My Unauthorized! Life: Kevin MacLean

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Kevin MacLean, Design Director and Company Member

It was the first time I had auditioned for anything in eight years. I had seen the premiere performance of the Unauthorized! sophomore show, Steel Petunias, a few weeks earlier where the announcement had been made that their next show would be a musical parody of Ghostbusters. 

I had always loved performing in musicals in high school and college, but I had long since given up on any semblance of an acting career. I contented myself with the fact that, like organized sports, performing in the theater was in my past.

But the lure of being able to sing and dance on stage again and be a Ghostbuster to boot was too great. Between the time since my last audition and the sheer number of people auditioning, I didn’t figure I had much of a chance. Steeling me somewhat was the fact that I knew I had picked a dynamite audition song. The perfect combination of 80s nostalgia and parody cheese: the theme song from Growing Pains.

After auditioning, I was convinced I wouldn’t get a part. Didn’t quite hit that note, didn’t do my best Dan Aykroyd impression. I drank myself to sleep at 11:15 lamenting missed opportunities.

That morning I woke up for work and found on my phone a missed call and voicemail time stamped at 11:21.

I would end up playing the part of Ray Stantz in Ghostblasters and my journey as a member of the Unauthorized! family was off and running.

When I say “family”, I really do mean a family. You don’t produce and perform a full length musical in the span of a month with out getting to know a few people. You’d expect there to be some arguments, some tension and there is sometimes. That feeling of “Oh man, our first show is tomorrow and we haven’t done a full run through yet!”  But everyone believes it will end up working out and, sure enough, it does.  

I still remember that first rehearsal. Standing there in that tiny room in midtown, knowing almost no one, thinking "Wow, these people are really good, how am I gonna keep up?" I didn't have to worry, because they would show me how.

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The first ever Ghostblasters rehearsal.

No experience has been so rewarding, so filled with love and creativity as the one I continue to have with Unauthorized!. Everything that is said and done holds inside it the singular goal of putting on the best possible show. Every day I find myself surrounded with immensely talented people that hold each other up and say “Lets show people something they know and love in a whole new way. A way that’s wild and fun.”

I don’t know what will become of Unauthorized!.  If it will last six more months or six more years. But I used to think that I knew the date of my last performance. I don’t anymore, and that is really exciting.

Welcome to the Big Show

Writers Christopher Barnes and Ryan Mercy at the piano.

Hi there, my name's Kevin. That little picture there, right there to the right of these words, that is the first EVER official picture posted of the Unauthorized! family in action.  Yeah, its a little blurry but what do you expect?  It's the first official picture.  Of course, back then we weren't quite a family yet.  More like a small group of artists/comedians/crazy people out to have a good time and put on a show worth watching.

From there we have grown into a company with over 30 members and production staff.  Four full-length parody musicals featuring all original songs.  Rehearsals, shows, schmoozing, boozing, and late night choreography run throughs all to get us to where we are now.  But we aren't anywhere near done.

We're taking things to the next level.  Upping production value, writing new shows, adding all new types of content to our arsenal (sketch shows, short films!), and investing time we didn't even know we had to make sure Unauthorized! becomes everything it can be.  

This cute little website is a part of that.  The master plan to find a way where we can keep giving you gifts in the form of hilarious live musical parodies based on movies you love while also still being able eat three meals a day (or two with a snack time in there somewhere).  Because, while there is nothing on earth we would rather be doing, you are the one we are doing it for.  Whether you are a stranger or a dear friend, thank you, and welcome to our world we made just for you.

Now that we have gotten introductions and other niceties out of the way, we can get this show on the road!  

But first, a warning:  Spending time with the Unauthorized! family can wind up being a pretty wild ride.  So, you had better buckle up and get ready to holler, because we can't guarantee your safety but we can guarantee you will have one hell of a good time.

Life is Parody.