The Second City presents the 111th MainStage Revue DON’T QUIT YOUR DAYDREAM.
I wanted a laugh… and I did LOL hard and often!
The new MainStage Revue is crushing it! Nothing is held back as Andy Boldoc, Kiley Fitzgerald, Claire McFadden, Evan Mills, Julia Morales and Jordan Stafford find the humor in anything and everything. Vegans, menopause, prom goers, an invisible girlfriend named Flip-Flop, a waiter answering to Schwinn and an aging Barbie calling herself Barb (Fitzgerald is a hoot!). This versatile and hilarious ensemble wrote and perform an imaginative show. They’ve literally let their wildest dreams carry them and us away!
Director Carisa Barreca keeps the pace tight. The show starts out with amusing stagecraft as the ensemble toss and catch various items. The back to back comedy sketches provide ongoing absurdity. McFadden, Mills and Boldoc play out an outrageous double date. Even with their crazy funny exchanges, a scene stealing Stafford continually arrives to deliver a deadly zinger. Stafford, the newbie to the veteran ensemble, brings both humor and heart to the MainStage. He and Morales go on a road trip. The duo bond over Morales’ misinterpretation of popular lyrics. Later, Morales gives us a peek into black heaven. It’s just one funny bit after another.
The show is peppered with plenty of The Second City signature improv. Fitzgerald and Boldoc showcase quick wit as they interact with the audience as a ghost whisperer and a creepy underlord. They both slay it as they needle the guests. In another sketch, McFadden plays a theatre teacher interviewing Mills, her lifelong friend and movie extra. The audience shouts out a favorite movie and Mills reenacts his scene in the film. Throughout the show, an impressive Mills uses his physicality to garner riotous laughter. At my performance, he hysterically played a beetle from “The Mummy.”
DON’T QUIT YOUR DAYDREAM is THE summer break we all need. Wake up and get tickets!
Running Time: Two hours includes an intermission
At The Second City Mainstage, 1616 N. Wells Street
Written by Andy Boldoc, Kiley Fitzgerald, Claire McFadden, Evan Mills, Julia Morales and Jordan Stafford
Directed by Carisa Barreca
Music directed by Ryan Miera
Performances are:
Tuesdays – Thursdays at 8pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and 10pm
Sundays at 7pm
For more information or tickets
Production photos by Timothy M. Schmidt
For more Chicago theatre information and reviews, please visit Theatre in Chicago