Dad's Garage Theatre Company, located at 569 Ezzard St. in the

Old Fourth Ward The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an Intown Atlanta, intown neighborhood on the Eastside (Atlanta), eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. National H ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, was founded in 1995 by Chris Blair, Marc Cram, Sean Daniels, George Faughnan, John Gregorio, David Keeton, Joseph Limbaugh, Matt Stanton, and Matt Young. A second wave of people in the founding summer soon followed, and the theatre company spent the next five years establishing itself in the Atlanta improv and theatre communities. The small theater company has since achieved international recognition for original stage productions and

Improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

. Former Second City company member, Tim Stoltenberg is the current Artistic Director. Stacey Sharer is the current managing director.

History

On June 23, 1995, Dad's Garage opened its doors at 280 Elizabeth St., a building which formerly housed celebrated theater company Actor's Express, with the comedy play ''Fun With Science''. The company then produced the regional premiere of

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

's ''

subUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

'' in 1996, followed by an adaptation of

Cannibal! The Musical ''Cannibal! The Musical'' (originally known as ''Alferd Packer: The Musical'') is a 1993 American musical Western black comedy film directed, written, produced, co-scored by and starring Trey Parker in his directorial debut while studying at th ...

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

in the fall of 1998, a production considered a breakthrough moment for the theatre company in the Atlanta arts scene.

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the Surreal humour, surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel (Monty Py ...

's ''O Happy Day'' had its world premiere at Dad's Garage in 2000, followed by Chapman's ''Out of The Trees'' in 2001. In 2002, Dad's Garage produced a play by Chicago's

Neo-Futurists The Neo-Futurists are an experimental theater troupe founded by Greg Allen in 1988, based on an aesthetics of honesty, speed and brevity. Neo-Futurist theatre was inspired in part by the Italian Futurist movement from the early 20th century. Ori ...

, 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, which was attended by former president and First Lady

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; ; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of ...

. In the early and mid-2000s, Dad's Garage produced original new works, including premieres of several plays by Steve Yockey, during his time as Marketing Director. In the late 2000s, the company started shifting to creating original scripted works and improv, while adopting a democratic system of preparing projects for season planning, though external scripts were still occasionally produced. In the fall of 2010, Dad's Garage secured permission to produce '' Two Gentlemen of Lebowski'', an Elizabethan adaptation of the

Coen brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

' film. A video producing wing, Dad's Garage TV (DGTV), was established in 2011 and continues to produce shorts and web series. In 2013, the property where Dad's Garage rented their theatre went up for sale, and the company began a two-year period of producing without their own facility. With all its property in storage, the company rented performance space at 7 Stages Theatre, Fabrefaction Theatre (now Brady Street Theatre), and The Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage. Dad's Garage led a very successful fundraising campaign to purchase and renovate an old church that went up for sale when its congregation outgrew the space. The new Dad's Garage Theatre on Ezzard St. opened its doors on December 31, 2015. Over the following five years, Dad's Garage continued to produce scripted and improvised plays year-round, as well as expanded its educational offerings with Improv Classes for adults and the creation of a Youth Program for Improv. In January 2020, Dad's Garage artistic leadership changed hands when Artistic Director Kevin Gillese transitioned to Executive Producer for DGTV, and Ensemble Member and Playwright Jon Carr was hired as the new Artistic Director following a national search. Most recently, Dad's Garage responded to shutdowns due to the COVID-19 global pandemic by pivoting to live streaming content online.

People

Founders

* Chris Blair * Marc Cram * Sean Daniels * John Gregorio * George Faughnan * David Keeton * Joseph Limbaugh * Matt Stanton * Matt Young

Directors

Artistic Directors

* Matt Young 1995-1996 * Matt Stanton 1996-1997 * Sean Daniels 1997-2004 * Scott Warren, Interim 2004-2005 * Kate Warner 2005-2009 * Scott Warren, Interim 2009 * Kevin Gillese 2009–2019 * Jon Carr 2019–2021 * Tim Stoltenberg 2021–present

Improv Directors

* Matt Young 1995-1996 * Joseph Limbaugh 1996-1999 * Chris Blair * Tim Stoltenberg * Dan Triandiflou

Associate Artistic Directors

* Dan Triandiflou and Amber Nash * Amber Nash and Rene Dellefont * Rene Dellefont and Matt Horgan * Matt Horgan and Ed Morgan (present)

Special Guests

Dad's Garage has been host to many celebrity guest improvisers including:

Colin Mochrie Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show ''Whose Line ...

Mark Meer Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numbe ...

Kevin McDonald Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably the 1988–1 ...

Aisha Tyler Aisha Tyler (born September 18, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of ''Ghost Whisperer'', Dr. Tara Lewis in ''Criminal Minds'' since 2015, Mother Nature in the final two ...

Tim Meadows Tim Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for 10 seasons from 1991 to 2000. For his work on ''S ...

Henry Zebrowski Henry Thomas Zebrowski Jr. (born May 1, 1984) is an American actor, podcast host, and comedian, known for his work on the Adult Swim series '' Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell'', the film The Wolf of Wall Street, the NBC series '' Heroes Reborn ...

Dave Foley David Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer, and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and fil ...

Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...

Thomas Middleditch Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in ...

Ben Schwartz Benjamin Joseph Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his recurring role as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'', his starring role as Clyde Oberholt on the Sh ...

Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

, Matt Jones,

Scott Adsit Robert Scott Adsit (born November 26, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Adsit joined the mainstage cast of Chicago's The Second City in 1994 after attending Columbia College Chicago. He app ...

, Manon Mathews,

David Harbour David Kenneth Harbour (born April 10, 1975) is an American actor. His accolades include nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He began his career acting in Shakespearean theatre productions. Aft ...

Nick Kroll Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for the FX (TV channel), FX comedy series ''The League'' (2009–2015), creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'' (20 ...

, and

Cedric Yarbrough Cedric Yarbrough (; born March 20, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He has starred in the series ''Reno 911!'' as Deputy S. Jones and as Kenneth on the ABC sitcom '' Speechless'', as well as voicing Gerald Fitzgerald on the Netflix comedy ...

Improvisational Comedy

Dad's Garage is a

Theatresports Theatresports is a form of improvisational theatre, which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams can perform scenes based on audience suggestions, with ratings by the audience or by a panel of judges. Developed by di ...

franchise, its original ensemble having trained with

Keith Johnstone Donald Keith Johnstone (21 February 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British-Canadian educator and theatre director. A pioneer of improvisational theatre, he was best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. ...

, author of ''Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre'' and ''Impro for Storytellers''. Other formats developed at Dad's Garage include the

longform Long form or longform may refer to: *A variety of improvisational theatre *A type of census questionnaire *Form 1040, an American income tax form *Long-form journalism Long-form journalism refers to a genre of journalism characterized by in-dep ...

shows ''Murder She Improvised'', ''Scandal!'', ''B.R.A.W.L.'', ''Improv D&D, Cage Match, Dice Of Destiny, Improv Idol, Madmen & Poets, Dark Side Of The Room, and Wowee Zowee (an improvised children's show).''

Programming

DGTV

Productions

* Rusty Trombone * High Fructose Corn Sizzurp * Up on the Rooftop * Movers * Hart of America * Cinco de Mayo * That Was Awesome * The Garage

Twitch

In March 2020, Dad's Garage temporarily closed to the public for safety concerns due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and pivoted their programming to streaming online via Twitch.

Awards

Dad's Garage has won numerous awards over the years, including multiple wins as

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of an arts and culture news and events newspaper/magazine. The company historically published a weekly publication that once had a 160,000 weekly circulation. While Creative Loafing is no longer p ...

's Best Theater and Best Improv Group in Atlanta. * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Dad's Garage Theatre CompanyDad's Social Distancing - Twitch Schedule
{{coord, 33.7532, -84.3687, display=title Theatre companies in Georgia (U.S. state) Improvisational theatre Improvisational troupes Theatres in Atlanta