Dad's Garage Theatre Company

Dad's Garage Theatre Company, located at 569 Ezzard St. in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1995 by Chris Blair, Marc Cram, Sean Daniels, George Faughnan, John Gregorio, David Keeton, Joseph Limbaugh, Matt Stanton, and Matt Young. A second wave of people in the founding summer soon followed, and the theatre company spent the next five years establishing itself in the Atlanta improv and theatre communities. The small theater company has since achieved international recognition for original stage productions and Improvisational comedy. The current Artistic Director is Jon Carr. Lara Smith is the current Managing Director.

History

On June 23, 1995, Dad's Garage opened its doors at 280 Elizabeth St., a building which formerly housed celebrated theater company Actor's Express, with the comedy play Fun With Science. The company then produced the regional premiere of Eric Bogosian's subUrbia in 1996, followed by an adaptation of Cannibal! The Musical by Trey Parker and Matt Stone in the fall of 1998, a production considered a breakthrough moment for the theatre company in the Atlanta arts scene. Graham Chapman's O Happy Day had its world premiere at Dad's Garage in 2000,[1][2] followed by Chapman’s Out of The Trees in 2001. In 2002, Dad’s Garage produced a play by Chicago’s Neo-Futurists, 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, which was attended by former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter.[3]

In the early and mid-2000’s, Dad’s Garage produced original new works, including premieres of several plays by Steve Yockey, during his time as Marketing Director.[4]  In the late 2000’s, the company started shifting to creating original scripted works and improv, while adopting a democratic system of preparing projects for season planning, though external scripts were still occasionally produced. In the fall of 2010, Dad's Garage secured permission to produce Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, an Elizabethan adaptation of the Coen brothers' film.[5]

A video producing wing, Dad’s Garage TV (DGTV), was established in 2011 and continues to produce shorts and web series. In 2013, the property where Dad’s Garage rented their theatre went up for sale, and the company began a two-year period of producing without their own facility.[6]  With all its property in storage, the company rented performance space at 7 Stages Theatre, Fabrefaction Theatre (now Brady Street Theatre), and The Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage.[7]  Dad’s Garage led a very successful fundraising campaign to purchase and renovate an old church that went up for sale when its congregation outgrew the space.[8]  The new Dad’s Garage Theatre on Ezzard St. opened its doors on December 31, 2015.[9]  Over the following five years, Dad’s Garage continued to produce scripted and improvised plays year-round, as well as expanded its educational offerings with Improv Classes for adults and the creation of a Youth Program for Improv.

In January 2020, Dad’s Garage artistic leadership changed hands when Artistic Director Kevin Gillese transitioned to Executive Producer for DGTV, and Ensemble Member and Playwright Jon Carr was hired as the new Artistic Director following a national search.  Most recently, Dad’s Garage responded to shutdowns due to the Covid-19 global pandemic by pivoting to live streaming content online.

People

Founders:
  • Chris Blair
  • Marc Cram
  • Sean Daniels
  • John Gregorio
  • George Faughnan
  • David Keeton
  • Joseph Limbaugh
  • Matt Stanton
  • Matt Young

Directors:

Artistic Directors
  • Matt Young 1995-1996
  • Matt Stanton 1996-1997
  • Sean Daniels 1997-2004
  • Scott Warren, Interim 2004-2005
  • Kate Warner 2005-2009
  • Scott Warren, Interim 2009
  • Kevin Gillese 2009–2019
  • Jon Carr 2019-present

Improv Directors
  • Matt Young 1995-1996
  • Joseph Limbaugh 1996-1999
  • Chris Blair
  • Tim Stoltenberg
  • Dan Triandiflou

Associate Artistic Directors
  • Dan Triandiflou and Amber Nash
  • Amber Nash and Rene Dellefont
  • Rene Dellefont and Matt Horgan
  • Matt Horgan and Ed Morgan (present)

Special Guests

Dad’s Garage has been host to many celebrity guest improvisers including: Colin Mochrie, Mark Meer, Kevin McDonald, Aisha Tyler, Tim Meadows, Henry Zebrowski, Dave Foley, Phil LaMarr, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, Fred Willard, Matt Jones, Scott Adsit, Manon Mathews, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, and Cedric Yarbrough

Improvisational Comedy

Dad's Garage is a Theatresports franchise, its original ensemble having trained with Keith Johnstone, author of Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre and Impro for Storytellers.

Other formats developed at Dad's Garage include the longform shows Murder She Improvised, Scandal!, B.R.A.W.L., Improv D&D, Cage Match, Dice Of Destiny, Improv Idol, Madmen & Poets, Dark Side Of The Room, and Wowie Zowie (an improvised children's show).

Programming

DGTV

Productions:
  • Rusty Trombone
  • High Fructose Corn Sizzurp
  • Up on the Rooftop
  • Movers
  • Hart of America
  • Cinco de Mayo
  • That Was Awesome
  • The Garage

Twitch

In March 2020, Dad’s Garage temporarily closed to the public for safety concerns due to the Covid-19 global pandemic and pivoted their programming to streaming online via Twitch.

Awards

Dad's Garage has won numerous awards over the years, including multiple wins as Creative Loafing's Best Theater and Best Improv Group in Atlanta.[10]

gollark: On the other hand God-Emperor TJ09 decreed it okay.
gollark: On the one hand the only rules Kaini says apply are the ones by the box.
gollark: The rules are just very patchy.
gollark: You can.
gollark: I'm new and haven't quite become cynical enough to avoid its slight usefulness yet.

References
  1. TheaterReview.com Staff. "Dad's Garage to Debut Graham Chapman Comedy". Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  2. Curt Holman. "Can Dad's Garage bridge the generation gap in its second decade". Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  3. "The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia on October 21, 2002 · C2". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  4. "9 Feb 2007, D7 - The Atlanta Constitution at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. Curt Holman. "Dad's Two Gentlemen: A Lebowski by any other name". Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  6. "8 Aug 2013, D4 - The Atlanta Constitution at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  7. "8 Aug 2013, D4 - The Atlanta Constitution at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  8. "Dad's Garage closes on new theatre space". Atlanta INtown Paper. 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  9. "Dad's Garage will ring in the new year in its new permanent home. Our preview of the new space". ARTS ATL. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
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