“Sing Out” The best Friggin’ Songs of the Second City

[rating=5]If you want the fun that one gets at a comedy club and the excitement that has been going on at Second City for over 50 years, you can have a ball at Second City’s UP Comedy Club on the third floor of the Piper’s Alley ( if you recall that name, you are probably as old as I am)  with the entrance at 230 West North Avenue ( at Wells). This is a review that will have you forgetting the past two years of “nothingness”. Laughter will surround you from the opening number to the finale.

I guess part of what makes this show fun is the number of musical pieces. Every sketch has something musical in it and the cast of six, who also created the script, are hysterical and highly energetic. The only thing that I think they could do would be to mike each cast member as the music ( Henry Golden-Starr truly is terrific, but LOUD!) often makes it hard to hear the lyrics ( and they are very funny). TheUP Comedy Club is very much like the original Second City in that the room is divided with a rail bar ( where we enjoy sitting) and tables on top of tables behind and in front of. They have displaced the first 8 feet of tables and chairs in order to protect the actors from the Covid virus and to protect the audience members from the cast, who might just come right as an audience member at any time.

Anyone who has been to Second City expects to be picked on if they sit close. This cast has learned the value of picking on people, no matter where they are seated. They do this to perfection.

The cast is composed of six performers- Tina Arfaee, Teagan Earley, Breanna Ghostone, Cat McDonnell, Preston Parker and Uri. Each cast member has shining moments in this two act, two hour ( one 15 minute intermission) laugh fest dealing with a combination celebration of the many years of Second City ( there are constant videos and reminders of the people who came out of the original venue around the corner on Wells) mixed with the tremendous humor of this glorious cast.

Carisa Barreca’s choreography was delightful. There were bits throughout the course of the show handled to perfection by Arfaee and Parker relative to “foreplay” that are hysterical. Uri has a marvelous range hitting high notes that appear to be unreachable and Cat McDonnell is sheer energy onstage. Earley is adorable in every way and plays off the audience with just the right touch. Ghostone is new to Second City but some of us have seen her in local productions. I think she has worked with Music Theatre Works in the past- what a voice!

Arafaee is a natural comic who will make sure you leave with a smile on your face. Her scenes with Parker about “Foreplay” show the true comic talent they both have. By the way, Parker is  quite funny in the number about being “positive” ( no matter what ).

If you have not returned to the theater as yet, this might be one to try, but understand, even though they will check your Covid Vac with ID, the audience wearing masks is “optional”. Hard to eat and drink with a mask on and even harder to have employees watch for those not doing so,. They do have a menu of delightful vittles:

Jane and I did the Hummas with veggies, the sliders and the chicken  and as always their drinks are well poured.

The tech portion of the show, with the exception of being “miked” is handled well with some cute costumes, music composed by Jesse Case, contributing writers: Henry Golden-Starr and Evan Mills and lighting by Kyle Anderson ( with additional lighting for the Sad lamp number by Carisa Barecca.)

“Sing Out” is an open show so there is no end in sight as long as people are buying tickets.

The performance schedule is:

Thursday- Sunday nights at 8 P.M.

Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. ( so they do two on Sunday)

To purchase tickets call 312-337-3992 or visit www.secondcity.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “”Sing Out”.