The Second City, Chicago’s legendary sketch and improvisation comedy theatre, will perform hilarious sketches, songs and improvisation about Ada as well as famed archive material in an event called “The Second City Hits Home” at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23, at the Ataloa Theatre of East Central University’s Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.
The event features some of Chicago’s brightest comedy players doing what they do best, finding laughs in everything from Ada’s history, events and hot button issues to headlines from The Ada News.
The group mixes these with a generous portion of classic Chicago-style sketch and improv created by some of The Second City’s most lauded alumni including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and more. The Second City celebrates 54 years of cutting edge satiric revues and continues to deliver the leading voices in comedy while touring the globe. The comedic event is being sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council.
Tickets for The Second City are $25 and can be purchased at the ECU Box Office, via email at boxoffice@ecok.edu or by calling 580-559-5751. The box office is open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Passes purchased for the 2014-2015 ECU Fine Arts Season may be used. Tickets may be ordered online by going to tickets.ecok.edu.
The performance is free for ECU students and there is a special discount of $10 tickets for non-ECU college students along with high school and junior high students, ages 13-18. A student ID must be shown at the will call window when picking up the tickets.
The 2014-2015 fine arts season is sponsored by the ECU Foundation, Inc., Oklahoma Arts Council, Communication Federal Credit Union, Vision Bank, Citizen’s Bank, Santa Fe Steakhouse, Blue Moon Café, ECU Bookstore, Polo’s Mexican Restaurant, Vintage 22 and La Quinta Inns and Suites.
Those who want to make it a dinner-and-show night can present their season ticket patron card and receive a 10 percent discount at Blue Moon Café, Rib Crib, Santa Fe Steakhouse and Vintage 22 on the night of the performance.
Here is the cast list:
Andrew Knox performs with the iO Harold Team Dogs, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Baby Wants Candy at The Apollo Theatre and The Grrr at The Playground Theatre. Knox is an alumnus of The Second City’s Urban Twist cast, The Second City Training Center’s Musical Improv House Ensemble and performed with The Second City aboard the good ship Norwegian Dawn.
Alan Linic is a Second City Training Center House Ensemble alumnus. He has appeared in the sketch revues “As the World Burns” and “One, Two, Many” and can be seen with improv teams Switch Committee and The Ruckus at iO Theatre.
Maria Randazzo, from Cleveland, Ohio, studied theater at Loyola University in Chicago. She performs at the iO Theatre with The Deltones and past credits include shows at The Annoyance Theatre, The Playground Theatre and Upstairs Gallery Studio BE. She performed with The Second City Theatricals board the NCL Epic.
Liz Reuss, originally from Louisville, Ky., is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory Program and is a former member of The Second City Training Center House Ensemble. She can be seen performing around Chicago at iO Theatre with her team Pants Dot Com and as part of the ensemble of ComedySportz.
Marlena Rodriguez is a standup comedian, improviser and writer who grew up in Connecticut, went to college in Boston and then moved to Chicago in 2011. She is a Second City Comedy Studies Alumni and has performed across the country at comedy hubs, such as The Lincoln Lodge, The Second City, iO Theatre Chicago, Standup NY, Kabin, The Comedy Studio, Gilda’s Laughfest and Boston Women in Comedy Festival.
John Thibodeaux has performed in three Outreach and Diversity reviews at The Second City – “Eat Pray Lie”, “Rahm Wasn’t Built in a Day” and “Barackolypse Now.” He also served as an understudy in the Mainstage Review’s South Side of Heaven. Thibodeaux can been seen at the iO Theater, performing with Smokin’ Hot Dad and with his good pals in the group 3Peat.
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