SnapSessions to present the history of Hit & Run Theater on January 29
The SnapSessions podcast presents a two-episode podcast, “The History of Hit & Run Theater”, due to premiere on January 29 on their website.
Encompassing SnapSessions episodes 50 and 51, the two-part podcast features hours of interviews, old skits and songs, and a variety of surprises from Hit & Run Theater’s beginnings as a skit-writing group in the late 1970s to the present alignment of the ensemble as an improv comedy group. Long-time Hit & Runner Doug Nunn interviewed 18 present and former members of the local troupe and watched over 60 hours of old shows from 1981’s Improviganza through The Arnold Vicious Punk Opera through improv comedy shows from the last decade at the Hill House, the Matheson Performing Arts Center, and Crown Hall.
Nunn handed over hours of VHS tapes to Marshall Brown and Ken Krauss, who digitized the old tapes. Nunn put the shows in historical context, made voluminous notes, and contacted various troupe members for lengthy chats. Ellen Callas, Kathy O’Grady, and Pamela Stoneham gave context and historical background to the group’s early days before it was even called Hit & Run Theater for the show 200 Years of Madness and Happy Birthday Mendocino. Harry Rothman, Tracy Burns, Steve Weingarten, and Richard Fienbop added many more details on Oh Velveeta, National Velveeta, The Arnold Vicious Punk Opera, The LaffFest Series, Democracy in Traction, and Fiat Yux, among others.
The 1980s were the group’s skit-writing heyday, but improvisation has always been part of Hit & Run’s story. SnapSessions’ Episode 51 effectively becomes part II of the History of Hit & Run Theater, outlining the group’s improvisational comedy work. As much of the group’s early improvisational output is lost, most of the improv highlights presented are from the past decade. In addition to further notes from Callas, Stoneham, Rothman, O’Grady, Weingarten, Burns, and Fienbop, Part II also includes interviews with Hit & Runners’ Jill Lemos, Ken Krauss, Christine Samas, Mindy Ballentine, Janet Atherton, Alonya Eisenberg, Dan Sullivan, and Nicole Paravicini, as well as musician Joshua Raoul Brody. In addition, Nunn interviewed long-time producer Pattie DeMatteo and light techie Sallie Werson.
The two-part History of Hit & Run includes numerous skits from both eras. Like SnapSesssions! Episode 36 — “A Tribute to Artist/Musician John Chamberlin” (which appeared in September 2021). These episodes are an oral history of Mendocino from the 1980s to the present. As the group did political commentary on everything from Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars to environmental and immigration policies, it is also a historical document. In addition, much of Hit & Run’s output was cultural commentary, so “hippie life” in the 1970s and 80s is part of the background. The final product is engineered by Marshall Brown and Ken Krauss and stands as an epic oral history of the past forty-plus years of local culture. Tune into thesnapsessions.com from Sunday, January 29, onwards, and enjoy the journey of Hit & Run Theater.
For more information about SnapSessions and to subscribe to their podcast, visit www.thesnapsessions.com.