What do you mean, A Roadkill Opera is “true-ish?”

Whether you’ve read the book If You See Roadkill, Think Opera, or just heard the story of chasing down the 200 year old music of A Roadkill Opera, you might reasonably wonder what is meant when I say the story it tells of the hour before opening night of the Roadkill On A Stick Frozen Foods Theatre Company is “true-ish.” It is a fair question.

Photo of Debby (DJ Choupin) cheered on the cast prior to the 1988 opening night of Roadkill Live!!! at the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming — Debby (DJ Choupin) cheered on the cast prior to the 1988 opening night of Roadkill Live!!! at the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming

There are songs in the 2013 studio recording of A Roadkill Opera that have titles pulled directly from sketches in the 1988 show “Roadkill Live!!!

Sketches in the 1988 Roadkill Live!! comedy revue by the Roadkill On A Stick Frozen Foods Theatre Company are shown on page 2 of the program

In the 1988 comedy sketch, In A Clearing is a conversation held by a bear (played by Holly), a moose (played by Eddie), and a bison (played by Stephan) that answers the eternal question “If animals were people, would they still bother us?” The 2013 song In A Clearing is a duet between Holly and Eddie about how or whether to change the sketch.

Photo of Bison, Bear, and Moose converse in the 1988 comedy sketch In A Clearing featuring (left to right) Stephan Alexander Parker, Holly Danner, and Ed Bachtel — Bison, Bear, and Moose converse in the 1988 comedy sketch In A Clearing featuring (left to right) Stephan Alexander Parker, Holly Danner, and Ed Bachtel

The 2013 song Cod Piece Dining is a trio where Stephan joins the conversation with Holly and Eddie to decide the running order. It is a wise show business strategy to put your strongest comedy sketch (or, in musicals, your strongest musical number) just before intermission. That sends people into the break planning to come back afterwards. As it was described in the 1988 program: “Intermission: 15 minutes. Please buy lots of drinks. Now.” That was the Wyoming experience in 1988.

Photo of Cod Piece Dining Room comedy sketch, 1988, with Holly Danner and Ed Bachtel on a singles cruise — Cod Piece Dining Room comedy sketch, 1988, with Holly Danner and Ed Bachtel on a singles cruise

The 2013 Cod Piece Dining song references several contending sketches, which were described in the 1988 program thusly:

Adrenaline Adventures: Just when you thought it was safe to leave the bivy sack…
Beaverzilla: If Gary Larson wrote TV sitcoms…
My Breakfast With Booboo: Delves into the dark side of river runners. Not for the squeamish.
Cod Piece Dining Room: Has absolutely no connection with any eatery in Jackson, much less this building, ’cause if it did we’d get kicked out of here real fast.

Photo of Adrenaline Adventures is the company name for an extreme sports guide company in the 1988 comedy sketch featuring Stephan Alexander Parker and Ed Bachtel — Adrenaline Adventures is the company name for an extreme sports guide company in the 1988 comedy sketch featuring Holly Danner (not shown), Stephan Alexander Parker, and Ed Bachtel

A mash-up of Leave It To Beaver and Godzilla, the 1988 comedy sketch Beaverzilla was an audience favorite. Pictured are Wardzilla, Junezilla, and Beaverzilla as portrayed by Stephan Alexander Parker, Holly Danner, and Ed Bachtel

Photo of moose head, in the fabulous Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming — The Gold Piece Dining Room can be found on the other side of this moose head, in the fabulous Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming

We’re going to leave out any further description of the 1988 comedy sketch My Breakfast With Booboo just to be on the safe side…however, there is something true-ish in the lyrics in the 2013 recording of the Cod Piece Dining song, which documents the discussion as to whether to keep My Breakfast With Booboo in the show because “it really is so crude.” We really did have that conversation, and it did stay in the show, but contrary to the song’s construction, Stephan is the one who kept it in the 1988 show over the objections of everyone else. Booboo was cut from the 1992 Roadkill’s Greatest Hits show, but that is another story.

Other true-ish aspects of the 2013 studio recording of A Roadkill Opera drawn from the real experiences of the 1988 improvisational sketch comedy revue:

Holly really wanted to move up from news to disc jockey at the radio station (which she did–check out KMTN–The Mountain), as related in the 2013 song Impress Them.
Stephan and Debby bought their first new car together in 1988, a Geo Metro, and discussed the relative merits of the different Geo models, a discussion reflected in the 2013 song Geo.
Holly really got nauseous from stage fright in 1988, as related in the 2013 song Butterflies.
The Greenback Lounge of the Wort Hotel, where the 1988 Roadkill Live!!! revue was staged, really was torn down after our show, more or less as related in the 2013 song Torn Down. The acts discussed in the song had all played or would have likely played the Greenback Lounge in the near future.
Every 1988 show ended with a standing ovation (except the night after opening night, when we played to an empty house) due to the shrewd decision to end every show with the national anthem, as reflected in the 2013 song Glory. Even the night the house was empty, the show went on, and we really did save a table for Harrison Ford at every show, as is also related in Glory.

Photo of of the Roadkill On A Stick Frozen Foods Theatre Company ended with a standing ovation, as every show ended with Ed Bachtel playing the national anthem--by harmonica, through his nose — Every show in the history of the Roadkill On A Stick Frozen Foods Theatre Company ended with a standing ovation, as every show ended with Ed Bachtel playing the national anthem–by harmonica, through his nose

Photo of Ed Bachtel performs the national anthem as Stephan Alexander Parker, Holly Danner, and Dave Rohrer hold roadkills on a stick with sparklers to a standing ovation at the sold-out final 1988 performance of Roadkill Live!!! — Ed Bachtel performs the national anthem as Stephan Alexander Parker, Holly Danner, and Dave Rohrer hold roadkills on a stick with sparklers to a standing ovation at the sold-out final 1988 performance of Roadkill Live!!!