Laura Hall
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Laura Hall is an American musician. She began her musical career in Chicago, where she worked as pianist for various theater and improvisational companies, including The Second City and the Improv Institute. Hall is best known for her role as band leader / pianist on the improvisational comedy television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Beyond this role, Hall has also recorded a number of children's records, as well as Christian rock worship music. Hall has also participated in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, and Drew Carey And The Improv Allstars. She is married to former Second City mainstage actor Rick Hall. They have two children.
[edit] Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Many of the sketches on Whose Line Is It Anyway? include music, and there have been a number of musicians during the run of the show. On the original BBC Radio series, the music was provided by Colin Sell, but when the show migrated to Channel 4 Richard Vranch took over the job. Richard Vranch did not move with the show to the U.S., in fact during the final series of the UK show which was filmed in America, Hall made her first appearance on the show. Hall continued as musician in the first season of the U.S. show on her own, but in the second season onwards other musicians were added to attempt to "jazz up" that section of the show. Often joining Hall was multi-talented musician Linda Taylor, and on occasion other musicians were added such as Anna Wanselius, Cece Worral-Rubin, Anne King, and Candy Girard. The sketches "Greatest Hits", "Hoedown", and "Song Styles" are amongst the most popular, and rely heavily on music. Hall and her fellow musicians have a task as challenging as the actors. In the games "Greatest Hits" and "Song Styles", for instance, they must come up with different song styles on the spot, and they must also work with the other musicians and the actors to make the scene work. The skits involving music are also challenging for the participants, because they have to keep up with the music while simultaneously making something up off the top of their heads. Film Segments featuring Hall's music include:
- Bartender: A performer approaches the bartender and sings about a prescribed topic, while the bartender (another performer) replies in song. Typically, the first performer is mad at something, the second is sad about something, and the third is in love with something.
- Hoedown: The four performers individually sing a hoedown about a given subject, with each contestant forming one of the four stanzas. (The British version also used a related game, Gospel, in which the four performers sing a gospel music song.) The performers were often struggling to create stanzas and their stanzas frequently insult each other, the Hoedown itself, the host, or a combination of the three.
- Irish Drinking Song: The four performers must sing an Irish drinking song one line at a time about a given subject. (Four verses are sung in alternating lines, usually of seven and five syllables; in each verse, a different performer begins the verse.) Occasionally, another musician, either on a fiddle or a recorder, would join Hall as she provided the music.
- Scene to Rap: All four performers must enact a scene, rapping throughout.
- Song Styles: One performer (almost always Wayne Brady) sings a song in a style provided by the host about an audience member or about a subject provided by the audience. (Sometimes, the rest of the cast provide backup vocals or dancing.) Variations on the game include:
- Duet: two performers perform the song together as a duet, alternating verses or stanzas.
- African Chant: same as Song Styles, except that the style is always an African chant. There is constant joking about the fact that the other performers, all caucasian, would be his backup (one time being referred to as "Wayne and the crackers").
- Motown Group: three performers sing a motown style song about a subject provided by the audience, usually a profession, hence the song takes the form "do the (profession)". The performers usually sing a verse each while the other two provide backup, with wayne beginning and then singing a final verse
- Doo-wop: similar to "Motown group" except songs are sung in the style of a 50's "Doo-wop" group, and are usually sung about a name suggested by the audience. When Colin is part of the game, he usually sings his verse as a lower pitched bridge with a different rhythm
- Three-Headed Broadway Star: Three performers sing a song in the style of a broadway showtune. Each performer sings one word at a time.
- Greatest Hits
- Narrate: Two performers act out a scene with pauses to provide a narration for the scene, all to the sound of suspenseful film noir piano music.
