Danger Zone: The Making of a Top Gun Musical April 27, 2007

New Millennium Theatre Company (NMTC), the innovators who brought you Shakesploitation; Cubicle! An Office Space Musical; and the critically successful Flaming Dames series, takes off with its first show of the 2007 season, Danger Zone: The making of a Top Gun musical. In this documentary-style adventure, audiences are taken on a wild ride through the production of a musical based on the 80’s pop-culture mega hit, Top Gun.

From auditions, to rehearsals, to the performance itself, the audience sees the production through the eyes of its visionary “writer/director” Scott T. Anthony and his outrageous cast and crew. As this band of misfits bring the intricate complexities of Maverick, Goose, Iceman, Slider, Wolf Man and Charlie to life, audiences will soar along with them to the musical stratosphere, dog fighting evil Russian MIG’s with interpretive dance. Bring your flight suit, a spare aircraft carrier, and your F-14 and get ready for the musical ride of your life.

Danger Zone Writer/Director/NMTC company member Guy Schingoethe: “You’ll walk out of Danger Zone reconnected with the classic memories from Top Gun, but viewed through a completely absurd lens. Then you’ll go home and pull out that worn out VHS—you know the one. It used to rest between ET and Beverly Hills Cop on your shelf.”

With Danger Zone, NMTC continues its 8 year tradition of offering up the best pop-culture parody in Chicago. By paying homage to classics of pop-culture from all generations, and mixing it with a healthy dose of good natured, tongue-in-cheek irreverent parody, NMTC has created a successful formula copied by many other companies all over the country. “We’re capturing the absurd randomness of documentary style movies like Waiting for Guffman or Spinal Tap and mixing it with the classic moments from Top Gun.” says Schingoethe.

The cast of Danger Zone includes Nathan C Sanford, Matt Russell, Jessica Rich, Zenna Wise, Justin Issa, Jonathon C. Legat, Adam Rosowicz, Leslie Kerrigan, and Firestone Mulvaney. Written and Directed by Guy Schingoethe with contributions by NMTC Company members Andy Grigg, Jason Bone, Laura Coleman, Firestone Mulvaney, Ian McPhaden, Meagan Piccochi, Paul Czarnowski, and Leslie Kerrigan. Assistant Director – Chad Wise, Stage Manager – Holly Steinhausen.

Danger Zone: The Making of a Top Gun Musical runs Fridays and Saturdays March 30 through May 5 at 11 pm. All performances are at National Pastime Theater, 4139 N. Broadway in Chicago (3 blocks north of the Sheridan Red Line stop on Broadway). Tickets are $15 and available through www.nmtchicago.org or by calling 773-989-4515. Group pricing is available. Contact marketing@nmtchicago.org for more details.

This program is sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

NMTC: Get your Culture Popped!

Official Website: http://www.nmtchicago.org