The production is created and directed by Jeff Griggs, a fan of the cult-favorite mockumentary about a community theatre that stars Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and Parker Posey alongside writer and director Christopher Guest. "Waiting for Guffman" features 13 minutes of Red, White, & Blaine, a historical pageant celebrating the fictional town of Blaine, MO's sesquicentennial. For the stage production, Griggs incorporated three deleted scenes from the DVD extras as well as three songs that were performed as auditions in the film. Musical director Matt Herzau, who plays musical director Lloyd Miller, also wrote four new songs.
The cast includes Brian Finlay, Robert Bacon, Bri Fitzpatrick, Jeannie Cahill Griggs, Sean Price, David Schwartzbaum, Jess Jones, Jonah Saesan, Alison Doyle and Chris Vellucci, all of whom improvise during the pre-show and throughout the performance.
Red, White, & Blaine will be presented Saturday nights at iO through Jan. 31, 2015. Visit ioimprov.com/chicago/io/shows/red-white-and-blaine for more information.
