Charm Scene: Improvised Musicals

We're back in action - and so is charming guest Sean Buckley (Baby Wants Candy, Teen Girl Book)! Sean tells us about her time with Project Adventure, inspiring this week's felt-tastic improvised musical. Puppeted parents, alluring aliens, maternal mashed potatoes, and more in this all new Charm Scene. Let's save the family!

Sean (She/her) is still from just outside of Chicago, but has lived in the city for 10 years! She can be seen performing in Baby Wants Candy, Teen Girl Book, and Marquee. She also performs puppetry with Project Adventure. When she's not performing, she's probably doing a jigsaw puzzle with Oreos and a glass of wine.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Sean Buckley
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

It's a Fringe-fueled new episode of Chat Scene as we sit down with the incredible Chris Grace (Dropout.tv, Superstore, Baby Wants Candy). We go deep into the differences between Chicago and LA, Chris's history with Baby Wants Candy, producing your own content, and more.

Chris Grace (he/him) is best known for his regular appearances on Dropout.tv and NBC’s “Superstore.” He performs stand-up and improv comedy all over the world, including with “Baby Wants Candy,” “Shamilton,” and "Holy Shit Improv,” and he won a Webby for his debut comedy special “Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson.” You can also seem him in “The Residence,” “PEN15,” “Broad City,” and more. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband Eric Michaud. IG/TikTok: @chrisgracecomedy

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Chris Grace

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans, for humans. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

We're alive! And ready for a (food) fight. We travelled to sunny Cleveland, Ohio for an all new improvised musical - filled with rugged wrestlers, juvenile Jersey Boys, catapulted Case Western cabbages, and Austin's mom. Oh what a night - in Cleveland!

Recorded Saturday, September 26 at Cleveland's own Imposters Theater. Special thanks to Michael, Ben, and all of the amazing people at Imposters.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard
Music Director: Sam Scheidler

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at http://charmscenepod.podbean.com/, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

It's a "Chat Scene" bonus surprise! In celebration of our award-winning 100th episode, we look back at the past two years of Charm Scene, discuss the show's creation, answer listener questions, and more. Happy 100!

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Sam Scheidler, Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Our LIVE 100th episode, and we're celebrating with a classic Charm Scene road trip - complete with NINE surprise guests - all at Chicago's own iO Theater. Old orphans, haunted hotels, precious programmers and more. Here's to the next 100!

Recorded Sunday, July 12 at iO Theater. Special thanks to Brad Pike and the entire iO team <3

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Ben Auxier, Jessica Joy, Brandon Michael Thomas, Allen Lucas, Heather Scholl, Daryn Robinson, Mike Gospel, Josiah Robinson, Amber Linde
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton
Stage Manager / Live Audio Tech: Dan Wilcop, Tristan Ramos
Sound Mixing: Ben Auxier

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

It's a new day for podcasts as Charm Scene is visited by two LEGENDARY music improvisers - Ashley Ward and Adrien Pellerin! We combine their stories in this newborn improvised musical, complete with bobbing babies, dangerous dams, heroic horses and more. Did we mention it's a new day?

Ashley Ward has been improvising for over 20 years and performed everywhere from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to the Kennedy Center to the Sydney Opera House. Most recently she was seen in the musical “3 Months Later” written by Jess McKenna, Zach Reino and David Wain at the famed Charlie Chaplin soundstage in Los Angeles. She co-wrote and performed in the off-Broadway show “50 Shades! The Musical Parody” and has directed many one person shows, sketch shows and musicals. She performs regularly in musical improv shows Baby Wants Candy and Shamilton at UCB LA and teaches musical improv at UCB and WGIS. She can be seen on Apple+ in “Hello Jack! The Kindness Show” and on DropoutTV in “Play It By Ear”. She is also a Jeopardy! Champion.

Adrien Pellerin is an NYC-based musical comedian and writer with digital credits on Comedy Central and Adult Swim. He produces Shitzprobe and music-directs international hits like Baby Wants Candy. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Edinburgh Fringe, SF Sketchfest, and the New York Comedy Festival. His work has been featured by Vulture, Mashable, and Funny Or Die. Insta: @adrienpellerin | AdrienPellerin.com

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Ashley Ward, Adrien Pellerin
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

A tale as old as time. Boy jumps in water. Boy drowns in water. Boy gets saved by a hot mom. It's our take on this classic story, told by 5 time charming guest Brandon Michael Thomas, that finally peels back the curtain on just who that hot mom was. Complete with chatty children, maternal muscles, and ill-advised improv invitations, this week's Charm Scene dares to ask the question, "Hey, aren't you in Shamilton?"

Brandon Michael Thomas (He/They/Them) is somehow still legally an actor, comedian, writer, and director who will cash a check the second he gets one. Now in his fifth year living in Chicago, it’s official: there’s no music improv podcast he loves to grace more than Charm Scene. You can catch him playing @babywantscandy or @improvisedbroadway, or wherever you get your premise-forward improv. Stop by his enclosure at the Lincoln Park Zoo and say hi!!

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Brandon Michael Thomas
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Stunning one and two bedroom units available in this classic Chicago improvised musical. An easy walk to charming guest Megan Ramsey, with ample space for chore charts, in-unit babbling babies, erroneous air-conditioning, and crown molding. Laundry and maintenance on-site, no security deposit, pets welcome. Managed by @charmscenepod.

Megan Ramsey is a performer, musical improviser, and writer; originally from St. Petersburg, Florida. Her Chicago musical theatre credits include Benny Bingo and the Evangelikids, Pigskin: The Football Musical, and Gums: A Shark Movie Parody Musical. She improvises with Duluth: an Improvised Midwest Murder (Annoyance Theatre), Wheel of Improv (Second City), and Teen Girl Book (musical improv). Megan is also a co-host and co-writer of the annual Miss Annoyance Pageant, returning to the Annoyance Theatre August 2026! When not performing, Megan loves to play guitar and spend her time near a large body of water.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Megan Ramsey
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Duck quack! It's a ducking duckprovised ducksical with charming duck Tess Abeduck (Holy Fuck Comedy Hour, Tuesday Musical Improv, Pigskin). Melodious mallards, aquatic actors, feathered families, and more on this week's Duck Scene. You just got DUCKED.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Tess Abedon
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Welcome to Door County Summer Stock! We're sat as charming guest Delaney Sterling (Tuesday Musical Improv, Marquee) manages the house in this week's fully improvised musical. Talkative ticket buyers, shushed Shakespeare, and somehow Sara Bareilles - all this and more on this episode of Charm Scene. Shhhh!

Delaney Sterling (she/her) is a Chicago-based actor, improviser, and singer. She has been seen in productions of Tick, Tick...Boom! (Susan), Kiss Me, Kate (Hattie), and Polly Peachum (Molly, World Premiere), among others. She can be seen most Tuesday evenings performing with Tuesday Musical Improv at the Annoyance Theatre. She also improvises with Marquee at iO and Jury Duty at the Annoyance. You can also hear her in a variety of audio plays with Secret Handshake Productions. Favorite credits with Secret Handshake include Mordred, Tales of Dread and Darkness, The Wombat, and One Shots. Ms. Sterling is an alum of the University of Illinois School of Music.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Delaney Sterling
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

A crossover episode?? We've got the incredible Katie Terres in this week with her own special blend of multiverse. It's an improvised musical of sexual celebrities, cigarette sandwiches, shipped Chalamet's and more as we enter the world of Katie's own creation - Bi-Curious George. Will we succeed? Find out NOW on Charm Scene!

Katie Terres originally comes from Florida but now resides in Chicago. In the city that is windy, she does lots of improv including teams such as Bl!mp and Voila: the improvised musical. When she is not improvising, Katie grows her multiverse of madness through cartoons and dressing up @katiepatioart. Her favorite tale to tell is that of Bi-Curious George.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Katie Terres
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

LIVE from Coalition Theater's 2nd Best Fest in Richmond, Virginia! We looked to the crowd for a quintessential Richmond story, and boy did we find one. Inspired by audience member LJ's whirlwind romance, it's a fully improvised musical of motorcycle mayhem, juxtaposed generations, protective pups, and more! We hit the open road on this week's Charm Scene!

https://www.doesthedogdie.com/

Thank you to everyone at 2nd Best Fest and Coalition Theater for an incredible weekend. For more information, visit https://www.rvacomedy.com. Recorded Saturday, June 13, 2026.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, with intro by Last Word's Adam Stackhouse
Music Director: Connor Brennan
Audio Mixing: Shawn Hambright

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Welcome to a show about death. We've got some unfinished business as Alex Garday returns (from the dead?) for an all new fully improvised musical. Crashing cars, mystical mirrors, liminal limerence, and more as we put the FUN in funeral on this week's Charm Scene!

Alex Garday is a performer from Phoenix, Arizona. He has performed in Chicago for the past 16 years at all of the major comedy theaters including recently as an understudy for The Second City's Mainstage production, Don't Quit Your Daydream. He regularly can be seen performing with Baby Wine at The Annoyance, Blank! The Musical at The Revival, Phony Award Winning Musical at iO, and Baby Wants Candy at the Second City. He has worked across North America as a host/emcee/facilitator for corporate events for Fortune 500 companies. He is the Talent/Product Coordinator and Marquee Host for Game Night Out a company that provides entertainment and curated in-person game nights for clients from across the Chicagoland area. He is 6’5″ and ethnically ambiguous. You can find him on social media platforms @alexgarday.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Alex Garday
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

It's Christmas in June as charming guest Rob Grabowski (Clued In, Hitch*Cocktails) joins us for a merry murder mystery. Was it the sinister son? The revengeful rabbit? The horrible head of HR? Everyone has a motive on this week's fully improvised cluesical.

Rob Grabowski is a Michigan native but has called Chicago home for over 15 years. He performs regularly with Hitch*Cocktails: an improved thriller; Clued In: an improvised murder mystery; Comedy Sportz Chicago; and Kohl's Cash, an iO house team. Follow him on instagram @robgrabo. He recommends visiting your local independent bookstore.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Rob Grabowski
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Cat's out of the bag - and we're breaking out of the pound with the very beautiful Amber Linde! It's an all new improvised musical, this time inspired by Amber's real life love of cats. Feathered friends, Vegas vaudeville, and good old fashioned train travels on this week's Charm Scene!

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Amber Linde
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Get ready to work as FIVE TIME charming guest Ben Auxier returns! It's another fully improvised musical, inspired by Ben's real life experience gig working in comedy. A frivolous fair, corporate costumes, a deep nuanced look at America's military recruitment efforts and more on this week's Charm Scene!

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Ben Auxier
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Who's that ominous figure in the back of your childhood pics? It's charming guest Max Lazerine in a fully improvised musical! Flip through for fateful photos, prescient peepers, risque relatives and more. We've seen the future, and it's Charm Scene.

Max Lazerine (He Him) Is a performer from Minneapolis Minnesota. Max is a member of the Second City National Touring company and can also be seen performing at the annoyance as part of Holy Fuck Comedy Hour.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Max Lazerine
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Welcome to the wild! Charming guest Landree Fleming joins us for an all natural improvised musical much better than Shakespeare's original, complete with shrewd shrews, sick scientists, and a ravenous revolution. La la la!

Landree Fleming (She/Her) is a Chicago-based actor, director, and improviser. Catch her most Tuesdays in TMI at the Annoyance Theatre. She's performed at the Paramount Theatre, American Theater Company, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Griffin Theatre, and Theatre at the Center. She's directed at Paramount Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Metropolis Theatre, Theo Ubique, Roosevelt University, and North Central College! She stars in the Dungeons & Dragons TV show Encounter Party from Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, and eOne, currently streaming on Plex, Freevee, and Roku, an adaptation of her podcast with the same name. She's appeared on Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, and recently directed Modern Gentleman at About Face Theatre. Rep: Stewart Talent IG: @landreerfleming

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Landree Fleming
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

No, you're not dreaming. It's charming guest Maura Chappelle in a fully improvised musical straight from the subconscious. Concocted coffees, made up mariachis, pictured performances and so much more on this week's Charm Scene. Sweet dreams!

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Maura Chappelle
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Gather round, Charm Family, as we welcome back charming guest Ben Hebert! We look back at one fascinating, fictional life in this fully improvised musical, complete with back row banjoes, scuffling siblings, ragtime romances, and more. Who will win Ben's love? Find out this week on Charm Scene!

Ben Hebert is a Canadian curler, 2010 Winter Olympics and 2026 Winter Olympics gold medallist, 2008 and 2016 World Champion, and Five time Brier Champion from Chestermere, Alberta. In 2019, Hebert was named the greatest Canadian male lead in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers.

Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Ben Hebert
Music Director: Sam Scheidler
Drums: Chris Ditton

Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!