Second City Archives - Chicago Reader

Cover of new edition of Something Wonderful Right Away by Jeffrey Sweet on left, and a photo of the author standing by a window on the right

Something Wonderful once again

by Jack Helbig July 11, 2023July 11, 2023

First published in 1978, Jeffrey Sweet’s Something Wonderful Right Away, an oral history of the Second City, and its precursor, the Compass Players, has inspired generations of comic actors and improvisors to try to become part of the Second City or to create their own theater to rival Second City—or both. Ask any prominent contemporary […]

Five actors stand in a line onstage for Second City's mainstage.

Theater Review

Daydream believers

by Kerry Reid June 14, 2023September 7, 2023

The less political Second City tries to be, the more effective they are. At least, that’s the conclusion I’ve come to after seeing last year’s stellar mainstage revue, Do the Right Thing, No Worries If Not, followed by their latest, Don’t Quit Your Daydream. Don’t Quit Your Daydream Open run: Tue-Thu 8 PM, Fri-Sat 7 […]

Two men are shown onstage, tied up together with rope while sitting on chairs. The man on the left is Black and wears green fatigue pants, a brown T-shirt, a long white shirt, and boots. The man on the right is white and wears tan fatigues, boots, and a blue work shirt.

Theater Review

Army tales

by Dmitry Samarov April 15, 2023April 15, 2023

Jonah Saesan and LanDis Frederick are veterans of two different branches of the U.S. armed forces. After being discharged in 2015, they started processing their experiences in the military through sketch comedy, which has culminated in their first two-person show. Lasting 60 minutes, the program covers topics such as the difficulty of forming meaningful friendships […]

Six Black performers stand onstage at UP Comedy Club. Two men in the center face each other as if they are in a dance-off, with two other performers on the left and two on the right looking on, gesturing and cheering.

Theater Review

Dance party, comedy extravaganza

by Cristalle Bowen March 15, 2023March 15, 2023

WTF is Black Joy, anyway? Rob Wilson aims to get into specifics with his Second City directorial debut, Dance Like There Are Black People Watching: A Black Excellence Revue. Second City has long been revered for being an improvisational comedian factory: many comics sharpen their steel within the hallowed halls and go on to have […]

Pictured are side-by-side headshots of two Black women, both leaders of theater companies in Chicago. On the left is Charlique Rolle of Congo Square. She is wearing black, and is seated with her hands clasped in her lap. She is smiling. On the right is Myesha-Tiara of Perceptions Theatre. She is wearing an orange top.

Arts & Culture

The strength of community

by Sheri Flanders January 25, 2023January 27, 2023

At the end of September 2020, I wrote a piece for the Reader titled “Black artistic leaders take charge at several Chicago theaters,” which framed the influx of new (and preexisting) Black leadership in Chicago theater against the backdrop of a historic disruption in the industry. That disruption was powered in part by COVID-19 leading […]

Marissa Lynn Ford, a Black woman, is photographed outside in front of a wall of greenery. She is wearing a patterned blouse with orange, black, and light green colors.

Ghost Light

Marissa Lynn Ford takes the wheel at the League of Chicago Theatres

by Kerry Reid September 23, 2022September 23, 2022

Amid the tidal wave of turnovers at theaters large and small in Chicago the last two years, we also learned this past February that Deb Clapp, the longtime executive director for the League of Chicago Theatres, was stepping away from her job in June. Last week, the League announced her successor: Marissa Lynn Ford, recently […]

Two photos. On the left a young white man in a gray sweater sits on the floor. A white woman in a burgundy dress kneels behind him, embracing him. The photo on the left is of playwright James Sherman, an older white man in a blue suit, shirt, and tie. He has graying darker hair.

Arts & Culture

Chagall’s Camelot

by Jack Helbig August 31, 2022August 31, 2022

James Sherman began his career as an actor; he joined the Second City in the 70s, while he was still a student at Illinois State, appearing in the shows Once More With Fooling and East of Edens with the likes of George Wendt, Tim Kazurinsky, and Miriam Flynn. But starting with his 1982 backstage play, […]

Five cast members of Second Cityu stand onstage in a row. From left, a Black woman, a nonbinary white person, a Black man, a Filipino man, a white woman, and a white man. They are in purple lighting, striking "vogue"-type poses

Theater Review

The political is personal

by Kerry Reid June 15, 2022June 15, 2022

Like the rest of the world, Second City has been through its share of upheavals in the past two years. Longtime owner, CEO, and executive producer Andrew Alexander stepped down in June 2020 in the wake of increasing public allegations about institutional racism at the comedy powerhouse. Anthony LeBlanc stepped in as interim executive director, […]

A diverse group of five actors stand embracing in front of a panel of purple lights.

Arts & Culture

Musical makeover

by Kimzyn Campbell June 9, 2022June 16, 2022

If you spend any time breathing, you may have noticed polarities everywhere these days, most emanating from a belief gulf that is exponentially widening between conservatives and liberals with every Twitter post. One polarity being heightened not just in social media, but also in government chambers and around dinner tables, is the divide between LGBTQ+ […]

Woman in red short-sleeved dress, with long curly brown hair, stands outside under light green foliage from trees.

Arts & Culture

Ana Silva’s ready to cast a big shadow

by Boutayna Chokrane March 30, 2022April 4, 2022

Ana Silva is the type to celebrate Groundhog Day. On a January morning, over Zoom, Silva recounts how she “asked off work” for the woodchuck festivities. She and her boyfriend, actor Andrew Jessop, are driving to Woodstock, where the 1993 classic Groundhog Day was filmed. Next on the list is a groundhog-themed pub crawl followed […]