Laughtrack Theater Opens Friday

Laughtrack Theater, Honolulu's first theater space dedicated exclusively to performing and teaching improvisation, is celebrating its grand opening on Friday. The brainchild of Shannon Winpenny and Kim Potter, Laughtrack Theater is located at 1123 Bethel Street, across from Hawaii Theatre. Winpenny, a Honolulu native, cut her teeth in Chicago with renowned troupes like Second City and iO Improv.

Winpenny has been leading improv workshops for the past several months, and her students will be among the first to take the stage (as "First Class," of course). Also performing will be Winpenny's own improv trio, "Casual Threat," which includes Robb Bonnell and R. Kevin Garcia Doyle. iO Chicago's Jason Chin will also be on hand (and will be leading a separate workshop on Saturday).

I heard about the event from friend and improv student Jonathan "hawyn316" Wong, who's currently taking one of Winpenny's classes.

"Laughtrack Theater was established by our teacher to serve as a performance venue for all students in our school as well as to give the local improv community a permanent home," Wong says. "The first graduating class from our improv school (newly minted two weeks ago) will be headlining these two respective shows... and if you're wondering, my class will have our debut in about eight weeks, after we graduate."

The evening will be hosted by Fernando Pacheco (of "Go Jimmy Go" and "Pimpbot" fame).

Tickets are $10 general, $8 students. Performances are at 8pm and again at 10pm. And again on Saturday at 8pm and 10pm. For more information, call 255-5927 or e-mail kwinpenny@hawaii.rr.com. You can also RSVP at Facebook.

Laughtrack Theater will also be among the three venues hosting the third annual "Improvaganza" improv festival from Sept. 25-27. The event is bringing together six local groups and six groups from the mainland for three nights of comedy.