Given that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a comedy driven by its theatrical interludes like “Love Kernels” and “Friendtopia,” it was only a matter of time before the cast decided to take the show on the road.
Rounding out a nearly monthlong tour, the CW drama stops by The Town Hall in midtown on Sunday for a live concert experience that can only be described as “its own animal.”
Actress Donna Lynne Champlin, who plays Paula Proctor — the series’ mother/best friend figure to lead Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) — says the live show that brings TV to stage has a “hybrid” vibe. It’s the first of its kind for a network TV comedy.
“It’s got a stand-up feel to it. Rachel is the connective tissue; she’s a lot of the transitions in between numbers,” Champlin explains. “It’s also a straight-up concert, but it’s got that sort of organic, impulsive, you’re-not-100-percent-sure-where-it’s-going-to-go feel to it.”
The tour kicked off on March 27 with a performance at Largo in Los Angeles, and makes a well-fitted end in Covina, California, on April 11. While many of the show’s main recurring faces — Bloom, Champlin, Pete Gardner, David Hull, Gabrielle Ruiz and others — are each set to perform, the talent appearing and set list changes with each stop.
“I’m going to be doing all the East Coast [shows],” Champlin says. “I’m totally psyched about New York. I’ve sung at Town Hall a bunch of times and I absolutely love that theater.”
Bloom will, of course, appear on all stops across the country, as she’s responsible for the concert’s stand-up-style introductions.
Champlin explains that due to a rigorous schedule of performances, the crew isn’t able to accommodate large, elaborate sets and costumes that often accompany the series’ musical breaks. The actors will step out on stage as themselves, not exactly as their title roles, but fans expecting to interact with their fictional characters won’t be disappointed.
“Honestly, most of our characters are pretty close to universal,” Champlin explains, adding that much of the cast doesn’t feel they need to show up in character to be relatable.
“The person who really has to jump in and out of character would be Gabrielle, who does ‘Women Gotta Stick Together.’ ” Ruiz, who appears in the series’ early seasons as the easy-to-dislike Valencia Perez (and later as “new pal” Valencia), is “obviously a very nice lady” in real life, she clarifies.
Each actor will perform a standout number, ranging through the series’ first three seasons. The songs they choose can change per stop, so there’s no set list, per se.
“There are so many great songs from this show, so many anthemic songs, that it’s been very difficult to choose what to do,” Champlin says. “ I have three we decided we’ll rotate around.”
She hopes to perform Paula’s Gospel number, “Face Your Fears,” from the debut season at every tour stop.
“I really feel strongly that ‘Face Your Fears’ is Paula’s anthem,” she notes.
The CW series was recently picked up for its fourth and final season. Champlin says the tour itself was put together as a last hurrah of sorts for the bunch, who knew the show was only billed to the network as a four-season run.
“At the end of the fourth season, which would be our last, everyone’s just going to scatter to the four winds,” she says. “So, was like this is the hiatus to do it, in between three and hopefully four because we’re all still tied together.”
A specific return date for the “Crazy Ex” farewell has not yet been announced by the network.
IF YOU GO: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Live” comes to Town Hall at 8 p.m. on Sunday, 123 W. 43rd St., thetownhall.org, sold out
