History of the Neutrino Project
Origins
The show was created in New York by the improv ensemble Neutrino. They debuted the show at the NY Cagematch in a 22-minute format, and have gone on to present several runs of the show in both hour-long and shorter formats.
Chicago history
In Chicago, FuzzyCo presented The Neutrino Project in two preview performances at the WNEP Theater in September 2002. Many thanks to those who participated in these performances:
- cast: Becky Eldridge, Jen Ellison, Shaun Himmerick, Dan Izzo, Russ LaChanse, Elizabeth McNaughton, Beth Melewski, Tim Sniffen, Andrea Swanson, and Zach Ward
- videographers: Andy Eninger, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, and Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- runners: Sean Cusick, Adam Devlin-Brown, Lance Hoffman, and Scott McNulty
A gallery of pictures from the preview performances.
From January 4 to February 1, 2003, the show ran at WNEP Theater. The cast and crew for those shows were:
- cast: Sean Cusick, Becky Eldridge, Jen Ellison, Lillie Frances, Fuzzy Gerdes, Shaun Himmerick, Lance Hoffman, Dan Izzo, Elizabeth McNaughton, Beth Melewski, Scott McNulty, Phillip Mottaz, Jennifer Shepard, Andrea Swanson
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Andy Eninger, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Michael Starcevich and Adam Witt
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- time master: Rachel Michalski
- runners: Dave Colan, Sean Cusick, Lance Hoffman, and Scott McNulty
The cast as of January 2002 looked like this:
photo by Aaron Gang
back row: Jen Ellison, Fuzzy Gerdes, Andrea Swanson, Lance Hoffman, Beth Melewski, Dave Colan
middle row: Phillip Mottaz, Cesar Jaime, Lillie Frances, Sean Cusick, Adam Devlin-Brown, Elizabeth McNaughton
front row: Shaun Himmerick, Becky Eldridge, Dan Izzo, Greg Inda, Jennifer Shepard
That run extended February 7-28 at the ImprovOlympic. The cast and crew for the extension included:
- cast: Dave Colan, Trish Conlon, Sean Cusick, Becky Eldridge, Jen Ellison, Lillie Frances, Shaun Himmerick, Lance Hoffman, Dan Izzo, Elizabeth McNaughton, Beth Melewski, Scott McNulty, Phillip Mottaz, Jennifer Shepard, Tim Sniffen, Andrea Swanson
- guest stars: Alex Fendrich, Jacqueline Stone
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Andy Eninger, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Scott McNulty, Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- time master: Stephanie Hoerner
- runners: Dave Colan, Trish Conlon, Sean Cusick, Lance Hoffman, Scott McNulty, Chad Reinhart, Tim Sniffen, Ben Taylor
On May 15, 2003, The Neutrino Project was presented as part of the Chicago Improv Festival. The New York group Neutrino performed their own show and then joined forces with us to present a combination show.
7 PM show:
- cast: Trish Conlon, Sean Cusick, Adam Devlin-Brown, Becky Eldridge, Jen Ellison, Lillie Frances, Shaun Himmerick, Beth Melewski, Phillip Mottaz
- videographers: Andy Eninger, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- time master: Rachel Michalski
- DJ: Alex Zeldan
- runners: Dave Colan, Megan Diemer, Andrea Swanson, Ben Taylor
9 PM combo show:
- cast: Jessica Allen, Rachel Biello, Kurt Braunohler, Steve Buck, Dave Colan, Armando Diaz, Matt Donnelly, Andy Eninger, Shaun Himmerick, Dan Izzo, Rebekka Johnson, Elizabeth McNaughton, Scott McNulty, Tim Sniffen, Andrea Swanson
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Ptolemy Sclocum, Michael Starcevich, Bob Wiltfong, Dan Winckler
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- time masters: Rachel Michalski, Nina Morrison
- DJ: Alex Zeldan
- runners: Lisa Ackerman, Trish Conlon, Sean Cusick, Lillie Frances, BJ Gali, Marlena Bittner, Beth Melewski, Phillip Mottaz, Ben Taylor
On June 21 & 28, 2003, The Neutrino Project ran at the Lakeshore Theater. The cast and crew included:
- cast: Dave Colan, Trish Conlon, Sean Cusick, Megan Diemer, Jen Ellison, Lillie Frances, Shaun Himmerick, Dan Izzo, Elizabeth McNaughton, Beth Melewski, Phillip Mottaz, Jennifer Shepard, Andrea Swanson
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Rachel Michalski & Don Hall
- music: Ben Taylor & Pete Prezzano
- runners: Audrey Grace, Jin Kim, Megan O'Neill, Chad Reinhart
September 27-November 15, 2003, The Neutrino Project ran at the Three Penny Cinema as "Neutrino Project 30,000". The cast and crew included:
- cast: Dave Colan, Sean Cusick, Megan Diemer, Lillie Frances, Fuzzy Gerdes, Brian Goodman, Dan Izzo, Trish Izzo, Beth Melewski, Jennifer Shepard, Jacqueline Stone, Andrea Swanson
- guest stars: Joe Bill, Jen Ellison, Megan Kellie, Phillip Mottaz, Sarah Pappalardo, Chad Reinhart, Schadenfreude (Ed Illades, Justin Kaufmann, Kate James, Sandy Marshall, Stephen Schmidt, Adam Witt)
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Andy Eninger, Fuzzy Gerdes, Shaun Himmerick, Cesar Jaime, Michael Starcevich, Adam Witt
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- technical assistance: Jin Kim, Rachel Michalski
- musical director: Ben Taylor
- additional musicians: Todd Leibov, Paul Miller
- runners: Russel Fike, Audrey Grace, Kyle Kratky, Bob Ladewig, Sean Maloney
May 3, 2004, The Neutrino Project was showcased at the Chicago Improv Festival's Video Night. Thanks to:
- cast/runners: Megan Diemer, Becky Eldridge, Jen Ellison, Andy Eninger, Shaun Himmerick, Lillian Frances, Brian Goodman, Jin Kim, Beth Melewski, Phillip Mottaz, Sarah Pappalardo, Jacqueline Stone, Ryan Stone
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Fuzzy Gerdes, Cesar Jaime, Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- technical assistance: Rachel Michalski
- musical director: Ben Taylor
September 10-11, 2004, Chicago Neutrino Project performed at Second City Toronto's Tim Sims Playhouse. The cast and crew was:
- cast: Patrick Brennan, Megan Diemer, Brian Goodman, Jin Kim, Beth Melewski, Jacqueline Stone, Andrea Swanson
- guest stars: Kerry Griffin, Tabetha Wells
- videographers: Fuzzy Gerdes, Shaun Himmerick, Michael Starcevich
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- musical director: Ben Taylor
- runners:
photo by Dana Pew
back row: Michael Starcevich, Andrea Swanson, Patrick Brennan, Fuzzy Gerdes, Ben Taylor, Shaun Himmerick, Beth Melewski
front row: Greg Inda, Brian Goodman, Jin Kim, Megan Diemer, Jacqueline Stone
August 5-September 30, 2005 at the Improv Kitchen
- director: Lillian Frances
- assistant director, technical manager: Greg Inda
- music: Ben Taylor
- cast: Patrick Brennan, Josh Chamberlin, Sean Cusick, Megan Diemer, Fuzzy Gerdes, Brian Goodman, Rebecca Hanson, Jin Kim, Bob Ladewig, Alison Mayer, Erica Reid, Chad Reinhart, Jacqueline Stone, Andrea Swanson
- videographers: Adam Devlin-Brown, Cesar Jaime, Shaun Himmerick, Michael Starcevich
April 20, 2007 at the Oberlin College Improv Conference in Oberlin, Ohio
- technical manager: Greg Inda
- cast: Sean Cusick, Fuzzy Gerdes, Dan Izzo, Jin Kim, Alison Coriell, Erica Reid
- videographers: Shaun Himmerick, Bob Ladewig, Michael Starcevich
Questions about FuzzyCo may be directed to Fuzzy Gerdes, fuzzy@fuzzyco.com
