Love and laughter: Behind the scenes of The Bachelor-ish at The Improv Centre
The live production based on the hit reality T.V. series will have its final shows this Friday and
The Bachelor-ish brings reality television to the stage in Vancouver. (Submitted)
Every Friday and Saturday until June 28, reality television intertwines with theatre in a whirlwind of comedy, romance, and chaos at The Bachelor-ish show at The Improv Centre in Vancouver.
Inspired by the hit T.V. show The Bachelor, the show condenses a full program of drama into one 90-minute, fully improvised performance.
At the core of this production is co-creator of the show and The Improv Centre’s artistic associate, Alan Pavlakovic, an improviser with over 20 years of experience.
Pavlakovic describes the experience as “almost a supercut” of the whole season, skipping past the dramatic ceremonies, backstories, and wild pairings while getting to all the best parts of The Bachelor.
“It is very sincere and sweet and romantic, even though it is really absurd and comedic,” they say.
Although the show continues through the end of June, no two nights are alike. The Bachelor-ish
has new character choices, varied formats, and fresh audience suggestions every performance.
“This is one of our more formatted shows. It has a little bit more of a framework to it, but that’s because we’re using The Bachelor and The Bachelorette nation as that framework.”
Pavlakovic says they wanted to create a show that spoke to this framework as well as make sure that the show was still audience driven through suggestions from the crowd.
“It’s almost more exciting because it’s so much faster paced,” they say. “We introduce our bachelor at the [beginning] of the show and talk to the audience … and then we instantly start seeing 10 contestants and then pretty much get thrown into a rose-ceremony elimination.”
Improv has the ability to evolve, Pavlakovic says. With lots of suggestions and feedback from the audience they say it’s easier to take feedback and apply it “where it needs to be applied.”
“There are formats where I’ve thought … I need to create this specific world. But with [The Bachelor-ish], that world was already created. So it’s taking that world and being able to make it into an improv world.”
The show is also “unassumingly queer,” Pavlakovic says, with a mixed cast of people.
“And we’re showing you caricatures of human beings,” they add, “but it is really sweet to even see insane people fall in love.”
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.theimprovcentre.ca.
