Every genre of performance is influenced by physical surroundings, but improvisational comedy in the wrong theater space can die the most horrible of deaths. That’s the current fate of the talented group of performers who make up “An Evening With The Second City,” on view at the South Shore Cultural Center.
Performed by a cast composed of African-Americans and Latinos, this show is part of Second City’s effort to reach out to neighborhoods and communities. But a South Side version of Second City won’t survive in this kind of environment.
Instead of duplicating the necessary intimacy and hip showbiz glamor of the Wells Street locale, this production is performed in a big auditorium with such terrible acoustics that it seems like folks are shouting into a big mass of cotton wool. Add poor lighting, a stage reminiscent of high school, and a huge piano that serves mainly to get in the way, and the odds against the performers escalate to impossible dimensions. Granted, last Friday night’s paying crowd was minuscule, and other shows have reportedly been much better attended. But it would take a veritable army of theatergoers to give this room any comedic atmosphere.
It’s especially unfortunate because this group of performers are all very talented: standout John Hildreth is a longtime veteran of the ETC company; the distinctive Martin Garcia already has revealed himself to be every bit as good as the troupe’s mainstage performers; and Frances Callier is a likable and intelligent onstage presence.
Much of the material here will be familiar to anyone who saw “Soul Front,” Second City’s previous outreach effort on the North Side. And there are also a number of classic sketches from the Second City archives, given intriguing new slants when played by actors of a different ethnic heritage. This is mainly very funny material ably performed: highlights include a spelling bee run by a racist; a bar scene spoofing homophobia; and assorted classic improv games. Director Aaron Freeman takes a traditional approach but infuses the affair with energetic spirit.
But because this was not a new revue devised for this particular time and place, there’s a lack of current material in the show. Nor are there many vignettes zeroing in on the lives and worries of a predominantly African-American audience.
Second City could play a vital role on the South Side. But it needs at least some of the accouterments of the main stage — the right atmosphere, new work, a space suited to the art. If audiences are expected in large numbers, it will all have to be done right.
———-
“An Evening With The Second City,”
When: Through May 10
Where: South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Drive
Phone: 312-747-2580
