Torch and Glamour: An Exploration of Love and Illusion

The audience will enter the Danceworks Studio to the music of guest artist Ryan Cappelman at the piano. Guest writer-performer Andréa Moser, instigator of this newest escapade in Danceworks Performance Company’s glorious history of side-splitting comic dance concerts, will emcee an audience-interactive, lounge-style variety show about romance and heartbreak.

Audience members will be guest artists, too, sharing their own romantic mishaps as material for improvisation by the excellent cast of Melissa Anderson, Kim Johnson, Liz Licht, Elisabeth Roskopf, Zach Schorsch, Maggie Seer, Christal Wagner, Andrew Zanoni and artistic director Dani Kuepper (also the show’s main choreographer). One lucky guest will be honored with a glamorous makeover designed for soothing broken hearts.

“I’ve always liked making funny dances,” Kuepper said. “It’s really hard. I know some tricks, it’s true, but then it’s dangerous to be formulaic. This show has some similarities to last year’s Mad Li(m)bs, but the audience interaction and the kind of raucous nature of this is stylistically very different, and this probably has more choreographed dances. Everyone sings or raps throughout the show. Christal Wagner sings while tap dancing. She’s really good. Andrew Zanoni rewrote Nicki Minaj’s ‘Stupid Hoe.’ The content of his writing and his delivery are virtuosic.” (John Schneider)

Feb. 9-16 at Danceworks Studio Theatre, 1661 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-277-8480 ext. 6025, or visit danceworksmke.org.