Orlando's Christian Kelty has a 'Story' or two to tell

Everybody has a story, and Christian Kelty believes that each person's story deserves to be heard.

Kelty spent more than 12 years curating his original concept Story, a live and immersive multimedia improv show that has taken over the BSide room at Ten10 Brewing Co. for four nights only, with one added encore show. The first three performances of Story were in March, and the "final" show takes place on Thursday, April 4, with an encore on Thursday, April 11.

But what exactly is the Story here? Kelty explains its meaning resides in the eye of the beholder — or the evening's audience — and is "a story that incorporates everything that the audience shares from their life and their life experiences."

The interactive show that took over a decade to make was inspired by other interactive events in Brooklyn, New York.

"The audience gets to contribute to the show by sharing their points of view, or experiences on whatever subjects we're talking about; so when it came to Story, I wanted to take that idea and kind of expand on it," Kelty says. "In my mind, I was thinking about 'What are the artistic disciplines and what would happen if you brought those artistic disciplines together in a sort of freeform improv kind of way?'"

To that end, Story is its own form of never-before-seen improv, different from previous forays like his own Joe's NYC Bar, according to Kelty.

"There are formats [of improv] where you get questions from the audience, or 'name a place, name a time,' but that's not what we do," Kelty says. "I've been doing this theater game for a long, long time, and I say this with absolutely no ego: Nobody's ever seen anything like what we're doing."

The show's twist is that it isn't just audience-based improv. It is a display of different mediums paired with moments that are shared by the audience. Story features live art from Banky, Michelina, Jester Cordell, DJ Nigel John and Kelty — each artist in their own unique discipline.

"Whatever it is that you enjoy artistically, it's there for you to experience," says Kelty. Disciplines that are part of the show include painting, DJing, spoken word, dance and plenty of music.

When choosing artists to help bring his vision to life, Kelty says he didn't have a hard time finding the perfect candidates. He says that he was very familiar with the work of each before bringing them onto his project, making it a "no-brainer" for them to share his stage.

"We have five performers on stage that are completely different artistic disciplines, but all fearless and all kind of connected to the larger point of what we're doing," Kelty says. "That's what the Story is about, taking all those things that we experience, day in and day out, from lifetime to lifetime, and giving them a place to live and breathe. I think the other thing that all of these people have in common is that they're fucking fearless."

Kelty believes that "there is a spiritual nature to this show" that is felt when collaborating with both fellow performers and the audience members.

So, what's your story? Maybe you'll find it here.