One doesn’t necessarily associate a retirement community with an improv acting group but at East Ridge at Cutler Bay, residents are enjoying this creative form of live theater.
What is improv?
The plot, characters, and dialogue of a game, scene or story are made up in the moment known as improvisation or improv. Often improvisers may take a suggestion from the audience or draw on some source of inspiration. It’s unique in that every performance is just that …unique. There will never be another show exactly like it since improv is different each time.
Recently introduced at East Ridge, the Improv Group meets once a month. Organized by resident Gary Sisler, plans are to have the professional Cutler Bay Improv Group come to East Ridge every other month and demonstrate improvisation. On subsequent months, the group will watch historic films of some of the greatest improvisation actors including Lucille Ball and Johnny Carson.
Many successful actors got their start in improvisation including Tina Fey and Bill Murray. Murray for example, the prolific star of Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and Caddyshack, launched his career at Chicago’s famous Second City, a bastion on improv and sketch comedy. He honed his skills and was in the original cast of Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey was a writer there as well.
“Improv gets people laughing and the Lifestyle Center is a perfect venue,” explained Sisler. “When the Cutler Bay Improv group came to East Ridge, we were able to sit in a semi-circle and enjoy being much closer to the actors. It simply was pure comedy and I probably hadn’t laughed that hard in 10 years.”
Research continues to show that laughter is wonderful medicine. According to Mayo Clinic, data indicates many positive things can come from laughter. Not only does it reduce stress, laughing actually induces positive physical changes in one’s body from stimulating many organs to increasing endorphins released by the brain. Laughter can stimulate circulation, aid muscle relaxation and sooth tension.
“We’ve created this group to encourage people to come and forget their stress and enjoy laughing,” he said.
If you would like to attend an East Ridge Improv group, please call 305-256-3564 and the Marketing Department will be happy to provide a tour and arrange for you to attend.
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