Thursday, December 26, 2019
Facebook Fan Page Post
Sarasota Friends! In a rare appearance, I'll be jumping into the Florida Studio Theatre Improv Musical show Home For The Holidays Performed by When X Meets Y this Friday night at 7:30pm! Come by and say Hi! Will Luera https://ift.tt/1ihBTd9
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Friday, July 5, 2019
Facebook Fan Page Post
Sarasota Friends! I will be filling in tonight with our Musical Improv Cast to perform in FST Improv Presents "When X Meets Y: American Revolution"! Come watch us tell one of the unforgotten tales of the American Revolution...in song! Will Luera https://ift.tt/1ihBTd9
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Facebook Fan Page Post
Stand-up debut tonight!!! I've been doing Improv Comedy professionally for 22 years, Sketch Comedy on and off for about 20 years, Comedic Storytelling for about 15 years but I never did Stand-up...until tonight! Sarasota Friends, come watch me at the McCurdys Comedy Theatre Open Mic tonight at 9pm as I debut my first 5 minutes in front of a live audience. Come by and say Hi! Will Luera http://bit.ly/1ihBTd9
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Facebook Fan Page Post
Sarasota Friends! The next session of Florida Studio Theatre Improv classes begins next week and I am teaching a bunch of classes! All information is below. To register please contact Pam Smith at psmith@floridastudiotheatre.org or 941-366-1350. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks! ----------------------------------------- MONDAYS 7pm Improv 501: Narrative Long-Form - Will Luera, Studio C • Building off of Level 401, students will evolve from game-based play to narrative play. They will explore a handful of core forms that help develop the single world of nature of Narrative Long-Form. Students will learn how to create a world, develop characters, and perform stories over a series of scenes. TUESDAYS 11am Brain Games - Will Luera, Studio A • Boost brain power and enhance memory while exploring the spontaneity of improv! Students will explore creativity, build self-confidence, and collaborate with others all while playing popular improv games. Led by professional FST Teaching Artists, students will engage in a variety of exercises and games that are sure to get bodies and minds moving. WEDNESDAYS 2pm Improv for Everyone - Will Luera, Studio A • Discover the freedom of spontaneity and prepare to laugh! Improv for Everyone will teach students to think quickly on their feet, explore creativity, hone their comedic voice, and build self-confidence. Over the eight-week course, students will focus on the tenets of improvisation by learning how to play together, make others look good, be confident, support each other, and have fun, all while learning some of the classic improv games made famous by shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” By the end of the session, every student will learn they already have what it takes to improvise successfully both onstage and off. THURSDAYS 7pm Improv Academy: The Improvised Movie - Will Luera, Studio C • A workshop that focuses on the unique improvised movie format. Learn how to translate movie edits and terminology to the improv stage so that you can put on your own unique improvised movie. The workshop will look at how to execute various different camera shots, genres and special effects using only the tools of improvisation. The class is modeled after the successful show, “Blue Screen” which has been showcased at several festivals including the Del Close Marathon. Will Luera http://bit.ly/1ihBTd9
Thursday, March 28, 2019
ImprovBoston and the Summer of '98
After having received the news from Artistic Director Ron Jones at a TheatreSports show on Friday night, I showed up at the Inman Square space the next Monday night ready for my first rehearsal. I have vivid memories of alums Brian Robel, Aaron Crutchfield, Eddie Mejia, Jan Davidson, Greg Wymer and Michelle Proude hanging out before rehearsal as Ron, Eric Gearheart and Mat Gagne worked on one of the lighting instruments. One of only four lights the theater had at the time. Along with Don and Amy, this was to be my new performing family.
Back then, the ImprovBoston cast performed on Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 8pm and 10pm. The shows were great but the size of the audiences didn't necessarily reflect that. We were cancelling half of our shows and when we weren't, we were at maybe 50-60 percent capacity. Then, something serendipitous happened.
In the late 90's, the show "Whose line is it anyway?" made the jump from the UK and was becoming very popular in the US. I feel like you could see it on four different channels at any given time. It was verbally funny, physically hilarious, family friendly and with just enough sexual innuendo to keep all types of audiences interested. It was perfect. Thanks to "Whose Line", the public became re-aware of live improvisational comedy and of how much fun it could be while also setting a new bar for the improv comedy ensembles around the country, like ImprovBoston.
Beginning the spring of 1998, with audiences emerging from hibernation after the winter, ImprovBoston started to become a very popular destination. Audiences wanted to see those same games that they saw on television and we wanted to meet the demand. Ron Jones ironed out the basics so that we became a more orderly crew and the cast at that time gelled at the perfect time.
I'll never forget the summer of 1998. We were slowly moving away from cancelling half of our shows to having consistently sold out houses. While the cast had about ten members at the time, there was a core of us that was there just about every weekend performing every show. Don, Amy and I were still the newbies of that core; Brian Robel added handsome acrobatics; Mat Gagne played an amazingly diverse array of characters; Greg Wymer had a depth of knowledge that was able to make a connection with any suggestion that was thrown at us; Eric Gearheart was the everyman landscaper who would sweat through two shirts in every show; and the newest member was Jen Kirkman, an attractive young actress with a rapid-fire sense of humor.
We felt like superstars! We went from cancelling half our shows to having consistently full houses. Our touring gigs went up, more classes were being taught, everyone wanted to see and do improv and we were one of the main places to do just that. We put on some amazing shows that summer that became a catapult for the success yet to come for ImprovBoston.
Back then, the ImprovBoston cast performed on Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 8pm and 10pm. The shows were great but the size of the audiences didn't necessarily reflect that. We were cancelling half of our shows and when we weren't, we were at maybe 50-60 percent capacity. Then, something serendipitous happened.
In the late 90's, the show "Whose line is it anyway?" made the jump from the UK and was becoming very popular in the US. I feel like you could see it on four different channels at any given time. It was verbally funny, physically hilarious, family friendly and with just enough sexual innuendo to keep all types of audiences interested. It was perfect. Thanks to "Whose Line", the public became re-aware of live improvisational comedy and of how much fun it could be while also setting a new bar for the improv comedy ensembles around the country, like ImprovBoston.
Beginning the spring of 1998, with audiences emerging from hibernation after the winter, ImprovBoston started to become a very popular destination. Audiences wanted to see those same games that they saw on television and we wanted to meet the demand. Ron Jones ironed out the basics so that we became a more orderly crew and the cast at that time gelled at the perfect time.
I'll never forget the summer of 1998. We were slowly moving away from cancelling half of our shows to having consistently sold out houses. While the cast had about ten members at the time, there was a core of us that was there just about every weekend performing every show. Don, Amy and I were still the newbies of that core; Brian Robel added handsome acrobatics; Mat Gagne played an amazingly diverse array of characters; Greg Wymer had a depth of knowledge that was able to make a connection with any suggestion that was thrown at us; Eric Gearheart was the everyman landscaper who would sweat through two shirts in every show; and the newest member was Jen Kirkman, an attractive young actress with a rapid-fire sense of humor.
We felt like superstars! We went from cancelling half our shows to having consistently full houses. Our touring gigs went up, more classes were being taught, everyone wanted to see and do improv and we were one of the main places to do just that. We put on some amazing shows that summer that became a catapult for the success yet to come for ImprovBoston.
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