THE SECOND CITY RETURNS TO THE REP WITH A BRAND NEW SHOW!
The Second City art by Gary Wayne Golden. 9/19/2006

The marquee touring show by the legendary comedy troupe, The Second City’s Truth, Justice or The American Way features comic takes on everything from current events to relationships, politics and family life. This smart and silly show includes improv based on audience suggestions, scenework and original material performed by the current generation of the comedy world’s best and brightest new talent.

“The Second City has proven to be wildly popular with our audiences. We’re thrilled to welcome them back to Little Rock for their fourth appearance at The Rep,” said Robert Hupp, producing artistic director. “Current events being what they are, The Second City’s new show promises to be very entertaining.”

A “comedy empire” that has launched the careers of numerous well-known comedians, The Second City started in a converted Chinese laundry on Chicago’s north side in 1959. It now has theatres and training centers in Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas and Denver, with additional training centers in New York City and Los Angeles. The organization’s touring troupes have included some of the comedy world’s best and brightest, including Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, John Belushi, John Candy, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Bonnie Hunt, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey, to name a few.

Six actors, along with a musical director, present the two-act revue featuring sketch comedy, songs and improv performances, followed by an all-improv finale that changes with every performance.

The troupe offers two improv workshops while in town, Improv for Adults 18 and Older and Youth Improv Techniques for Ages 13-17, both of which are Saturday, Sept. 30, 12–3 p.m. at The Rep. Cost is $60 and class size is limited. For more information and to register, contact Holly Gilbert, arts-in-education administrator, at 378-0445 ext. 215 or hollyg@therep.org.

Cast members include:

Christina Anthony is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Second City Conservatory. You may have seen her as Juliet in Second City's Romeo & Juliet Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre or as Ben Affleck in Matt and Ben (Jam Theatricals). Other credits include pHrenzy and pHamily (pH Productions); That's Weird, Grandma (Barrel of Monkeys); Papa's Got a Brand New Baghdad (Second City Outreach); Broadway Bound and Gagged: An Improvised Musical (Jazz Hands Across America at the Lakeshore Theatre) Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (DreamTeam Productions/The Rep); My Heart is Crying, Crying: The Jackie Wilson Story (Black Ensemble Theatre); 1776 (Hothouse Theatre/STL) and This Far by Faith (ETA Creative Arts Foundation), as well appearances in the Chicago Sketchfest and Chicago Improv Festival. In 2005, Anthony was selected to participate in master classes for Disney’s The Lion King. She can be seen improvising and singing her heart out with pH, Barrel of Monkeys and Jazz Hands Across America.

Meagan Flanigan has studied improvisation at The Second City and iO. She performs regularly at iO on the house team Deep Schwa and with the Armando Diaz Experience. She is proud to be a member of two all-female groups: Ragdolls and Sirens. In addition to improv, Flanigan has co-written and starred in three other original sketch shows, one of which she recently performed in New York at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

Anthony LeBlanc got his start in Sketch and Improv while attending college at Loyola University in New Orleans with his group, Boxaganga. He has since moved to Chicago and is a member of several ensembles in Chicago, including Ralphie’s Rug and DSI:The BeatBox. LeBlanc currently works with after-school programs teaching improv to at-risk high school teenagers and integrating video and technology into the Voices program at Association House of Chicago.

Brad Morris is a Chicago native and got his start improvising at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., returning home to study and perform improv in Chicago at Improv Olympic and the Annoyance. Morris has performed in, directed and written various sketch and improv shows in town, most notably Cuffs, American New Year, The Pilot, Galileo Players and Mind Games. When he's not in a van, you can see Morris perform with Chicago's best Harold team, The Reckoning at Improv Olympic and occasionally in The Armando Diaz Experience, also at Improv Olympic.

Robyn Norris wrote and performed in the Second City revue Girls Night Out before joining the touring company. You can catch her regularly at Comedysportz, where she is an ensemble member, and at iO, playing with the Signatures and ACE. Norris has written and performed in three original sketch shows with the very talented Hans Holsen. She also formed the sketch group Waste Management and has performed with Profiles Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Fox Force Five, Serendipity Theatre and WNEP.

TJ Miller is a stand-up, sketch and improvisational comedian originally from Denver, Colo. Since moving to Chicago, he has studied improvisation at Annoyance Theater and IO. He has improvised with his independent team, Chuckle Sandwich, at the Toronto, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco Improv Festivals and is on the IO team Sturgis. Miller performs sketch comedy with the group Heavy Weight (Second City’s The Unhinged series, featured at the Chicago Sketchfest.). He performs standup all over Chicago and has performed at clubs, benefits and festivals in Denver, New York, Washington, D.C., and majestic Indiana. In 2004, Miller won the regional Sierra Mist Search for the Next Great Comic. He is an accomplished juggler, stilt walker and clown. He is a graduate of the British American Drama Academy in Oxford and has appeared multiple times on PBS’s The Standard Deviants.

Julie Nichols, musical director, hails from Deerfield, Ill., where her love for music and comedy was cultivated from a young age through school bands, comedy troupes, The Three Amigos and neighborhood garage rock. She graduated from the University of Iowa with an interdisciplinary arts degree focused in music, literature and anthropology. Presently she teaches music and is a freelance composer. She composes for promotional and industrial videos, jazz ensembles and short films.

Technical support is provided by Mike Nichols, resident set designer and technical director; M. Jason Pruzin, resident sound designer; and Jackie Anderson, guest stage manager.

Performances for The Second City are 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays and 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, Sept. 27-Oct. 8. The fourth annual BrewHaHa takes place on a special sneak preview performance Tuesday, Sept. 26, with a 6 p.m. reception followed by a performance at 7 p.m. BrewHaHa tickets are $25. Opening Night, Wednesday, Sept. 27, includes a post-show reception with the cast in the lobby. The Oct. 4 performance is sign-interpreted for the hearing impaired. Tickets are $35 for orchestra seating, $30 for first mezzanine seating and $20 for second mezzanine seating and may be purchased by calling the box office at 501-378-0405 or 1-866-6-THEREP or online at www.therep.org.