Should US Senator Scott Brown ever find any downtime between crucial votes on the future of this nation and hand-modeling gigs, he may want to flex his melodrama muscles.
Perfect timing! Improv Asylum has just the spot for him. Its new musical, You're A Good Man, Scott Brown, chronicles the cavalcade of comedy that was the January special election to fill the seat of the late Ted Kennedy. And the show's creators have left open a special, flexible role for any politico-type who happens to wander into the theater with a curious case of jazz hands.
"Scott Brown has been down to our theater several times," says Improv Asylum co-founder Norm Laviolette. "He was here with his daughters for New Year's Eve. We're creating that role, holding out the hope that maybe Scott Brown will want to come onstage and deliver a line to the stage Scott Brown."
The play itself is modeled after the one that features that other Brown (Charlie) and his Peanuts pals. In the aftermath of Brown's upset victory over Martha Coakley, Laviolette and Jeremy Brothers were drinking their blue-state blues away when the idea hit them.
Brothers set to work on writing the script, and Jim Zaroulis took on the music. Despite the title of the show, Brown probably won't snatch a football away from Coakley's kicking foot — but don't think we didn't suggest that as a potential plot point.
The cast of characters includes Brown and Coakley, Deval Patrick, the ghost of Kennedy, and a handful of other familiar faces, as well as, of course, an ol' pickup truck.
The plot itself has been ripped from the headlines . . . and shamelessly embellished. "Our portrayal of Martha Coakley," Laviolette begins, then pauses. "Well, maybe it's not exactly how she is in real life." But, he assures us, it will be funny.
Will the liberals be the only ones laughing? Not so much, says Laviolette: "There is more than enough bipartisan room to make fun of everybody. . . . We're not going to argue that Martha or Scott is any more virtuous."
Catch the Boston premiere for $30 on Sunday, March 21, at 7 pm; the limited run will continue on Sundays and Wednesdays. For more info, call 617.263.6887 or go to improvasylum.com/tickets.
