Our History
Opening Night: The Improvised Musical! began in 1998 on the stage of the Improv Olympic, West - the west coast branch of the venerable Improv Olympic in Chicago. Under the leadership of performer/director Shulie Cowen, the first generation of ON included performers Wayman Barnes, Bill Chott, Dave Cox, Derek Miller, Vicki Tarbis & Norm Thoeming with accompaniment by Dave Adler & Henry Iglesias. Since then, the group has enjoyed the talents of several regular cast members and countless guest performers.
The First Generation to stop dancing long
enough to pose for a group photo -
From left to right: Bill Chott, Dave Cox, Shulie Cowen, Derek
Miller, Paul Vallencourt & Norm Thoeming.
The Second Generation, left to right:
Derek Miller, Norm Thoeming, Hilary Rowe, Shane Nickerson & Shulie Cowen
The Third Generation, left to right:
Jamie Denbo, Derek Miller, Michael Pollock, Andrew Melton, Shulie Cowen, Hilary Rowe & Norm Thoeming.
The Fourth Generation, left to right:
Hilary Rowe, Derek Miller, Joshua Funk, Norm Thoeming, Shulie Cowen, Andrew Melton & Michael Pollock.
The Fifth Generation, left to right:
Derek Miller, Norm Thoeming, Shulie Cowen, Michael Pollock, Matt Jones & Hilary Rowe.
The Current Cast, left to right:
Derek Miller, Matt Young, Michael Pollock, Shulie Cowen, Mark McConville, Norm Thoeming, & Hilary Rowe.
Guest Performers
This is by no means an exhaustive list of friends who have played with us, but - the following have all appeared in Opening Night shows!
Alan Simpson (MD), Alex Moffatt, Andrew Melton (MD), Andy Goldblatt, Ann Ryerson, Ari Stidham, Bill Chott, Bill Larkin (MD), Bill Lippencot, Blaine Swen, Brian Chenowith, Brian O’Connell, Cory Rouse, Dan Castellaneta, Dan O'Connor, Dave Adler (MD), Dave Cox, Denny Siegel, Eric Hunnicut, Frank Maciel, Gary Anthony Williams, Henry Iglesias (MD), Jack Voorhies, Jamie Denbo, Jason Pardo, Jeff Drake, Jen Carroll, Joel McCrary, Jonathan Green (MD), Keegan Michael-Key, Kerri-Anne Lavin, Kimberly Lewis, Laura Hall (MD), Lauren Pritchard, Lisa Fredrickson, Mary Pat Ferrell, Matt Jones, Nick Armstrong, Nicole Parker, Nyima Funk, Paul Vaillancourt, Rick Hall, Ron West, Ronit Feinglass, Ryan Smith, Sami Klein, Scott Palmason, Sean Cowhig, Shane Nickerson, Stacey Smith, Stephanie Courtney, Tawny Newsome, Vicki Tarbis, Wyman Barnes, Michael Berson (MD)...Just to name a few.