Brian Kahn Talks Charlotte Squawks 17th Incarnation

Table Of Content

• Q & A with Charlotte Squawks creators Mike Collins and Brian Kahn
• Local businesses preparing for the Lovin’ Life Music Fest
• How did you spend your spare time before you developed the idea for Squawks?
• Event Showings
• Charlotte Squawks Returns to Booth Playhouse This June!
• Events & CLE Learn More
• Event Description

Brian Kahn is the principal writer, although I write the monologue and contribute some songs and lyrics — which he completely changes. We keep lists of topics all year and start in October or November with preliminary discussions about what we think may make the show. The real writing begins in mid to late February.

Q & A with Charlotte Squawks creators Mike Collins and Brian Kahn

Brian Kahn is a commercial litigation partner with McGuireWoods’ Charlotte office who also happens to write and co-produce an annual musical parody show, Charlotte Squawks, now in its 17th year. For those who haven’t seen it, Charlotte Squawks pokes fun at politics and culture, especially focused on recent local news and events. The name “Charlotte Squawks” is itself a play on WFAE’s long-running show, Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Collins acts as Charlotte Squawks’ host and performs in many of the musical numbers. Kahn writes lyrics for parodies of famous songs, including those from musicals and radio hits.

Local businesses preparing for the Lovin’ Life Music Fest

As it is, we usually have to change lyrics or add and subtract songs and topics from our list even after rehearsals start because of the fluid nature of events. This is the only regularly produced original show in Charlotte and the only original musical. The script we hand the cast at the first rehearsal changes substantially by the time we open and beyond.

How did you spend your spare time before you developed the idea for Squawks?

Think of it as Broadway meets Saturday Night Live meets Charlotte. It hosts a variety of dance, choral and other musical ensembles, as well as meetings, seminars and workshops. Bring your pre-purchased parking pass with you to the show and exchange for an exit pass or purchase your exit pass at the box office or parking stations at the show.

Event Showings

We started as a fund raiser for WTVI so we kept expenses to a minimum. It was a one weekend show and we spent as little as possible on it. The show that year and for the next several years was basically a night club show. Several years later, Blumenthal Performing Arts began producing the show and moved us from Spirit Square's McGlohon Theatre to the Booth Playhouse in Founder's Hall. That move – from a venue more suited for intimate music events to a legitimate theatre with fly space and a big stage – has allowed us to up the production values.

You’ll either love the show or leave saying…”Dang you Charlotte Squawks! ” The best advice for first timers, “Sit back relax and wait for your turn,” Kahn said. Collins is an original cast member, part of a team of characters who turned a Queen City fundraiser into a squawking success. “Years ago it was a fundraiser for a local television station and we didn’t raise any money, in fact they lost money, but the show was good so we kept the show going,” Collins explained. The show, which features topics from politics to pop culture, is playing at the Booth Playhouse at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

I would love for them to write comedy if that’s what they want to do. I would like them to write complete sentences with properly conjugated verbs first, though. We chatted with Squawks’ co-creator (along with WFAE’s Mike Collins) Brian Kahn, lawyer by day/comedy writer by night, about the history of the show and what audiences can expect this year. Broadway meets "Saturday Night Live" meets Charlotte in this musical parody. Matt (Olin) and Tim (Miner) have helped out with generating ideas and writing for the videos the last two years. John Merrick and Jay Thomas do most of the video shooting and editing, and their creativity is pretty amazing as well.

'Charlotte Squawks' is now playing at the Booth Playhouse The show, which features topics from politics to pop culture, is playing at the Booth Playhouse at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Click the calendar icon below to add the event to your calendar. Well, that was 20 years and four kids ago, so I’m not sure I actually remember. I used to draw political cartoons and was in an a cappella group and musical theater in college … so you can imagine I have always been super cool.

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Event Description

This is all pulled off by an incredibly talented cast – in fact, a former Charlotte Squawks performer is now on Broadway. The show also includes two “news” segments along the lines of what you’d see on Saturday Night Live and video parodies of TV commercials, sometimes featuring local politicians. “It is a comedy, it is a satire about all things Charlotte. It’s kinda like Saturday Night live meets Broadway because it’s a musical number and they are all songs you know, we just changed the words,” Collins said. Head writer Brian Kahn knows exactly how to twist those words to bring the house down.

We weren't exactly sure how far we could go or how much we could take our local public figures to task. Early criticism of the show was that we didn't push the envelope enough so we gradually started crossing lines. The response has been overwhelmingly favorable to that approach. There's nothing quite like it so when a newcomer becomes part of the cast, they sometimes have this shell shocked look in their eyes for the first several weeks. Mike Collins, Charlotte Squawks host and co-creator , and host of the popular morning discussion show Charlotte Talks on WFAE, took some time to talk to us about the show, how it's put together, and how it's evolved since its inception.

I guess some clients could see it as a sign that I can come up with creative solutions or be good with a jury? Of course, my material might also be a reason why the My Pillow guy won’t hire me. I mean, there are still some people that think that other guy won, right? We might have a song medley about those folks based on the Broadway show Avenue Q. Actually, there was a lot of material that we had planned for the show last summer (16 Scandals) that ended up being too stale, so we had to scrap it. In fact, only two numbers survived from our last planned show, both with substantial revisions.

It actually changes in small and sometimes big ways from night to night so the actors, musicians and technical staff have to be flexible and ready for anything. The hilarious CHARLOTTE SQUAWKS returns with THE 11TH GLOWER, playing at Booth Playhouse at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center for 17 performances June 5-28, 2015. This musical parody pokes fun at Charlotte and the nation with uproarious performances featuring original lyrics set to well-known songs. In answer to your question about WFAE, I was going to say that is never a consideration but really, it is.  Mostly in the tone of what we do. Although these two endeavors are not connected I do have a reputation to protect so the tone of what we parody can sometimes reflect that. Also, the show has grown in terms of its production values.

I asked Kahn how his litigation practice has helped his work on the show. He said that careful writing and editing is very important to putting together Charlotte Squawks and is something he does every day in his law practice. He also noted that time management skills and learning how to work under deadlines are things that absolutely have helped with getting the production ready each year. We also started adding video segments a few years ago with former Mayor Pat McCrory opening the show on video the first and second years and then having him inserted into one of the numbers he was the subject of last year. There has always been a video component in terms of slides which we have enhanced this year by the addition of three more screens and more video during the show. “We were very afraid in the beginning of making the slightest bit of fun of anybody in Charlotte and we found in time that the meaner we got, the better people liked it,” Collins said.

It’s “Saturday Night Live” meets Broadway meets our beloved Queen City! Celebrating the 14th edition of Squawks, the creative team of Mike Collins and Brian Kahn collaborate with the area's most talented performers to make fun of pop-culture, sports, life and politics – both local and national. Charlotte Squawks is an annual comedy stage show poking fun at politics, pop culture, sports and all things Charlotte through satire and musical parodies. The creative team of Mike Collins and Brian Kahn collaborate with the area’s most talented singers, dancers and actors to parody pop culture, politics, sports and our beloved Queen City. Rehearsals help the team figure out what works, and the cast members make suggestions, and, of course, news continues to happen, which means Kahn keeps editing and writing even during the course of the run. Kahn says finding the pictures that pop up on the screens around the stage to accompany the songs and news jokes also takes a surprising amount of time.

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We go into rehearsal in mid to late April so we don't want to start too early because we want to remain topical. The triplets are 14, and their little brother is 10. They seem to favor fart jokes and, sadly, that’s a very limited part of Squawks.

At nine years, Charlotte Squawks is one of the longest running shows annual shows in Charlotte. Part musical theater, part roast, the Blumenthal show continues to evolve with each year. Groups of 40+ receive one (1) complimentary ticket.