Murder on Us: A Q&A with Artistic Director John Thayer

Marilyn Busch: Your shows are literally a laugh a minute – how much of that is scripted and how much off-the-cuff improv?

John Thayer:  What’s with the hard-hitting questions? Just back off and I’ll tell ya! Actually our shows are heavily scripted. By that I mean we have four set scenes we perform in between courses of the meal. The core of our group has been acting together for well over 10 years, which gives us a lot of trust with each other on stage. The most senior actor, CJ, has been with us for about 20 years. So, as we become comfortable with the scripted scenes of a new show we gradually take some “liberties” with the script. These “liberties” are usually generated by some unexpected reaction from the audience. If it works we keep it in the script. When we’re in the dinner breaks of the show (in between the scenes) is when we are in full improv mode as we are entertaining on a table to table basis and really interacting with the individual audience members. But, even then it eventually falls into recognizable patterns that the actor can respond to. So, basically the key to being a good improviser is really in your ability to make it seem as if your response is coming off the top of your head rather than being what is in reality a line or joke you’ve uttered many times before. I discovered this years ago watching old Robin Williams shows and comparing them with newer ones. He was using the same bits, but the audience was convinced he was improving on the spot. To me, that was his genius.

MB: With so much improv flying around over the past 20+ years, what was the most bizarre thing ever to happen during a show?

JT: One in particular stands out. About 15 years ago we were performing a show at our old location, The Barnsider. We had a packed house and we were killing it. The audience was in hysterics….except for one man. He was with a large group and it certainly seemed he didn’t want to be there. His pained stoicism was conspicuous by his placement at the end of a table. Scene after scene he seemed absolutely determined not to enjoy himself and was beginning to border on creepy. When we came to the murder scene near the end of the show there was supposed to be a blackout and one of the actors would be on the ground mortally wounded. Well,when the lights came back on the “I’m not having fun” audience member was center stage pretending to have been stabbed by his own steak knife and absolutely hamming it up. He did this hilarious, prolonged death scene and collapsed to thunderous applause. The cast and audience were in tears laughing.

MB: How old were you when you realized performing was for you? Was there one specific moment for you that told you this was your calling?

JT: Very young. Apparently, there was a straw hat and cane found in my afterbirth. Actually, I was about 5 years old and my mother and I watched The Music Man on Channel 56 in Boston. That was it. I was totally enthralled. My passion got somewhat repressed over the years until my freshmen year at Umass Lowell. I was studying to be a music teacher when an outreach group came to the school to produce West Side Story. I auditioned and got one of the main parts as Riff, leader of the Jets. It reawakened my love for acting. The outreach group was a bunch of graduates of the Trinity Rep Conservatory. That next September I was studying at Trinity and so began my love affair with Rhode Island.

MB: And, of course, what was your very first acting role?

JT: First grade: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

MB: You just finished a show for St. Patrick’s Day. What’s up next? Please tell me that you are working on something in honor of this presidential election boasting a veritable clown car full of wacky characters – Maybe “The Trump-inator”? “Who Bumped Off The Drumpf?” There’s potential there somewhere…

JT: Yes, we are are! It’s called: Death or Taxes: The 2016 Election. The basic premise is that the audience is at a presidential debate with the usual suspects from this year’s slate. You’re greeted by secret service agents upon your arrival and subjected to random, um….come and see the show to find out more!

MB: OK – and here’s the lightning round! Would you rather:

• Tickets to the Boston Red Sox or the Boston Symphony? I’ll take the Pops on the Fourth.
• Be cast to play a dead body or a glamorous woman? Dead body — the lines are so much easier to learn.
• And finally, what would the made-for-TV movie of your life be called? “How the Hell Did I End Up in Rhode Island?”