One of the highlights of this year's Missouri Thespian Conference was the birthday of the first annual Improv Olympix. Teams were judged by professional improv teams from Branson, Kansas City, and St. Louis. The winner of the competition, out of twenty teams, was Ladue's DueProv.
Obviously, this is a proud moment for Ladue because three years ago, it did not have an improv program. DueProv is in its second year as an organized improv team. The program was started when Janine Burmeister, theater director at Ladue, contacted
CORE Improv to assist the school by providing improv workshops, audition assistance, scheduling, and a performance format.
Although teams competing in Improv Olympix can only contain five performers, Ladue's current DueProv team has fifteen students.
The second place team was Parkway South's 5 Finger Discount, also a team coached by CORE Improv. Parkway South's program has been going since 1999 and also officially started when CORE Improv was contacted. 5 Finger Discount has a robust and very popular program that features three improv performances this year. It is not unusual for the team to audition approximately 80+ students.
Jennifer Forest-James, theater director at Parkway South High School, was the originator and driving force behind the Improv Olympix competition.
