Culture & Community | A Broken Umbrella Theatre Company | Arts & Culture | Westville | Comedy
Frankie Douglass (center stage, with flowers) at the end of the show. David Judd Photos.
Ruben Ortiz burst onstage as a pool DJ, wearing bright pink sunglasses and holding a plastic prop microphone. He faced the audience to make his announcement: “This next song I got is called ‘We will miss you Frankie.’ Here we go.” Even as he exited the stage, the sentiment was palpable on the stage and in the audience.
That impromptu tribute was one of many Monday night, woven into the fun-filled improv games of the Westville-based comedy and improv troupe The Regicides. Part of A Broken Umbrella Theatre (ABUT), Regicides members showed their love for departing member and friend Frankie Douglass.
Douglass, a lifelong New Havener who for years has worked for CitySeed and performed with the group, is leaving for graduate school at the University of Michigan later this month.
“These guys have become my family. So I’m gonna miss them. I'm not sure where life will take me after grad school, but I'll definitely be back in some capacity,” Douglass said after the show.
“Frankie is a prime example of what we hope to do here at Broken Umbrella, welcoming people of all backgrounds, and anyone who wants to express themselves artistically and have fun with us,” said ABUT Artistic Director Ruben Ortiz.
Lou Mangini and Frankie Douglass Saturday night.
The show, postponed from last Saturday due to rain, is part of a summer series that the Regicides host at their current 446A Blake St. location. The next performances are scheduled for Aug. 12 and Aug. 26; more on that below.
Although it was a bittersweet occasion, the Regicides brought the energy and witty, sometimes slapstick improv they are known for throughout the night.
Douglass has been a part of the Regicides since 2019, when she found out about the group through her friend and New Haven artist Isaac Bloodworth. Finding the group brought her back to the stage and gave her what she had missed since studying theater at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School.
“I was a theater major at Co-Op,” she said. “ So when I saw him [Bloodworth] doing that and didn't have theater in my life, I was like, ‘Can I do that?’ So I met this group of weirdos one night in a basement and I was all for it.”
The Regicides became especially important to Douglass the following year, as she navigated the unexpected changes of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Having this during Covid really made my Covid experience all the more favorable,” she said. “We were doing this virtually, when we were locked down and we had some virtual shows. Then it just felt really good to come back and perform live again.”
In her last Regicides show—for now, at least—Douglass was as funny as ever. In front of a crowd full of family and friends, she starred in a number of classic improv games, showing her chemistry with her fellow players.
In a game of “pool party,” which saw a different scene start each time a new member entered the stage, Douglass stayed on stage the whole time, fitting into each scene seamlessly as the number of players on stage increased from two to the full cast and went back down.
After the final game, the full cast of the Regicides joined Douglass on stage, where ABUT member Ian Alderman gifted her a bus stop sign with signatures and messages from the whole cast. He explained that it was a tribute to the improv game “bus stop” which the group often plays to get ready for shows.
This was followed by one more sketch, giving Douglass a chance to shine on the Broken Umbrella stage one final time. She and Lou Mangini played a fan favorite game of “phrases,” randomly pulling out sheets of paper throughout with lines written by audience members before the show.
The sheets Douglass and Mangini pulled out provided them with funny and racy out of context phrases, such as “slide it right in.” Some sheets were intentionally left blank, and the absence of a phrase to read was incorporated just as well as the phrases themselves.
Once again this sketch was met with raucous laughter from the audience, a perfect send off for a beloved member of the Regicides.
While the Regicides will be missing Douglass, their summer Saturday series continues, with shows on August 12th and 26th. The 12th will be a major push to fund the construction of their new black box theater just down the road on Blake Street (stay tuned for an article on that space next week). The 26th is a show to help raise funds for local artist and friend, B*Wak, who has faced health challenges in the past year.
Despite the bittersweet goodbye, there is much to look forward to for A Broken Umbrella Theatre. With a new theater space expected to be ready in the next few years, the players and fans of the theater are excited for what's to come.