PORTLAND, Maine — In addition to being a member of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Leisa Rea is also a professional comedian, and it turns out that the latter gig has served her well with the former.
With comedy and improvisation, “You’ve got to be quick on your feet,” she said. “You never know what’s going to be coming at you from the audience. Normally it’s polite things, like applause and the odd heckle. But it’s good to be ready for anything.”
The same goes for a musical performance. “One of the things we have to do as we’re sitting in a our semi-circle in our suits with our ukuleles is really listen to one another,” she said. “You can’t be in your own bubble. So I find comedy really helps ... we kind of cross-chat as well as chat with the audience.”
By now you may be wondering, what is the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain? And is it a joke or serious?
The short answers are that it’s an ensemble that plays delightful covers of everything from Beethoven to David Bowie, performing them with such wit and élan that it has become a beloved institution around the world. The orchestra will play tomorrow evening at Merrill Auditorium in Portland.
To really get a sense of what the orchestra is all about, watch our interview with Rea and her colleague Ben Rouse. Fair warning, though: Once you start watching videos of the orchestra, you may go down a rabbit hole and not come back out for an hour or two.