CSPS launches new variety show with local focus as nonprofit grows in new direction

CEDAR RAPIDS — A lively new show has come together on one of the quietest nights of the week.

“Monday Unscripted,” a new variety show launched Oct. 13, is helping local audiences read between the lines of what’s possible with a local focus in programming.

Featuring a weekly rotation of stand-up comedy, improv troupes, storytelling and personal interviews with public figures, the production emceed by local comedian Tim Boyle has something for everyone in CSPS Hall’s Black Box Theater.

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With a different art form each week, no two shows will be alike.

“It may be high art, it may be a pie in the face. But hey, we’re here. Come join the fun,” said Boyle.

If you go:

Where: The Black Box Theater of CSPS Hall, 1103 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

When: Every Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. through Dec. 15. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Tickets: Available online at cspshall.org/monday-unscripted for $5.

Details: See performances from a variety of art forms powered by local artists and emceed by Cedar Rapids comedian Tim Boyle at “Monday Unscripted,” a new limited series produced by CSPS, The Lucky Cat Comedy, Improv Incubator and TellersBridge StoryTellers. For more details, visit cspshall.org/monday-unscripted or call (319) 364-1580.

What you’ll see

Each week, a growing audience has looked forward to something on one of the most dreaded days of the week.

Haley Rosendahl’s Lucky Cat Comedy brings stand-up. TellersBridge StoryTellers infuse themes with new voices.

Boyle hosts talk shows to show the more personal side of local celebrities and public figures. Anthony Jensen and Improv Incubator are at the ready to say “Yes, and?”

Through them all, the rotating curation of local treasures complements each gem in its own right. With a Saturday Night Live-esque environment and a stage far off Broadway, the unpredictable nature of Monday Unscripted is part of the fun.

“Sure, there are (other) storytelling and stand-up comedy events. But there’s nothing with this much diversity,” said Jason Zbornik, executive director of CSPS Hall. “Every time somebody comes, they can be recharged for the week through smiles, laughter and friends, then come back the following week and get powered up again.”

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A few weeks ago, he interviewed Orchestra Iowa Music Director Tim Hankewich, where sports and his Canadian upbringing came to the surface. At the Nov. 17 show, Boyle will ask Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell the questions that serious news reporters have neglected.

“Let’s have fun. Let’s goof around. Let’s talk about the thing you haven’t talked about publicly,” Boyle said. “I want to give them a chance to show another side.”

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The emcee, more known for his stand-up comedy than his skills as a faux talk show host, said the unpretentious environment lends itself to a different type of authenticity. It’s a much-needed place where artists can entertain and perform while perhaps experimenting to find the next best thing.

“Revival Theatre Company and (Rich) Heritage are in the dining room,” he analogized. “We’re the kids at the card tables, and we’re quite comfortable with that.”

The next comedy show on Dec. 1, produced by Rosendahl with The Lucky Cat Comedy, will offer everything from anecdotal styles to punchy one-liners from comics Zach Metzler, Wes Shirley, Mindy Kruckenberg and Mike Lucas.

Rosendahl said having stand-up comedy integrated in events that aren’t strictly for jokesters is important for cross-cultural exposures that help both artists and audiences grow.

“The idea behind Monday Unscripted is to draw a repeat audience,” she said. “We want people to make this a part of their weekly routine, and in doing so, we’re going to draw a different audience than we might normally for a comedy show, or get comedy fans to see entertainment forms they might not have been exposed to.”

Forming community

It might just seem like fun and games, but that’s not all.

“There are meaningful points to be made about community and where we are as people,” Boyle said. “It seems silly, but there’s real import behind it all.”

Attendees may come for the entertainment. But often, they stay for the insights each show gives to the humanity on display — in big ways or small.

TellersBridge StoryTellers, a new Cedar Rapids nonprofit, will bring storytelling to the Nov. 24 show from a group of care providers, including a nurse who is also an attorney, an EMT and a firefighter.

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“Our whole mission is for people to communicate and create community with each other. We’re hoping to do that through telling stories,” said Sue Schmitt, CEO of the organization. “I can have an opinion, and you may or may not absorb it. But if I tell you a story, there’s a good chance part of your brain will hang onto that.”

While the new organization has a group of core storytellers who are well-practiced, the shows at Monday Unscripted feature those who are not part of the regular shtick.

“The overarching idea is to create a community of storytellers who have the opportunity to tell their stories to each other and the wider community so we have a better handle on who we are and who each other is,” she said. “To get to know each other in ways that might not intersect with our regular lives.”

Why Mondays?

Choosing one of the quietest days of the week was a deliberate choice by organizers.

On a day when many museums, restaurants and attractions are closed, Monday Unscripted fills a need.

“Years ago, when I running the Convention and Visitors Bureau, often on Monday we’d have people come to the office from out of town and ask what’s going on,” Boyle said. “I always saw Monday as a real opportunity to create an audience.”

They hope it will provide an opportunity to service workers in particular, who work through weekends when most events are happening.

A new direction at CSPS

The new programming from CSPS is also filling another need for local artists.

After returning from the brink of bankruptcy and the temporary loss of its tax-exempt status, the lineup is perhaps a paragon of the new, local-focused path CSPS is cementing for itself.

“That kind of initiative to support local creatives is something I’ve been putting on the plate a lot more,” said Zbornik, who came on as executive director two years ago. “It takes extra work on our part, but it’s worth it. We can become a springboard, that incubator for artists to have their first professional experience.”

Since getting its finances in order, the nonprofit has had a remarkable turnaround in its second act, giving it the freedom to not only solicit touring artists but provide a home to the staples of Cedar Rapids’ arts scene.

With a group of nine tenants, leases with local performance groups and a renewed vigor to secure funding from grants, corporate donors and individuals, CSPS looks forward to some major infrastructure upgrades next year.

“We are broadening programming and continue to analyze genres,” said Scott Byers, president of the CSPS board of directors. “CSPS has never been afraid to take risks, but we want to make sure we don’t get pigeonholed.”

A key element of their new strategic vision is local programming that works well with a schedule of touring performers. The whole formula, Byers says, results in “a multiplicity of entertainment” on the main stage.

“If we do our job well and are able to curate good performers who are local, regional and national — that are different than what (audiences) normally expect to see at CSPS — we’ve done our job,” Byers said. “And ultimately, the audience will respond.”

Monday Unscripted, designed to run until December, will break for winter. Producers will evaluate its success and potential modifications as they decide whether to bring it back in January for round two.

Next year, visitors may even see it on a long anticipated marquee sign.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.