Karaoke Smackdown
October 15, 2013
CHARLESTON, SC – October 15, 2013 – Two of Charleston’s youngest and most buzz-worthy theatre companies, What If? Productions and Threshold Repertory Theatre, are teaming up for a monthly event that will pit 10 fearless and shameless contestants against each on stage in the epic sing-off competition Karaoke Smackdown this Oct. 28th at the Threshold Theatre space in downtown Charleston.
What If? and Threshold as partners
This planned monthly extravaganza is the brainchild of the two theatres (both starting their fourth seasons this fall) who share the mysterious black box theatre space, the Threshold Theatre, located on 84 ½ Society St. in downtown Charleston. ‘We wanted to find a way to work together on a fun event that would reach out to both our audiences, the general public and our artistic families as well for just an outrageous and fun monthly event that is a little different than what we do separately.’ says Kyle Barnette, Artistic Director of What If? Productions.
What the hell is Karaoke Smackdown?
Each Karaoke Smackdown will have a theme for the evening, encouraging guests and audience members alike to dress accordingly. Ten contestants will be randomly selected from a pre-registration list and will be given a pre-selected list of 20 thematic songs to choose from and prepare to sing MEMORIZED in the first round. A panel of three ‘celebrity’ judges will narrow those 10 down to a final 4 who will perform a song selected by the judges in a roulette style fashion (with karaoke lyrics), not knowing which of the preselected songs they will be assigned to sing. Audience members in attendance will vote for their favorites on the spot via Twitter and Facebook with an audience favorite award given with the final Karaoke Smackdown champion decided by the esteemed panel of whacked out judges. The winner will defend their title in the next month’s smackdown event.
In between rounds audience members will be entertained by a local comedian or musician, who will be serving on the judges panel along with a character from one of the two theatres currently running shows along with a legitimate (or maybe semi-legitimate…) judge rounded out the three. Karaoke Smackdown will be hosted by local theatre favorite Brian Porter (Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Cabaret).
‘The goal is to have fun and not take ourselves too seriously. This is a collaboration between to theatres that want to really build a stronger partnership and provide a great evening of entertainment for the public. We cannot wait!,’ states Threshold Rep. Artistic Director Pam Galle.
How to register as a contestant
Potential contestants should email their contact information, as well as their age, to [email protected] by the registration deadline date of Oct 18. Selected contestants will be notified in advance and given the song selections to choose from at that time.
Karaoke Smackdown: Round 1
Theme: Halloween Horror
When: Monday Oct. 28th at 8:00pm
Tickets : $10 each
(available online by visiting either theatre companies websites: whatifproductions.org or charlestontheater.com)
*Wine and beer available for purchase at the event
