Second City 50th Anniversary Weekend December 11th-13th

[semisorick]

http://secondcity.com/news.php?id=1186

Friday, December 11th, 2009

7:00 & 10:00pm:

LIVE PERFORMANCE: "The SCTV Cast Reunion" - Starring Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Martin Short and Dave Thomas (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $175-$750)

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

10:00am:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "The Colbert Report" - Featuring Stephen Colbert, writers Peter Grosz and Peter Gwinn as well as co-Executive Producer Tom Purcell (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)	SOLD OUT!
10:00am:	SCREENING: "The First Cast with Bernie Sahlins" - Bernie Sahlins will lead a moderated panel/screening featuring scenes from the 1961 tape and conversation with original cast members including Alan Arkin, Mina Kolb and Paul Sand. (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $15)
10:00am:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "A Talk with David Shepherd" - Compass Theatre co-founder David Shepherd is interviewed by Jonathan Pitts of the Chicago Improv Festival to discuss the origins of The Second City's work at the Compass (Donny's Skybox Studio Theatre - Tickets $15)
11:30am:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "SCTV" - Featuring Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara and Dave Thomas (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)	SOLD OUT!
12:00pm:	SCREENING: "The Legacy of Paul Sills" - Vince Waldron presents clips from his Paul Sills documentary and moderates a panel including Carol Sills, Shelley Berman, Paul Sand, Melinda Dillon, Dick Schaal and Richard Libertini (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $15)
1:00pm:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "Voices of Diversity at The Second City" -Featuring Chicago's own Aaron Freeman, Keegan Michael Key of "MAD TV" and "Gary Unmarried," Angela Shelton and Frances Callier of "Frangela," Suzy Nakamura of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The West Wing" as well as current Second City resident company actors Christina Anthony and Anthony LeBlanc (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)
2:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "The Jeff Garlin Combo Platter" - Featuring Jeff Garlin, Robert Klein and Fred Willard (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $25)
2:30pm:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "Second City and the State of the Sitcom" - Featuring Scott Adsit, Kay Cannon, Liz Cackowski and Jack McBrayer of "30 Rock," Peter Murrieta Executive Producer of "The Wizards of Waverly Place" and more (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)
7:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "The Second City Alumni: One Night Only" - Presented in both our Mainstage and e.t.c. Theatres, the revues will feature alumni from every generation performing classic scenes from The Second City archives. The list of alumni slated to return to the theatre is still growing, but currently includes such former Second Citizens as Scott Adsit, Jim Belushi, Danny Breen, Frank Caeti, Larry Joe Campbell, Steve Carell, Dan Castellaneta, Stephen Colbert, Kevin Dorff, Robin Duke, Brian Gallivan, Martin Garcia, Jeff Garlin, Ian Gomez, Peter Grosz, Mike Hagerty, Isabella Hoffman, Bruce Jarchow, Fred Kaz, Tim Kazurinsky, Keegan Michael Key, Richard Kind, Robert Klein, David Koechner, Mina Kolb, Bob Martin, Jack McBrayer, Susan Messing, Colin Mochrie, Maribeth Monroe, Jane Morris, Bob Odenkirk, David Pasquesi, Harold Ramis, David Rasche, Horatio Sanz, Jim Staahl, Betty Thomas, Nia Vardalos, George Wendt, Fred Willard and many, many more (The Second City Mainstage and e.t.c. Theatres - Tickets $125)
8:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "Women Fully Clothed" - Toronto alumni troupe featuring Kathryn Greenwood, Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood and Teresa Pavlinek (Donny's Skybox Theatre - Tickets $25)
10:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "All Girl Revue"- Los Angeles based troupe featuring Edie McClurg, Jane Morris, Dee Ryan, Ruth Rudnick, Kathleen Campbell and Mary Wachtel (Donny's Skybox Theatre - Tickets $20)

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

10:00am:	SCREENING: "Second to None" - A newly edited version of the documentary that followed the process of creating the classic revue "Paradigm Lost," featuring Scott Adsit, Kevin Dorff, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Jenna Jolovitz, Jim Zulevic and Mick Napier (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $10)
12:00pm:	SCREENING: "Improv Legends" - A new documentary by Second City alum Marc Warzecha featuring interviews with Andrew Alexander, Mick Napier, Sheldon Patinkin, David Shepherd, George Wendt, Fred Willard and more (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $10)
1:00pm:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "Second City: From Stage to Screen" - Featuring Jim Belushi, Betty Thomas, Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk of "Mr. Show," Dan Castellaneta and Harold Ramis (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)
2:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "Women Fully Clothed" - Featuring Kathryn Greenwood, Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood and Teresa Pavlinek (Donny's Skybox Theatre - Tickets $25)
2:00pm:	SCREENING: "From the Vault" - A mixed bag of rare Second City footage featuring such alumni as Bill Murray, Bonnie Hunt, Fred Willard, Mike Myers, Ryan Stiles, Chris Farley and more (The Second City e.t.c. Theatre - Tickets $10)
2:30pm:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "Saturday Night Live" - Featuring SNL alums Tim Kazurinsky, Horatio Sanz and Rachel Dratch as well as current SNL staff writer John Lutz (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)
4:00pm:	PANEL DISCUSSION: "Second City in the Sixties" - Featuring Alan Arkin, Fred Willard, Robert Klein, David Steinberg, original cast member Mina Kolb along with Second City co-founder Bernie Sahlins and Artistic Consultant Sheldon Patinkin (The Second City Mainstage Theatre - Tickets $25)
4:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "All Girl Revue" - Featuring Edie McClurg, Jane Morris, Dee Ryan, Ruth Rudnick, Kathleen Campbell and Mary Wachtel (Donny's Skybox Theatre - Tickets $20)
6:00pm:	LIVE PERFORMANCE: "Switchboard" - Featuring Deb Downing, Rebecca Sohn and Jean Villepique (Donny's Skybox Theatre - Tickets $20)

[semisorick]

I can't believe the absurd price for the SCTV performance.

[JPSpaulding]

I cant believe the alumni show is sold out already, oh wait yes I can.

[semisorick]

It was a total clusterfuck to attempt to get tickets. The online ticketing wouldn't work and the phone lines were constantly busy. I can't imagine how many people were in the same position I was.

[JPSpaulding]

I've been looking at stubhub and ebay with no results yet.

[Umlaut]

PANEL DISCUSSION: "Second City: From Stage to Screen" - Featuring Jim Belushi, Betty Thomas, Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk of "Mr. Show," Dan Castellaneta and Harold Ramis

I heard David is in a fight with Bob about agreeing to share a stage with Jim.

[J.B.]

Just announced! iO show with a bunch of the Second City alum Dec. 11... this'll be a lot of fun for those of us who can't afford those SC shows.

Very excited to see Kevin Dorff and Dave Koechner again, and very very excited to see Mr. Stack!

***HUGE DECEMBER 11th ALUMNI SHOW (9:30 PM-DCT)
Second City's Birthday has been amazing for iO. They are flying in all the alumni for their special weekend. But Friday Night, since the SCTV reunion is totally sold out, the alumni want to do something together instead of watching the SCTV SHOW on closed circuit tv. So some of the best improvisers in the world will be doing a number of shows here beginning at 9:30. (Blaine gave up his Improvised Shakespeare slot at 10:30 that night so this could happen-another impressive family member). Some of the players include the Beer Shark Mice guys, (Koechner and Flynn). Joel Murray and his group will perform a show lovingly called iO LD SCHOOL. The Conan O Brien writers, Brian Stack and Kevin Dorff will be performing as well. There will probably be others from the Second City alumni joining as they are all friends and they are opening the invitation to others. I probably wont mention everyone coming because I dont want to cause chaos nor do I want to take away from Second City's big night. (Even tho they are sold out anyway). We will do a special Armando with the old guard and invite some of our current iO members to join them. Trust me -this will be a big night. No one is sure how late it will go but it will be amazing. Get tickets now before the public finds out. Tim Meadows who will undoubtedly be there too, will also be doing another UNCLES BROTHER that following Sunday Night (13th).

[percykittens]

hey, thanks!

[thecomedian]

i wish i could be at the festivities.

[andrearunge]

Who went to this? I want all the details and pictures. All of it.

[percykittens]

I went to the iO alumni show mentioned above.
All I can say is this: Koechner, Kevin Dorff, Brian Stack, and JON GLASER all performing on the same stage. Amazing.

[Hated Milk Machine]

Originally Posted by percykittens

I went to the iO alumni show mentioned above.
All I can say is this: Koechner, Kevin Dorff, Brian Stack, and JON GLASER all performing on the same stage. Amazing.

Elaborate! Tell more! I could've gone to this and missed it because I'm a dumb person.

[J.B.]

First up was iOldsters, which was Joel Murray, Isabella Hofmann, Joe Liss, Ken Cambell, and a bunch of others. They performed some straight-up long form and were all quite good, with Joe Liss really standing out.

Then was Beer Shark Mice, with all the regular BSM folks plus Kevin Dorff and Brian Stack and some other folks. Everyone was brilliant. The most memorable thing for me was Brian Stack as Jesus's droopy, milquetoast brother.

Finally was an Armando with about half of the earlier performers, lots of current brilliant iO folk (Jet, Blaine, TJ, Tim Baltz, etc), and Jon Glaser. Jimmy Corriane was the monologist. Prompted by a memory of a racist aunt from Corriane, Glaser started the show off with a scene with more n-bombs than a three hour set from Dave Chapelle. A theme of racism re-occured throughout. Some of the Armando was brilliant, and, again, everyone was great. For me, Tim Baltz stood out.

And I was so so tired that I ended up going home immediately to sleep - I kicked myself later for not going up to Mr. Stack to say hello.

[BrianStack]

Thanks a lot for coming out to see us, Percy and J.B. I'm glad you both enjoyed the show.

I had a great time performing with all those old friends again, but I probably should have bailed out after the "Beer Shark Mice" show like Neil Flynn did. I had a good time in the later "Armando" show, but I had absolutely no energy left for that one. It was still a lot of fun to watch scenes from the side, though.

It was a real honor to finally meet the great Fred Kaz that night, and to watch performers like Joe Liss, Jill Talley, and Joel Murray, all of whom were big inspirations for me when I was just starting out in Chicago. Joe Liss, in particular, is one of my all-time favorite improvisers and I still remember moments from his improv scenes at Second City back when he was on Mainstage and I was a student in the Training Center. Great to see Isabella Hoffman improvise for the first time, too. I've always thought she was a great actress, and I especially loved her work on "Homicide". It was really nice of her and the others to hang out for our Beer Shark Mice show.

I'll look for you next time I'm at I.O.-Chicago, J.B.

Thanks again, guys.

Brian

[dan telfer]

I can't believe I had to miss all this, especially now that I'm teaching there and could have seen pretty much every show. Arg! Sounds so amazing.

[angryrobot]

This was all filmed and will be released on dvd right? RIGHT? Holy shit, why this didn't garner national network attention boggles my mind. SNL wouldn't even exist if not for Second City and yet they get an anniversary show - what are they up to two per year at this point? Here's an article from today's NY Times that shows a clip of Steven Colbert doing improv as an old black woman.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/arts/16second.html?hp

[BrianStack]

angryrobot,

Last Saturday night's show was indeed shot on video by a professional crew. I assume it will be available on DVD at some point, but I honestly don't know for sure.

It was really amazing to see that Colbert/Carell scene, "Maya", again with the original cast. Believe it or not, that final scripted scene was improvised almost word-for-word the first night they did it back in the early 90's. Unbelievable.

Another big highlight that evening for me was seeing Paul Sand doing his classic 1961 Second City scene, "Phono Pal", with Colbert providing the voice of the guy on the phonograph record that Eugene Troobnik originally provided. That scene holds up beautifully after 48 years, and it was really inspiring to watch.