv lessons -- I was immediately hooked. I graduated the iO West Improv program and took classes at UCB before moving to Sarasota, where I found a thriving improv community at Florida Studio Theatre.
COLLEEN SHERMAN There's no thrill like knowing that you and your teammates have created something totally new and entertaining out of thin air (or a suggestion from the audience). The feeling that you are making people laugh and smile through the efforts of you and your troupe is beyond compare!!
Impromptu Cast
Teresa Bueno
Joe Rinaldi
Kathleen Rinaldi
TERESA BUENO Hailing from the north Georgia mountains, Teresa brings a healthy dose of Southern sass to her performances. When not on stage with Impromptu, playing some spunky character influenced by her rearing, Teresa can be found writing her next book and coaching seniors to live life to its fullest (her own personal passion). She also performs with the cast of NCIS: St Pete at the Spitfire Comedy House in St. Pete, FL.
JOE RINALDI A professional actor and member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA, Joe has performed regionally with Shakespeare and Company, the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, the Midwest Radio Theatre (among others), and was artistic director of Firedrake Productions in New York City for close to a decade. More recently, he is a member of genre improv group Impromptu, and improv duo Unconsciously Coupled. A seasoned communications expert, he sees improv as a wonderful way to share stories with a broader public.
KATHLEEN RINALDI Writing and theatre have always been passions for Kathy, who has spent the majority of her adult life writing plays, producing, and working backstage in both regional and professional theatre. Training with David and Teresa Sears, Edward Albee, Joe Kertes, and many others reinforced her passion for playwriting, and she has been produced in both Toronto and New York. Kathy is a member of both genre improv troupe Impromptu and improv duo Unconsciously Coupled, and teaches improv workshops at Florida Studio Theatre.
More Festival Performances
Dive into your own spontaneity with Sarasota Improv Festival Workshops! Our offerings allow you to learn from the experts with intimate trainings led by Festival artists from across the country and around the world. Featuring workshops in a wide range of improvisational styles and techniques, there is something for improvisers of all experience levels at the 2023 Sarasota Improv Fest. All workshops take place Saturday, July 22.
