[dropcap]On[/dropcap] the second Monday of every month, the Comedy Bar pays tribute to one of television’s most popular shows: Gilmore Girls. ‘Gilmore GirlProv’ acts as a sort of fan-fiction for the popular comedy-drama series. The legacy of the show lives on not only thanks to Netflix, but also due to the creative stage adaptations that the Comedy Bar cast prepares for its dedicated fans — many of whom are regular attendees.
“This is my third time here,” says a young woman in the audience. “I used to watch Gilmore Girls as a teenager and this show brings back old memories with new jokes.”
Prior to the start of the show, Comedy Bar host Chelsea Jane Bray asks the audience a few questions; the responses to which guide the actors’ improvised performances. Some shout outs included one man stating that his worst fear is leprechauns, and another woman suggesting that nipple piercings were an unusual sight.
While the actors adapted, parodied, and hyperbolized traits of the show’s characters, their performance was entertaining even for those who were not fully familiar with every episode. The primary characters were Lorelai Gilmore (portrayed by Adele Dicks), her daughter Rory (Kristy LaPointe), her anxious and ambitious friend Paris (Linnea Currie-Roberts), her wealthy boyfriend Logan (Jason Ochs), and an elderly neighbour named Babette (Jessica Perkins). Additional characters such as Sookie, Taylor, and Kirk also contributed to the comic and dynamic development of the narrative.
In the first sequence, Taylor (Michael Mongiardi) used the microphone to emulate an intercom in a grocery store. He announced that the marshmallows that Rory and Lorelai decided to consume were actually poisonous due to the sugary ingredients. This declaration set the theme for the rest of the short sequences, where the characters would experience panic, sadness and confusion due to the ban of sugar as a poisonous substance.
Logan dramatized his ‘rich kid’ character persona by gasping in panic when Paris mentioned bankruptcy and abruptly leaving in the middle of Paris and Rory’s conversation. Dicks gave a more self-reflexive performance of Lorelai as she mentioned “it is not weird at all that I am close friends with my teenage daughter’s friends.” Lorelai also proved her efficiency as she resolved the sugar prohibition rule by offering cocaine to Sookie and Babette. The show culminated with some Gilmore Girls trivia questions for which audience members were rewarded with candy.
