NOW PLAYING: Last Call Theatre presents Love Game

Last Call Theatre has quickly become LA’s most prolific interactive theatre company in the post-2020 landscape, tackling new genres with the LARP-adjacent style of work.

In their latest edition, which runs at The Virgil in Silver Lake from Feb. 6th through March 2nd, the company turns to the romantic comedy genre for Love Game. Guests step into the role of matchmaker for a bevy of singles looking for, well whatever it is singles look for these days. True love? Hookups? Someone to split the rent with?

Bonus: there’s karaoke!

We checked in with Michael DiNardo, Creative Lead/Director of Love Game.

This is No Proscenium’s NOW PLAYING, a look at ongoing immersive experiences & events. To learn more about how your event could be considered for the feature check out How To Get Covered By NoPro.

NoPro is 100% reader & listener supported. Join our Patreon campaign to secure & expand our coverage of Everything Immersive!

NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?

Michael DiNardo: Love Game is a RomCom meets immersive-interactive experience where the audience gets to play matchmaker for a variety of Singles who have signed up for a speed dating event where they have been promised to meet the love of their life. Audience members will be assigned to one of eight (8) Singles who signed up for the event, and through guidance by Lead Researcher Allegra Moore (played by Rebecca Oca-Nussbaum), they will advise and support the Singles as they navigate the evening trying to figure out who they are meant to be with.

Although the science may have its own belief and methodology, the audience may observe pairings (or even groupings) of compatible Singles, and desire to take matchmaking into their own hands. Should they wish to do so, they may enlist the help of the Bartender (played by Colin Breslin) or the Karaoke Host/MC (played by Abiane) to pursue the relationships they believe are actually better for their Single. Or perhaps the audience can team up with other audience members assigned to the other Singles and set them up together. Love Game invites audiences to provide their own suggestions and creativity for fostering love.

NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?

MDN: I’ve always been a sucker for romantic comedy movies, some of my all-time favorites being The Princess Bride, Set it Up, and Love, Actually. Within Last Call’s prior shows, there have routinely been secondary, or ‘secret’ love quests for audiences to stumble upon, but I wanted to make a show where romance and dating were at the forefront. In recent years, relationships and dating have been modernized so much due to dating apps and social media, that presenting a show with a concept like an old-school speed dating event seemed like a breath of fresh air to me. And then to put it in this scientific format where audiences can decide whether to follow the advice of the Scientist or to go with their gut instinct creates a fun opportunity for the audience to make bold, dynamic choices.

Get NoPro Newswire’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

SubscribeSubscribe

A direct inspiration for this show came from a late-night conversation I had with my college roommates my senior year, where we discussed the idea of soulmates. Long story short, we came up with this idea where you could meet multiple people in your lifetime where you could live a ‘happily ever after’ with, but among all those people there is technically one with whom you’d be the most compatible, and therefore that person is your “soulmate.” So I figured, why not take that concept and put it into a scientific framework, and have that be the premise behind this entire show? Essentially, should you choose to hold out hope that you will find that one “soulmate” who is better for you than anyone else, or is it satisfying to just find somebody that’ll make you feel like you can have a ‘happily ever after’ with them?

NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?

MDN: I truly believe Last Call’s ability to receive audience interactions and allow them to alter the events of the show is what makes the works of this company one of the most entertaining in the immersive world. I cannot speak highly enough of my cast, all of whom have done such a great job in understanding the nuances of coming in with their character’s own opinions and perceptions, but allowing the audience to have the power to change and convince them otherwise. Each of the 10 characters in the show have a unique perspective on love and relationships, and following each of their stories will lead to a different perspective and outcome of the night for audiences.

On top of that, this show encourages audience members to play to their hearts content.

Whether it’s acting as a serious relationship counselor, or wanting to sow seeds of chaos and spread rumors, the playing space for the audience is massive, and we highly encourage everybody who comes to see this show to do what comes naturally to them. If you have an impulse about a particular pairing or outcome you’d like to see happen, why not try to gather some friends and put a plan into motion? And then come back another night and try something completely new and see an extremely different show unfold.

NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?

MDN: I was pleasantly surprised to see just how heavily invested our playtest audience members got into the Singles. One of the concerns when creating these characters and shows is that the “buy-in” to supporting them may not be there, and audiences may spend the first section of the show wandering around trying to discover what speaks to them. Thankfully, from the early feedback we’ve received so far, that has not been the case. Audiences have engaged with the characters directly, and by the end of the show they are publicly cheering and jeering the characters based on how they treated their own Single throughout the night.

Another unique element that will be a first for Last Call Theatre is that we will have an actual karaoke system going during the show. So if audiences want to take a break from the dating scene, or perhaps serenade another Single by performing a love song, there is a whole new mechanic in the show that has never been used before by Last Call. There are still some bells and whistles to put on it to make sure the impact and reward of performing karaoke feels just as important in the world as having a heart-to-heart conversation with a Single, but I’m confident throughout our run there will be many raucous audiences singing along by the end of the night.

NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?

MDN: My advice for anybody wishing to come see Love Game is to watch your favorite Romantic Comedy movie (some of my suggestions would be Set it Up, 10 Things I Hate About You, or The Princess Bride), and see what types of romantic tropes speak to you. Are you a fan of ‘enemies to lovers’ or ‘grumpy meets sunshine’? We also have some preliminary information about all of the Singles on our Instagram (@lastcalltheatre) that can give you some insight about which character(s) you may feel a personal connection with.

Whether you are single yourself, or perhaps in a long-term loving relationship, everybody’s insights will be valuable and provide a unique experience for every show. Perhaps you’ve wondered if that hobby you consider ‘embarrassing’ when meeting new people is something that you should bring up, so you introduce it into the world to see how the characters react to it, we won’t judge you for what your goals are. All we ask is that audiences come into the event willing to play, not just with the cast, but with the other audience members as well. You can expect to be paired up with people you do not know as you’re all assigned to a particular Single, and my advice would be to lean on each other to get the most out of the show. Take that time as you’re checking in and learning more about your assignment to see who else is assigned to the same Single, and what all you’d like to accomplish that night. We hope you enjoy the world we’ve created for you, and we’re excited to play in it with you.

Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, home of NoPro’s show listings.

NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers. Join them today and get access to our Newsletter and Discord! You can also GIFT memberships.

In addition to the No Proscenium website and our podcast, and you can find NoPro on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and in the Facebook community also named Everything Immersive.