(L-R) Andy St. Clair, Christina Anthony, Amanda Blake Davis, Timothy Edward Mason, Beth Melewski, and Tom Flanigan are young, sharp, and funny! (Bob Knuth)
The show’s title honors a man who meant a great deal to our city and its culture. Studs Terkel—the Chicago writer and TV personality back in the old days—did great interviews with people, just ordinary people. From these interviews, he penned a book called "Working" (which also became a hit musical) in which folks talk about their jobs.
In this production, people do talk some about their jobs.
The cast of six performers (who also wrote the show) are sharp comedians with great improv skills who illuminate the topics of working and not working, as well as dating, smoking, politics, adoption of children from other countries, and many other topics.
Christina Anthony, Amanda Blake Davis, Tom Flanigan, Andy St. Clair, Beth Melewski, and Timothy Edward Mason know how to play an audience in this intimate theater.
By the end of the first act, you will feel like you know all six of them—they are bright, energetic, and talented (and good-looking to boot). They sing! They dance! They dazzle!
Director Matt Hovde managed the talent well in the intimate Second City E.T.C. theater, with help from the musical director Michael Descoteaux and choreographer Alex Aldape.
No matter what you are experiencing in life (and we all have our ups and downs), from the opening number about turning off your cell phones, you will experience two hours of laughter and forget anything that may have been rough that day.
Studs Terkel's Not Working
Second City E.T.C.
1608 N. Wells Street
2nd floor of Piper's Alley
Tickets: 312-337-3992 or www.secondcity.com
Running Time: 2 hours
Closes: August 19
Alan Bresloff writes about theater in and around the Chicago area.
