OPERA PUNKS

Super Fun Show

So much fun to watch these folks play around and create scenes/songs that could have come straight from your favorite (strange) Broadway musical! With incredible chemistry and enough energy to power the city for a week, the cast gets you on their side immediately, and makes every successful rhyme feel like a win for the whole audience. Musician Kelly Shuda, with a variety of instruments and tools, beautifully sets up a wide range of musical styles that the performers fully commit to. Came in as a last-minute decision, left thanking the circumstances that led me there.

So Impressed

Whew! An hour of musical improv can go badly quickly, but this did not! The performers had such great energy from begging to end and their musician is absolute fire. And the range of genres of music what impressive and hysterical. Came out hyped!

Great energy! This was a great show

Talented artists and superb musician!!! I wish there was more specific mad-lib style suggestions from the audience! For instance, asking for a color and verb along with "your transportation to the show tonight," or "last cousin you talked to." To create a more detailed improv'd scene! It would help with engagement through the hour. This was a great show!

Truly Iconic

This felt like an entirely new level of improv. So funny. The music was incredible. I think I have a crush on every member of Opera Punks now.

They forgot Y and I died

I was not expecting to love this show so much. Improv is not normally my favorite style. But the openness to play, hilarious takes, and obvious singing talent won me over. All the kitties!

PUNKED UP

Opera Punks is top tier Minneapolis improv. This group is pure joy and was such a fun show to watch. They created the funniest songs and kept the audience on their toes. With fun musical interludes and fantastic pacing, this is a show you won’t want to miss! The chemistry in the cast reflects in the music and I was so happy to see it! Y’all gotta catch the punks!!

Living room comedy

This is from seeing show #5. In one sentence: a great show if you’re looking to see some, not all, cast mates be fun music listeners and responders. In three sentences: musical improv, let alone an opera format, is immensely difficult in practice when considering the “yes and-“ to come from singers and a multi-talented instrumentalist. You’re signing up for an hour of single prompt music where some cast mates are listeners, and some can’t seem to help but be the star of the show. But this is great for you if you’re seeking some fleeting, silly laughter.

i was howling with laughter

it’s perfect as it is! it’s perfect as it is! it’s perfect as it is! yeah, i’ll catch the after fringe run. such a good time!

Musical Improv

This is a difficult form to pull off. They appeared to be having fun. An hour felt a bit long for a single group for improv but they did a good job.

A hilarious blend of genres

A fun improve show with a large variety of types of songs and very funny

A Night at the Opera (Punks)

The Schedule Gods weren’t kind to Opera Punks, but don’t let them escape your radar. This is a group whose first ever show was 10am on a Thursday and they delivered a great Monday 10pm set with infectious enthusiasm and their signature foul-mouthed, angel-voiced hooks. It’s like Queen meets Ween the way they bombastically leap feom genre to genre; each performer has their unique charms but Rueben Gomez in particular reminds me of a young Jack Black.

All Hail Lord Efron

If you've never witnessed musical improv, you gotta check out Opera Punks. From the second they take the stage they are exploding with energy that is infectious. Not only is every single part of this show sung and improvised, but they made me laugh while also having heartfelt moments and their voices are absolutely beautiful. If you've had a hard day, I guarantee the punks are gonna cheer you up and make you smile and remind you how fun it is to be silly in life. Do yourself a favor and check out the Punks!

Accoustic Issues?

GOOD NEWS: This group exuded energy and excitement. It was exciting just to be in the room with them. Visually, I could tell that they were excellent and putting on a great show. I loved watching them and their expressions on their faces. BAD NEWS: I could understand less than half of the show. For me, the music completely overpowered their voices and I could only understand a fraction of the show. This was hugely disappointing, because they looked so good and the most of the audience seemed to be enjoying the show. It's a small room and I was in the 4th row (Mon night). The cast was singing loudly enough, but their voices seemed to clash with the music (at least for me). When the music was quieter, I could understand just fine. I love improv and will go to see this group again at their fall run, because I think that with better sound this group will be awesome. Hopefully, the sound will be better for future shows, but to be safe try sitting up front where you might have more luck. There was tons of laughter in the room, so I know that not everyone was effected by the sound as much as I was.

A Little More Improv and Tone Down Sound?

We saw Saturday's final show, and much of the audience - with a lot of this year's Fringe performers in attendance - seemed to be enthusiastically engaged and enjoying. My older ears however, strained to hear many parts of the words being sung, as the music often was far too loud. My wife said she had hoped it would actually be more improvisational and chaotic - clearly many pieces were pre-planned, and often the improvisation simply involved inserting the name of a dessert or a favorite car to distinguish it from a different performance. The four performers themselves were quite winning, and it was nice to have a nice mix of ages and what seemed to be four very nice people in action.

Opera is for Punks Too

OPERA PUNKS has my favorite improv quality, which is that it feels like running down a hill really, really fast. Like, it feels dangerous. Like you're going too fast to stop because you'll trip and fall, but also you've never run so fast and it's so much fun. These performers just catapult onto the stage and some of the most bizarre, fever dream improv scenes come out of it. Whether they're being weird little creatures with goop coming out of their holes, punk teens facing the end of the world, or singing in made up classical Italian, they're always full throttle and committed 110%. This is way too fun to miss, daddios!