Saturday night, the Arizona Theatre Company lassoed the Second City to Phoenix in a no-holds barred world premiere comedy revue all about Arizona. The SECOND CITY DOES ARIZONA is an original revue of comic sketches, improvisations, catchy songs, and even a few dances aimed at everything and everyone that is unique to Arizona. Leave your thin skin at home and be prepared for a night of belly laughs.
Second City alums include Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner. Saturday’s Opening Night performance included hilarious performances from Ryan Archibald, Amanda Blake Davis, Cody Dove, Lauren Dowden, Martin Garcia, and Andel Sudik.
For approximately two hours, these very talented and clever performers poked fun at everything unique to Arizona including photo radar, the Stupid Motorist Laws, the Arizona heat, golf carts, snowbirds from the Midwest and, yes, even a few of our local politicians. Bet you can’t guess which ones!
I thought the Second City performers were at their comedic best when they did on-the-spot improvisations à la Whose Line Is It Anyway? style. Two good sports from the front-row audience, Belinda from Hong Kong and Bob the Mining Consultant (Yes, these are real people. I’m not making them up) volunteered a little information about themselves and before the audience knew it, we were treated to song and dance routines and hilarious one-liners about Belinda and Bob. Somehow I don’t know if Bob the Mining Consultant’s life will ever be the same, especially after Andel Sudik’s dead-panned comment about black lung disease which just about brought the house down.
Yes, you had to be there. And, yeah, you really should be there!
Due to popular demand, The Arizona Theatre Company has extended the Second City Does Arizona until Sunday, May 16 at the Herberger Theater Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Arizona Theatre Company Box Office at www.arizonatheatre.org.
The Suns continue their march to the Finals by hosting the arch-rival Spurs in Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference semifinals at US Airways Center. No tickets for tonight’s Game 1? No problem! Head over to 
In addition to a line-up of notable talents from the local improv scene, the Festival will showcase troupes from around the country. A total of twenty-one different groups will perform, and the mix will include comedy, films, musicals and experimental works.
To fully appreciate The Glass Menagerie, you should know a little about American playwright Tennessee “Thomas” Williams (1911-1983). Williams wrote The Glass Menagerie in 1945. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, with a stern, alcoholic father, a borderline hysterical mother, and a schizophrenic sister who was later lobotomized, something that would haunt Williams for the rest of his life. Interestingly, The Glass Menagerie takes place in St. Louis and follows Tom, Amanda, and Laura Wingfield as they try to survive together inside a claustrophobic tenement apartment in the 1930’s.
On Friday (4/2) at 7 p.m., you can be part of Voice and Vision: A Graffiti/Spoken Word Explosion at the Herberger Plaza. As part of a month-long campaign, the ATC has collected stories from staff, theater patrons, and community members describing times during which they “found their voices.” You can watch and listen as ATC staff and volunteers read these stories aloud while four talented artists paint a graffiti-art mural ignited by the personal stories they hear. Words, color, art, passion—all in one at the beautiful Herberger Theatre Center.
Director Juliette Carrillo’s treatment of the Tennessee Williams’ classic–widely believed to be an autobiography of Williams’ life during his artistic awakening–is daring while giving the proper amount of respect to a classic.
Written by playwright Bob Clyman, SECRET ORDER is the story of a brilliant thirtysomething cell biologist named Dr. William Shumway (Cale Epps) from the University of Illinois who may have discovered the cure for cancer. The discovery leads to a flashy new job at a prestigious cancer-research institute in New York, led by the ambitious Dr. Robert Brock (Mark DeMichele) who practically salivates at the thought of a Nobel Prize. Or any prize. As news of Shumway’s ground-breaking work spreads, a young wide-eyed, overly enthusiastic Harvard University student, Alice Curiton (Jessica Weaver), seems ready to sell her soul for a summer internship with Shumay. Throw in a jealous and sabotaging Dr. Saul Roth (David Vining) at the research institute and you’ve got a play filled with twists and turns that test the will, desire, and integrity of everyone.
I was excited to finally see [title of show] at the Herberger Theatre on opening night, especially after having interviewed the monstrously talented Lauren Lebowitz, one of the musical’s stars, earlier in the month. Going in, I knew that the show would be the real-life story of two, out-of-work New York actors in 2004 who decided to write a musical about two, out-of-work New York actors who decided to write a musical. The fast-paced, hilarious, and yet subtly serious story follows these two quirky actors and their two equally-quirky best friends as they navigate from the unemployment line to creating a major Broadway hit.
Festive Friday: From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, the Ambassadors will be stationed outside the Information Center [US Bank Building, 101 N. First Ave., Ste. 190] sharing sweet treats courtesy of Downtown businesses. You can also pick up coupons for FREE food items from participating restaurants to be used throughout the month. Plus, music by 
Second City Has Arizona Pegged
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010The opening number declares that Arizona is perfect, nothing is ever wrong in Arizona, well, except for those times when things are not perfect and when things are wrong.
If you appreciate good satire and are in the mood for laugh out loud entertainment, get tickets to see Second City Does Arizona or Close But No Saguaro. Second City is a comedy group, so this isn’t a show with a main character and a beginning, middle, and end. It’s a sketch comedy show, like watching Saturday Night Live, only funny.
Most of the sketches (but not all) are related to Arizona culture and politics. (They even sang a rap song about
javelinas!) The writers of the show were in town in January scoping out our fine city and state and they spent time in Phoenix and Tucson.
They mined some comedy gold and wrote sketches that poke fun at some new Arizona laws, McCain, Brewer, speed cameras, snow birds, the summer heat, life in Sun City, and even a jab at Alice Cooper.
All the actors really shine in improvisation. (As they should, it’s kind of what the Second City is all about.) The actors took one woman up on stage and convinced her to run for Governor, and in accordance with Clean Election Laws asked the audience for 250 $5 checks (they got $15!) then asked the unsuspecting volunteer a few questions. Based on her answers the actors made a political commercial, then a smear campaign before our very eyes. One of the final sketches was built around some ideas the audience yelled out: Queen Creek, a parent-child relationship, and the phrase “You’re so pretty.” I still chuckle when I think about the hilarious situations they managed to make with those ideas.
I left the theatre feeling jolly and giggling to myself as I walked over to Hanny’s for a drink.
Tags: Clean Election Laws, downtown phoenix, Hanny's, herberger theater, Herberger Theatre, Jan Brewer, Second City Does Arizona
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