The Divination of the Three (2022)
Presented at the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival
A man visits a coven of witches seeking answers about his wife’s fidelity—but the full moon ritual may illuminate a darker truth.
Written by Lizz Leiser and Kacie Laforest
Featuring Kacie Laforest, Mary Murphy, Ali Silva, and Alain Laforest
Directed by Kacie Laforest
Music by Ari Kessler
Foley SFX by Ricardo Delgado
The Reverend Jeau's Revival (2016 - 2018)
It started as sketch comedy co-created with hip-hop collective Pants Velour for their 2016 residency at Joe's Pub @ the Public Theater. The popular cabaret-style show was known for its unique brand of pop, hip-hop, and comedy interstitials.
In 2017, Pants Velour frontman/lyricist Josh Raff and Lizz Leiser developed a one-man hip-hop comedy show, The Reverend JEAU's Revival.
In January of 2018, the Rev received a world premiere in the cabaret space at the Parkside Lounge and went on to a mini-residency in NYC and a west coast tour that included the Los Angeles Fringe Festival.
The Reverend JEAU’s Revival is a lightning-fast one-man comedy about the Reverend JEAU, an exceptional but wildly deluded evangelist and his most accomplished acolyte DJ Kwsselus. Packed with original hip-hop, each audience member is guaranteed to receive enlightenment as they accompany the Reverend’s on their own personal journey... a journey filled with drugs, womanizing, high-powered marketing, perilous treks along the Appalachian Trail, interventions, erotic love lasers, and more.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Josh Raff, Ricardo Delgado
Cast/Crew: Josh Raff (performer), Kwasi Liebel (DJ/performer), Nathan Markiewicz (director), Jordan Battiste (musical director)
Producers/Creators: Lizz Leiser, Josh Raff
The Serious Theater Collective
The Serious Theatre Collective was founded in 2008. It was home to a group of writers, artists, performers, and musicians who desired to create original, high-quality, affordable theater that was accessible, remarkably entertaining, surprising, and fun.
We generated scripts collaboratively and fostered an inclusive environment that everyone from performers to crew was invited to take part in.
Our mission was to put more new work on stage that utilized the full medium of live stage shows. In addition to well-crafted narrative storytelling, our work was devised to celebrate the live experience of seeing theater. Our shows typically featured a house band, puppetry, collaborations with visual artists, burlesque, non-traditional performance spaces, magic, and more.
The Magic Jukebox: New York City World Tour (2015)
A new series of original musical sketch comedy presented as a part of the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival. Watch our 1 Second Everyday Making Of compilation here.
After selling out our FringeNYC run, we received an off-Broadway extension as a part of the Best of the Fest at the C.O.W.
The Magic Jukebox: New York City World Tour showcases twelve action-packed genre bouncing musical sketches from hardcore hair metal to panty-dropping R&B, enchanting madrigals to reverent gospel— and much more. Featuring a live band, epic offstage battles, Lovecraftian elder gods, and three real dolphins (played by humans)!
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Chris Woolsey, Ricardo Delgado
Cast/Contributing Writers: Chris D'Amato, Abby Goldfarb, Sam Durant Hunter, Kacie Laforest, Ciara Curran, Kymberly Tuttle, Britton Saffer, Jacob Callie Moore
Puppets/Costumes: Megan Barbour
Music/Contributing Writers: Lizz Leiser (lyrics), Ari Kessler (composer/piano), Andrew Hollis (guitar), Nick Masercola (bass), Ricardo Delgado (drums)
The Magic Jukebox: Vol 1. (2014)
The Serious Theater Collective was given the opportunity to perform The Magic Jukebox: Vol. 1 in the first-ever pop-up theater at the South Street Seaport's Cannon's Walk. We built and tore down a fully functioning black box theater for every performance. Enjoy a time-lapse video of that four-hour process here!
With sponsorship from the Howard Hughes Corporation, we were also thrilled to offer free tickets to the public for our month-long run.
The Magic Jukebox: Vol. 1 rocks eighteen of our most unique, entertaining, and delightful sketches underscored by original music played by STC's live band. Featuring a wide variety of musical styles and genres—from indie rock to down-home country to epic Karaoke ballads fueled everyone's favorite superhero: Tequila.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Chris Woolsey, Ricardo Delgado
Cast/Contributing Writers: Kirsten Almeida, Abby Goldfarb, Sam Durant Hunter, Kacie Laforest, Mike Drummey, Kymberly Tuttle, Britton Saffer, Laura Aristovulos, Jacob Callie Moore
Puppets/Costumes: Megan Barbour
Music/Contributing Writers: Lizz Leiser (lyrics), Ari Kessler (composer/piano), Andrew Hollis (guitar), Nick Masercola (bass), Ricardo Delgado (drums)
Professor von Awesome's Ghost Hunting Safari (2013)
We created a wildly entertaining narrative that featured music, shadow puppets, an improv segment where an audience member experienced the afterlife, and a dance-off with Death.
During our October run we played to sold-out crowds in New York and Philadelphia.
Professor von Awesome’s Ghost Hunting Safari is an adventure of epic theatrical proportions featuring music, puppetry, burlesque, and necromancy—with passages from the Book of the Dead and, perhaps even, all the secrets of death revealed! A live band, a full bar, an opportunity for one lucky audience member to experience the journey from life into death, and everything you've ever wanted to know about ghosts but were afraid to ask because ghosts are scary!
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Ricardo Delgado, Mike Drummey, Nick Masercola, Jacob Callie More
Cast/Contributing Writers: Mike Drummey, Jacob Callie Moore, Annalisa Derr, Kirsten Almeida, Sam Durant Hunter, Britton Saffer, Laura Aristovulos, Nicole Brickley (stage management)
Puppets/Props: Ursula and Norm Stuby
Music/Contributing Writers: Lizz Leiser (lyrics), Ari Kessler (composer/piano), Andrew Hollis (guitar), Will Kitchin (drums)
The Apocalypse of John (2011 - 2012)
The STC performed a sold-out off-off-Broadway run in 2011. In 2012, we presented a re-vamped production a part of the 16th annual New York International Fringe Festival and the 2012 Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe.
We were awarded the New York International Fringe Festival Overall Excellence Award: Best Ensemble.
The Apocalypse of John tells the story of John Darrian, a struggling advertising associate, who finds himself battling six archetypal Armageddons including alien invasions, zombies, and the devil himself in a dark comedy about the tragic end of all life on Earth.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Ricardo Delgado, Becca Worthington, Terry Selucky
2011 Cast/Contributing Writers: Michael Mraz, Erin Salm, Carmen Carfagna, Kymm Walker, Annalisa Derr, Jason Vance, Jacob Callie Moore, Dave Hanson
2012 Cast/Contributing Writers: Michael Mraz, Erin Salm, Jacob Callie Moore, Kymm Walker, Kacie Laforest, Chris D'Amato, Zach Sciranka, Mike Drummey
Puppets/Masks/Props: Ursula and Norm Stuby
Music/Contributing Writers: Ari Kessler (composer of live underscoring/piano), Andrew Hollis (guitar), Ricardo Delgado (drums)
The Legend of Johnny 15 (2010 - 2011)
The STC performed two runs of our dark dystopian rock opera about sex fetishes, a world premiere in the fall of 2010 and an even sexier version in the winter of 2011.
The Legend of Johnny 15 is a dystopian rock opera. When the brain scanner was first invented, it was to protect us from ourselves. With a patented ability to detect dangerous sexual fetishes, we were promised a less deviant future. But when the government-run MindSpa® began their paranoid witch-hunt everyone became a threat. Now, no one is safe from a vicious vanilla “mind-cleansing”. The only one who can save us is Johnny 15 and his dirty, deviant dark-serum—that is, if he actually exists. Think Rocky Horror Picture Show-meets-Logan’s Run.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Terry Selucky, Ricardo Delgado, Becca Worthington, Dan Collins
2011 Cast/Contributing Writers: Erin Salm, Matt Patrick, Jack Leeds, Kymberly Tuttle, Kacie Laforest, Annalisa Derr, Chris D’ Amato, Michael Mraz, Kate Mulverry, Ben Danielowski, Kirsten Rani Almeida
2010 Cast/Contributing Writers: Daniel Cibener, Mike Drummey, Jack Leeds, Kymberly Tuttle, Kacie Laforest, Annalisa Derr, Chris D’ Amato, Michael Mraz, Jadi Collado
Music/Contributing Writers: Dan Collins (lyrics), Nick Sula (composer), Ari Kessler (composer/piano), Andrew Hollis (guitar), Ricardo Delgado (drums)
Professor von Awesome's Traveling Caravan of Cautionary Warnings (2009)
STC’s magical Halloween-themed full-length musical.
In Professor von Awesome's Traveling Caravan of Cautionary Warnings, the Professor takes the audience on a high-paced journey through the perils of ignoring the morals hidden in so-called “urban legends". Via music, puppetry, magic, and burlesque the Professor will expose the truth about your favorite urban legends and how to live longer, fuller—and outrageously paranoid—lives.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Terry Selucky, Ricardo Delgado, Mike Drummey, Dan Collins
Cast/Contributing Writers: Mike Drummey, Annalisa Derr, Dylan Weinberger, Louis Aquiler, Claire Tyers, Chris D’Amato, Nidia Medina, Kirsten Rani Almeida, Kimberly Mikenis (Puppetry)
Music/Contributing Writers: Dan Collins (lyrics), Nick Sula (composer), Tyler Theofilos (composer/guitar), Kim Read (composer), Ari Kessler (piano), Noah Gall (violin), Ricardo Delgado (drums)
Sketch Comedy
One Allotted Hour of Entertainment (2008)
The Serious Theatre Collective made our NYC debut with a sketch show featuring collaboratively written sketches.
One Allotted Hour of Entertainment, an evening of drinking and sketch comedy, was performed at the Knitting Factory.
Head Writers: Lizz Leiser, Ricardo Delgado, Chris Woolsey, JR Wickman, Jaime Lee Currier, Terry Selucky
Cast/Contributing Writers: Jaime Lee Currier, Ricardo Delgado, Mike Drummey, Jeff Simmons, David Blais
Music/Contributing Writer: Tyler Theofilos (guitar)
Superego (2004 - 2006)
Superego was a sketch comedy ensemble that performed regular monthly shows in Portland, Oregon.
Superego produced five original hour-long sketch comedy shows: Your Life is in Danger, Team Awesome, Let it Burn, Blaze of Awesome, In the Name of Awesome, and Believe it or Awesome.
Head Writer/Director: Lizz Leiser
Contributing Writers/Performers: Jaime Lee Currier, Ricardo Delgado, Chris Woolsey, JR Wickman, Jaime Lee Currier, Dave Stefani, Nathan Markiewicz, Eden Nelson, Mark Bridges, Nick Forde, Pat Moran, Andrea Algiers
Contributing Writer/Live Music: Nathan Miller (guitar), David Fimbres (drums)
"While Superego belongs to the tradition of Monty Python, SCTV, and SNL, it never seems like a mere imitation of any of these seminal groups. Part of the show's freshness comes from the obvious theatrical background of the performers and writers. The writing smacks as much of latter-day absurdists like Christopher Durang or Tom Stoppard as of TV comedy..."
—The Portland Mercury
"...Superego touches sketch-comedy greatness"
—The Willamette Weekly
Additional Credits
Production Photos
