Usual Suspects suspend improv for a strict script

Kirk Baird

Friday, June 7, 2002 | 10:10 a.m.

What: "Beyond Therapy," starring the Usual Suspects.

When: 8 p.m. today, Saturday, June 12-15; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 16.

Where: Little Theater, Community College of Southern Nevada, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave.

Tickets: $8, seniors and students; $10 general admission.

Information: (702) 615-2599.

Finely Bolton, one-third of Las Vegas improv group The Usual Suspects, does not want the trio to be typecast simply as comedians.

"I think it's important for audiences to see what we can do beneath the surface," she said.

So the Usual Suspects -- Bolton, Rick Ginn and Jeff Granstrom -- have occasionally cast themselves in their own productions, beginning with playwright Christopher Durang's "Laughing Wild" two years ago.

"Before we became improvisational comedy geniuses, we were separately three actors," Bolton said half-jokingly. "One day I said to Jeff, 'I always wanted to do this play ("Laughing Wild").' He read it and and said, 'Oh my God, we have to do this play.' So we produced 'Laughing Wild.' "

Perhaps it was not a life-changing decision, but The Usual Suspects-as-theater actors proved popular enough that the improv troupe has appeared in four other productions, including "Beyond Therapy."

"Beyond Therapy," also a Durang play, runs weekends beginning tonight through June 16 at the Little Theater on the Community College of Southern Nevada's Cheyenne Campus.

"Christopher Durang writes a lot of social satire," Bolton said. "He has his own language, what I like to call 'Duranguage.' "

Bolton, who is producing and directing "Beyond Therapy" but will not appear in the production, described the play as "an absurd look at the Me Generation and their search for meaning."

"(Durang) wrote it in the early '80s ... when all his friends were turning 30 and in therapy," she said.

Those attending the production to see the Suspects improvise, however, will be disappointed. There will be no straying from the script, Bolton assured.

"I have a real strong belief that everything is written down in a script for a reason," she said. "I have a huge respect for the written word. The only time I feel it's OK to make changes is when updates need to be made.

"We've built a nice following for our improv show, and the crossover is there, but it's not entirely our improv audience. I think the audience realizes that we're three actors who happen to do improvisational comedy."