STARKVILLE — While many live theater performances claim to be like no other, this week, Theatre MSU is presenting “Pants on Fire,” an improvisational musical that is new each time it is performed.
Jesse Wade, assistant clinical professor and technical director for Theatre MSU, said “Pants on Fire” is an ever-changing show for children, where six Mississippi State University students act out different characters, scenarios and even song lyrics suggested by the audience to create a new hour-long show each time.
“It’s a completely improvisational children’s musical where the performers will get on stage, they will perform a really quick intro telling the kids what’s about to happen, and then they will receive a bunch of suggestions from the kids in the audience,” Wade said. “They take these suggestions from the kids and they create an entire show, an entire musical right there in front of them. The show is never ever the same and it will be wildly different each time.”
Wade said the new, always-changing show is being staged for school groups this week, along with three public performances. Public shows are 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. “Pants on Fire” is being presented on the McComas Hall main stage at Mississippi State.
Audience members are welcome to attend multiple performances, Wade said, as the show will be different each time they watch it. Though, a few elements do not change.
Wade said actors follow a “spine” for the plot, outlining when heroes should be introduced, when villains should be introduced, and other key story beats to keep the show moving. The songs’ melodies also do not change from performance to performance, though the lyrics are rewritten on the fly.
Wade said “Pants on Fire” has never been performed outside of Creede, Colorado.
“I brought this back from a theater I worked for up there,” Wade said. “So this is sort of the regional premiere of this show. This is an entirely brand new experience for anybody who hasn’t been to that town.”
Wade said Theatre MSU is also putting on one performance with a special emphasis on foster families on Sunday afternoon, due to the passion of one student involved with the show.
Tabitha Rafferty, a sophomore theater student who is working on set and props for the show, said she went through the foster care system before being adopted by her foster family. She said her family gave her the opportunity to choose a hobby to express herself, and she chose to take the stage.
Now, she is hoping to give other foster children a taste of the theater experience through the interactive show.
“They get to kind of shape the show around what’s going on in their lives and what they’re feeling,” Rafferty said. “It’s kind of a representative thing. I think that there’s a lot of really great opportunity with this foster kids show for foster kids to get to experience art, but also to have a hand in it and be involved in it and engaged with it.”
Rafferty said foster families interested in booking free tickets to Sunday’s performance of the show can reach out to her at [email protected]. Rafferty said foster families and social workers are invited to the complimentary showing, which will be followed by a special event for them including pizza, face painting, games, snacks and more.
Other tickets are $10 and are available at events.msstate.edu.
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