Thank You, Places: An Improvised Musical

Thank You, Places: An Improvised Musical is a one-hour, Broadway-style musical that is entirely made up on the spot, created from a single audience suggestion.

With a delightful twist on classic musical theatre storytelling and stylings reminiscent of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Stephen Sondheim, Thank You, Places captivates your imagination and leaves you wanting more.

Thank You, Places cast brings with them experience on Broadway, National Tour, New York, Philadelphia, and Regional theatre stages, many years of improv comedy experience, and over 10,000 hours singing in the shower.

The theme of the December show is the new year - any new year! No one knows what will happen until the cast starts singing.

Cast: Rob Alesiani, Eibhleann Clyne, Ina Farrell, Joe Gates, Scott Hinners, Claire Holm, Kirsten LaCerda, Chris Newcomer, Alanna Shaffer, and Sue Taney

Musical directors: Scott Hughes, Kevin Mucchetti

Rob Alesiani has been performing improv in the Philadelphia area, and nationally, for over a decade. He is a proud member of Thank You, Places: An Improvised Musical, a show which creates an entire musical right on the spot. Rob is a regular voice on the Crossroads Comedy Podcast Network of shows. He's a devout sneakerhead, vintage clothing enthusiast, and creates small batch hot sauces with his company Trust The Sauces.

Eibhleann Clyne is an actor, writer, singer and clown living in Philadelphia. She's so proud and excited to perform with Thank You Places and put all of those skills together! When she's not performing she's usually cooking and forgetting to water her plants. 

Ina E. Farrell is a formally trained actress, playwright, director, producer, speaker and coach. She is founder and CEO of Two Fish Five Loaves Productions, which creates, directs and produces content for theater, television and film. Her industry expertise has allowed her to collaborate with Emmy and Grammy award-winning artists. Despite legal blindness, Ina's most  exhilarating , sometimes self-deprecating, rewarding, challenging, and fun times has been taking the stage performing made up on-the-spot musicals with her talented Thank You Places improv family. 

Joe Gates is a veteran Philly performer and is most well-known as producer and director of The Comedy Show Gates, a monthly comedy and cabaret show at L’Etage.  Joe majored in Drama at Washington College and has trained at various theaters in Philadelphia, New York and at iO out in Chicago. He’s been doing improv for 19 years and has been a part of award-winning teams such as Sabotage, Scary Mofos, and the musical improv group Thank You, Places.  He has taught and coached in Philly for the past few years and is part of the virtual improv group, Hot Switch. In addition to comedy, Joe has also been involved in numerous Renaissance Faires in PA and NJ, stage combat, Shakespearean plays, and he has written and produced countless Gothic Horror RPGs for Live Action Role Plays. 

Scott Hinners is a Philadelphia based improviser and digital marketer. He's trained at the Philly Improv Theater and been a part of several amazing comedy groups over the years including house team ZaoGao and Reasonable Doubt. Since 2017, Scott has performed with Thank You, Places: An Improvised Musical, where he routinely makes up brand new musicals on the spot alongside an exceptionally talented cast. "

Scott Hughes is an improviser, educator, and occasional jazz pianist who has been making stuff up since he was big enough to reach the keys. Now he's much taller, and he's had the chance to study, teach, and perform with some of the best musicians and actors all over, including at University of the Arts, Temple, CSz, PHIT, The Magnet, and iO. When he's not on stage, you'll find him improvising with comparable audacity in the kitchen, in business meetings, and with his own life. "Thank You, Places" is just about his favorite thing ever.

Claire Holm is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Musical Improviser and Cat Mom. She was part of the Philly musical improv duo/trio Suggestical and has made up songs on stages for about 13 years. In addition to living her best life with Thank You Places, Claire coaches and teaches musical improv in and around Philly.

Kirsten LaCerda is a mother, author, improviser, and lover of the silly and improbable. While studying Classics at the University of Virginia, she performed with their improv comedy team, a passion she continues to pursue to this day as a cast member of Thank You, Places: an Improvised Musical and Not Yet Rated: an Improvised Movie. She published her first children's novel, Adventures in Mangia: The Quest for the Elder Taco, to prove she's not as bad a procrastinator as some might have feared. Kirsten currently lives in Havertown with her husband, twin boys, and their horrible hound, Merlin.

Kevin Mucchetti is a Philadelphia-based music director, composer, and pianist. He currently serves as Director of Music for Church of the Holy Child in Wilmington, Delaware and as a staff accompanist for the School of Philadelphia Ballet. His original compositions for theatre have been performed throughout the region, including productions in the New York Musical Festival and Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival. Kevin has acted as musical director for Thank You, Places since its inception in 2016.

Chris Newcomer is a Philadelphia based actor and singer.  He has performed on Broadway and all over the world with Chicago The Musical and is very happy he gets to play whatever role he wants with his beloved Thank You, Places team.  

Alanna Shaffer (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based improviser and- in another life- public historian. She has been a member of ‘Thank You, Places!’ since the team first began performing together in 2017, where she gets to joyously combine her two favorite things in the world- musical theatre and comedy.

Sue Taney has a BA in Theatre from Rowan University and a MA in Education from Montclair State University. She has been teaching preschool for 12 years and loves every minute of it. She also adores improv. She's had the absolute pleasure of performing with Thank You, Places since their inception in 2016.  She's been performing with the delightful CSz Philly for over a decade. CSz Philly has also allowed her to share the joy of improv by teaching it to kids, teens, and adults of every ability both in person and virtually. She's also toured the east coast teaching and performing as half of the silliest improv duo, #puppies. When she isn’t teaching or performing, Sue enjoys spending time with her wonderful and supportive husband, family, friends, and dachshund pups.