“Haus of Ruckus Live!”, September 27

Saturday, September 27, 7:34 p.m.

St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center, 2101 Gaines Street, Davenport IA

Well, folks, the rumors are true. After four years, nearly a dozen full-length productions, random special events, and a few Random Access Morons, the Haus of Ruckus team of Tee Green and Calvin Vo is bidding us adieu – for the time being – with Haus of Ruckus Live!, a one-night-only presentation in which the comic duo and their cohorts will perform live for the first time. Again.

“When we landed on the title Haus of Ruckus Live!,” says Green of the September 27 two-act at St. Ambrose University, “we were both laughing really hard at the idea of marketing the show as our first live one after all these years. But it also feels like a different world from our previous plays', because it's really a story about Tee and Calvin.”

Intentionally or not, the pair's latest also can't help but be a story about Tee leaving Calvin, as well as the rest of us – again, for now – given that Green will be relocating to Los Angeles not long after the Saturday-night live event.

“It is the last one before my big move,” Green says, “but it's not the last one. Calvin and I still intend to collaborate, and I still intend to fly in and perform in some shows. So I'm not leaving Haus of Ruckus by any means.”

“It's one of those things where I don't know what things will look like in the future,” says Vo. “In every other year so far, we've been like, 'Okay, things are gonna look this way.' But in every season, there's also been some sort of crazy upset that has made the shows much different from how they were planned to be.

“So we're still planning on collaborating and writing together,” he continues, “and Tee will hopefully still perform. But I think a lot of what he does will be stuff people don't notice. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes things that I do and that Tee does, and with Tee moving, I think there are some in-person things she will do differently.”

“It is the end of an era,” Green concedes, adding a tongue-in-cheek “but it's less 'the end of an era' than Max Robnett thinks it is.”

Green is referring to the frequent Haus of Ruckus participant who has been with the company's originators since their 2021 “Jacques”alope debut. That was the show that introduced area fans to Vo's and Green's alter egos Johnny and Fungus, the troupe's reliable employment of puppets, and the concept of a showboating cactus. Robnett appeared in the comedy alongside such additional talents as Sarah Goodall, Joseph Lasher, David Weaver, and Isaac Smith, all of whom also appear in Haus of Ruckus Live! Smith, in particular, proves instrumental to the plot.

As Green says, Ruckus' latest is “all about Tee and Calvin putting on a comedy show because these gods of comedy have said that if we don't, they're going to kill our friend Isaac Smith. So for us, I think the stakes have never been higher. Though I guess that depends on how you feel about Isaac Smith.”

Regarding the threatened execution of a loyal company member live on stage, Green says, “As we were workshopping the show, there was just something funny about the idea that, instead of the entirety of Haus of Ruckus, the gods were just gonna destroy one guy in it, seemingly at random.

“But that leads to Calvin and Tee racing against the clock to try and make a funny script,” she continues, “and returning characters such as the SpaceWorms and the Punk Rock Lobster and Mr. Numbnuts show up to give us advice on different things we should try.”

So that's the story of the play. Vo, however, might disagree with the nomenclature.

“I would say 'having a story' is very generous to what we're doing here,” he says. “But when we sat down to work on this, we were like, 'What's going to be really fun to do?' Because the thing about our shows is that as much as there's design and story and everything, we've always written by spearheading with 'What would be fun? What would be fun to rehearse? What would be fun to have our ensemble join us for?' And this does feel fun. The format feels very organically different than our other shows'.”

“We liked the idea of it being a kind of variety show and 'special episode' crossover event,” says Green, “using the puppets that we like and the characters we like. But we also wanted to avoid making it something where, to really enjoy it, you have to be one of the five people that have seen every one of our shows.

“So there are some puppets that are being re-costumed and playing different roles,” she continues. “There are some new puppets and new characters. And then, in line with the variety-show idea, we do have Calvin's cousin Riley (Carizey) writing some songs, and he's got a band with him – by which I mean Andres (Garcia) and Isaac (Smith). He's written songs for us a couple times before, and though this is by no means a musical, there are two or three songs he's written that get worked into the play.

“And Mahalia Zellmer, from Ballet Quad Cities, choreographed a very short ballet between Max Robnett and Sarah Goodall for one scene. The goal of this entire thing, like Calvin said, is 'What would be fun? And what would we like to try?'”

In addition to the aforementioned Haus of Ruckus Live! performers, the September 27 event will feature Ruckus regulars including Amelia Wirz (née Fischer) and Bella Kuta; Nathan Elgatian, Jacob Lund (via video), and Reader theatre reviewer Mischa Hooker, all of whom Green and Vo previously collaborated with at Genesius Guild; Ruckus newcomer Keegan Walker; puppeteers Inna Gomez, Emma Hughes, and Cayla Odendahl; and the vocal gifts of Ruckus veterans Joseph Lasher, Jeremy Mahr, and Keenen Wilson as the show's troublesome comedy gods.

Some of Ruckus' trusted behind-the-scenes talent is also participating, with Bella Vitale the show's stage manager, Amy Rotramel on hair and makeup, and Miguel Cabral on deck. Don Holland is helping to build the set, while Iowa City's Una Weber has been recruited to video-capture the one-night-only event.

“Initially, when we began talking to Ambrose, were thinking of a normal six-performance run,” says Green. “And then we were thinking about something in-the-round. But in hearing that it would be in Galvin, on the main stage, for one night only, it reawakened this idea of, 'What would it be like to see Haus of Ruckus in a larger venue?'”

“At first, we were kind of asking, 'Are we allowed to be in Galvin?!'” says Vo with a laugh. “But it's super-cool, because we've always pictured what it would be like to do a show in a big proscenium space. So because this is sort of our vehicle for that, the way this show is written is for a big stage. Mick Jagger talks about how, when he was performing when he was younger, at the beginning of Rolling Stones, he sort of did one thing. But when he started playing in bigger venues, his gestures changed, and the way they played the music changed, just because the venue was so different and the audience was seeing them so differently.

“So we wanted to hit the comedy in that way, too. 'What are things that might play in Galvin that we could not do in the Black Box Theatre or the Mockingbird (on Main) or the Ambrose studio?'"

Whatever results from Haus of Ruckus Live!, the chances are excellent that the show will be at least as touching as it is funny, what with Green's impending departure on the horizon.

“I am indeed moving to Los Angeles,” she says. “I'll say Los Angeles. I don't want people tracking me down. I have a partner out there named Kelly whom I love, and they moved out there over a year ago. But a long time ago, like 2019 or something, I talked about maybe moving to L.A. and decided against it. And then it had been in conversation in 2023, and I was sort of against it then, too.

“But now I'm ready, and I think it'll be fun. Though, obviously, there are things I'll miss a lot.” Vo feels the same.

“Here's the thing,” says Vo. “It's been a very interesting journey trying to figure out how things are going to look for Haus of Ruckus in the future. But more importantly, Tee and I have been best friends for eight years, and we'll still be best friends. It's the not Haus of Ruckus stuff I'll miss.

“Hanging out with Tee is very cool. There's no social pressure to be or do anything specifically in a certain way, and she gives you the freedom to be exactly who you need to be or want to be. So in every hangout, there's that freedom, and it's the kind of thing that's rare. I think not many people in the entire world can find someone like that. It's a really, really awesome thing. Also, a lot of our humor has sort of evolved together, and I've found myself becoming less mature thanks to Tee.”

Green, meanwhile, says, “I met Calvin eight years ago, when I was very different. I was sort of finding my place in the world comedically and as a person. And if I had not met Calvin my sophomore year of college, I for sure know I would not be where I am right now. I don't think I'd have a partner that I love that I'm moving in with. I definitely wouldn't have Haus of Ruckus.

“Ever since I was very young,” she continues, “I've always had wild creative projects in my head, but I would never get to the point that I would do anything with them. And Calvin, being someone who works very hard, is effectively a Swiss army knife of a person – in many, many different theatrical areas, but also just in general. Calvin does the posters, he does the sounds, he does the puppets, he keeps my writing 'good,' … What I produce by myself will look very different, and will probably look like a toddler made it. He's like a motorcycle and I'm a unicycle.

“But just as a person, he's one of few people who knows me in the sense that there are things I struggle with and things that are difficult for me. Calvin really pays attention to those things and tries to help with them, or at least make me aware of them. And he's also played a huge part in me sort of being a recovering people pleaser as opposed to a full-out people pleaser. You maybe wouldn't know it from seeing him on stage, but he lives his life loud, and he makes me louder as a person.”

At that point, there's a meaningful mini-pause in our phone conversation. Vo finally breaks it, and with a perfectly Ruckus-ian retort:

“You're welcome.”

Haus of Ruckus Live! will be performed – live! – in St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center on September 27, admission to the 7:34 p.m. production is $15, and more information and tickets are available by calling the SAU box office at (563)333-6251 and visiting Haus of Ruckus on Facebook and Instagram.