Second City: The First Review

The old saying “It will all come together at show time” seems to have rung true once again.

The show, or as Second City called it “Demonstration”, went great! I really couldn’t have been more proud of all the classes that I saw today, including my own. Everybody did a really great job, even for 11:30 a.m.

The day started out with most of my classmates and me hanging out in the Main Stage bar. You enter the Second City Main Stage via an entrance on Wells. The downstairs lobby is almost empty with a small glass counter filled with books and T-Shirts. The walls are natural brick covered with photographs and posters. A black metal stairway leads you up to the second floor and The Main Stage Bar.

The Main Stage Bar area is also small with an old wooden bar stretching for about 15 feet. The walls are covered with black and white pictures of previous Second City Alumni on stage and performing. It’s amazing to see some of these now well known and respected personalities captured in their youth during various silly sketches. Behind the bar are larger poster sized photos of some of the more famous Second City Alumni. As you can imagine, most of us were pretty excited and the anticipation was easily read on all of our faces.

3 Level C classes all performed today, with Level D’s and E shows happening later in the day. Many of the students brought family and friends, and once inside the theater not a single seat was left empty. I was surprised to see so many people at the event. My guess was that there would be 8 people all scattered throughout the room, similar to a Tuesday open mic night at the corner tavern, coughing amidst long silent pauses. Such was not the case, as around 300 seats were filled with encouraging smiles.

My class was scheduled third, leaving us the daunting task of standing up to the first classes’ performances. As expected, the first two classes really did a great job, setting the bar high for our turn.

We headed back through the kitchen during the ending of the 2nd classes final game. I was quick to joke that most great careers start in the kitchen, and several of my classmates agreed. We paused in the kitchen amongst the stainless silver work spaces and various plastic crates filled with old water goblets and beer glasses. A man, who’s name I can’t remember, dark bushy hair and an overgrown Go-T, introduced himself as our acting stage manager and began his generic speech about respecting the backstage area and various props that we might find. He then led us into adjoining backstage area.

Backstage at Second City is tiny and reminiscent of an untidy dorm room. The smells of the kitchen fill the area along with some smoke from the main room. The walls are painted a flat blue and actors have written odd quotes and expressions in large permanent marker in the more open areas. A very small round table is against the wall, two small folding chairs along side of it, with some bobby pins and an ashtray on top. Promotional photographs are thumb tacked into the available wood and it’s easy to see that this place is proud of its history. My 12 classmates gathered into the crowded room and awaited our final instructions.

2 minutes until show time. We can hear the final game echo from the main stage as our host instructs us on the entrance and exit areas that we will use for our turn. Everybody is very excited. They look at our host eyes with great intent, but don't hear a thing he is saying. Nick, the tallest in the class remarks for a “Sweat Check” as he wipes a handkerchief upon his brow, double checking in the old wooden mirror that hangs near by. Several of us followed his suggestion as we walked up the small wooden steps to the stage and our first performance.

I walked out of the dark and into the bright lights of the Second City Main Stage. The stage is shorter than you might think. 3 fake doorways with red velvet curtains line the backdrop. 2 rows of stairs line the entire width of the stage and make for an excellent place for us to stand and await our introductions. You can see the people in the first 3 rows, everyone past that point is just washed out in the spotlights. We begin our show.

Looking back at the first performance its easy to understand why The Second City has such a proud history in Chicago. The teachers are passionate and their methods sound. With only 6 months of training each and every student performed well and entertained the audience. It’s not an easy thing to walk up on stage without a script or set list and entertain 300 people, but thanks to the excellent work of the faculty and the hard passionate work of the students, it worked.

I can’t wait to do it again.