A local Halloween comedy tradition carries on bigger and better than ever this year, as Coalition Theater presents Nightmare On Broad Street 2, a three-day comedy/horror event that begins tonight and lasts through Saturday, November 1. This Halloween-themed comedy weekend will mix the latest editions of longtime Coalition favorites with brand new events, all guaranteed to have you screaming… with laughter!
A local Halloween comedy tradition carries on bigger and better than ever this year, as Coalition Theater presents Nightmare On Broad Street 2, a three-day comedy/horror event that begins tonight and lasts through Saturday, November 1. This Halloween-themed comedy weekend will mix the latest editions of longtime Coalition favorites with brand new events, all guaranteed to have you screaming… with laughter!
The Richmond Comedy Coalition have been doing their improv horror comedy show, Slasher, every Halloween for five years now, but they really took things to another level when they opened the Coalition Theater in August of last year. “Expanding to three days has been a little more work logistically, but it’s opened up so many more options for us,” says Coalition Theater managing director Matt Newman. “Most everyone at the theater has this deep love of all things Halloween: dressing in crazy costumes, campy slasher flicks, occult urban legends… all of it. We use the theater as a space where we can share that love with the city.”
This year marks the second three-day Nightmare On Broad Street event, and things will kick off for the second year in a row with a screening of the 1990 horror film Troll 2. Legendary in some circles for its hilarious awfulness, Newman says the film “truly must be seen to be believed.” He relates a story from last year’s screening to explain the truly mindblowing nature of this classic bad movie. “The night after [last year’s] screening, I overheard some conversation in the audience from someone who had been there the night before… He was describing some of the more ridiculous scenes in Troll 2, and his friends almost wouldn’t believe how bad he was saying it was.”
From evidence of the trailer, it’s easy to believe what Newman says is true–but there’s a big difference between knowing a movie is hilariously bad and seeing that movie in a crowd of people who are just as aware of its badness as you are. These kinds of things are always best experienced in groups to maximize the potential for fun. Plus, tonight will feature a costume contest with tickets to the rest of the weekend’s events, along with various other Coalition merch items, going to winners. Tonight’s screening of Troll 2 is a free event, beginning at 8 PM.
It will be followed on Halloween night by a new event from the Coalition: Glenn Danzig’s Spooky Comedy Show From Hell. This improv comedy night will be hosted by Robert Sobecke in the guise of notorious punk/metal vocalist Glenn Danzig, perhaps the most self-important Halloween fan in the history of the holiday. Sobecke’s role as Danzig was inspired by an earlier performance that actually had nothing to do with Halloween. “At our 5-year anniversary shows this past August, we played ‘Match Game’ as an improvised game show with some of our performers in character answering questions from the audience,” Newman explains. “When Robert showed up in full Danzig gear, we knew we had to see him do it again.” I’m sure I’m far from alone in hoping that Danzig welcomes us to his book collection at some point in the evening.
One thing that will definitely take place during Day two of Nightmare On Broad St 2 is a tribute to the 90s Snick show Are You Afraid Of The Dark? “That’s something our house team, Da Vinci, has been working on the last several weeks, and I’m really excited to see it,” says Newman. “The show will be improvised around the same structure of an AYAotD? episode (begin and end at a camp fire, youngsters exploring the unknown, spooky caretaker types), all inspired by a suggestion from the audience.” The Coalition crew has been delighted to see all the episodes of the classic children’s horror show appear on YouTube recently. “I had no idea they made so many seasons, and there are some real gems in there,” Newman says. Glenn Danzig’s Spooky Comedy Show From Hell will take place on Halloween night starting at 8 PM. Admission is $10.
The entire festive weekend will wrap up with the latest edition of the night that started it all. Slasher, the improv comedy horror show, is back for its fifth annual edition, and it should be bigger and bloodier than ever! “We try and top ourselves every year,” Newman says. “Better stories, more blood, better music, better special effects…” This gore-soaked Halloween tradition is clearly one of the Coalition’s favorite events to put on, and it shows in the amount of care and effort they put into it year after year. This year’s edition will begin with some short-form improv from Goth-prov, before diving into the show proper, which will feature a piano score from Dave Robbins. And don’t worry–there will be blood. “We’ll have a two-man Gore Squad and enough ponchos for the audience,” says Newman. “Folks in the audience should wear the ponchos. ‘It puts the poncho on its clothes,’ as they say.”
So yes, expect gore to saturate the entire theater, GWAR-style. “Our ladder is still stained with blood splatter from the show last year–I just can’t bring myself to clean it,” Newman says. He also is anticipating just how messy everyone will get by the end of the night. “I think I’m most looking forward to the curtain call after Slasher. By the end of the set, all the performers are pretty well soaked, and it makes for a great group picture.” Slasher will kick off at 8 PM on Saturday night, and tickets are $10. Prepare for a good time–and seriously, put on the poncho. You’ll thank us later.
Advance tickets for Coalition Theater’s Nightmare On Broad St 2 can be ordered from their website: rvacomedy.com/nightmare-broad-street-2. For more info, click here.
