A new documentary looks back at the famous Rush Street venue — but you really had to be there.Read More
Nightclub Nostalgia at Mister Kelly’sSarah Steimeron October 13, 2021 at 12:44 pm Read More »
With the resignation of Chicago Park District Supt. Mike Kelly, the agency now has a chance to chart a new and improved course. But will it? | Sun-Times file photo
Mayor Lori Lightfoot must find a new parks superintendent who can turn the district into the proud agency its creators and designers intended.
The Chicago Park District, with its abundance of park space and programming abilities, should be a well-run agency that provides respite, activities and benefits for residents — particularly during these tough times for Chicagoans.
But too often the district has fallen down on its duties, dating back to the horrible days of parks boss Ed Kelly, who spent the 1970s and 1980s delivering the spoils to parks in white communities at the expense of Black and Hispanic neighborhoods and was sued by the federal government because of it, to recently-resigned Supt. Mike Kelly, who had to walk the plank this month after doing next to nothing to address a lifeguard sexual abuse scandal at the district.
The city deserves better than this from its park district. And now with Kelly gone, the agency and Mayor Lori Lightfoot must find a superintendent who can turn the district into the proud agency its creators and designers intended more than a century ago.
We’re not talking just about properly maintaining and building beautiful park spaces, although that is needed. But also creating robust, visionary and community-focused programming and parks activities in every neighborhood.
As Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry told us, the new leader must be “someone who can really see with a different set of eyes what is broken.”
Yes. And fix it.
The lifeguard sexual abuse scandal, currently under investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney, threw light on an appalling atmosphere in which district supervisors allegedly preyed upon the female lifeguards in their charge.
“The culture of sexual abuse, harassment and coercion that has become pervasive within the district’s Aquatics Department lifeguard program under his leadership, combined with the superintendent’s lack of urgency or accountability as new facts have come to light, is unacceptable,” Lightfoot said in a statement issued last week just before Kelly resigned.
But the matter also allegedly shows how old-school Chicago politics instinctively kicked into action to impede the initial investigation into the matter, with Kelly sitting on the complaint for months, then later forcing out the park district deputy inspector general in charge of the probe.
Kelly now is being held accountable as he should be, but he didn’t act alone. All this tells us the park district needs a house-cleaning from top to bottom, and a new leader with the power to do it — while making sure the agency cooperates fully with the investigation.
The park district’s sloppiness, stonewalling and obfuscation of the scandal is a hallmark of how the district often does business in general, another reason why a proper fumigation is needed.
For instance, last year the agency changed the name of the West Side’s Douglas Park to Douglass Park, honoring orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. But in taking the vote, the district totally ignored the work of students from Village Leadership Academy, 800 S. Wells St., who had been petitioning the district since 2016 to rename the park.
The students weren’t allowed to speak at the park district board meeting or given any notice that the renaming would be on the agenda. Senseless, but typical.
And the district has generally supported a group’s $30 million plan to turn the Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center golf courses into a combined and upgraded Tiger Woods branded PGA level facility. But despite acres of public land at play, the park district has been stingy with key details about the proposal, including ways the agency would keep the course affordable for everyday golfers — and exactly how the new facility would be an economic boon for the nearby South Side neighborhoods, as promised.
“We have real concern over whether a PGA golf course makes sense,” Irizarry said. “Do we think golf courses are a good economic model anywhere? No. Golf courses are struggling.”
This golf supercourse is a bad idea. And though the organization behind it is looking to raise the $30 million construction cost, combining the courses would require the construction of bridges and underpasses. This smacks of the $172 million state taxpayers quietly got saddled with to rework the roadways around the north end of Jackson Park to accommodate the Obama Presidential Center.
The park district’s next superintendent, given the charge of fairness, transparency and openness, should either hold public meetings fully explaining the golf course proposal or ditch the plan entirely and improve the existing courses in ways they’ve needed for decades.
The courses would bring greater enjoyment to ordinary Chicagoans, which beats catering to tournaments and golf pros.
The mayor’s office hasn’t stated how she will approach finding the next parks boss.
But late Wednesday she made a solid choice by picking as interim superintendent Rosa Escareno, the recently-retired commissioner of the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Escareno ran a tight shop at Business Affairs. At a minimum she can hold down the fort during the search for a permanent successor.
Finding that replacement won’t be an easy task nor should it be. And it shouldn’t be rushed.
We encourage Lightfoot to take her time and do it right. The pick is just that important.
Send letters to [email protected].
A member of the Chicago Teachers Union wears a sticker after getting vaccinated at Weiss Memorial Hospital on Feb. 15, 2021. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Even as health care workers struggle to care for patients — unquestionably a science-based endeavor–some of them are refusing a free treatment that overwhelmingly prevents hospitalization and death.
We have finally entered the Twilight Zone.
Governors are defying public health rules issued by the president and federal agencies. They are punishing school districts that are trying to protect their students and employees. They are threatening private companies that are trying to keep their businesses going by protecting their workforce.
SEND LETTERS TO: [email protected]. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.
Even as health care workers struggle to care for patients — unquestionably a science-based endeavor–some of them are refusing a free treatment that overwhelmingly prevents hospitalization and death caused by a disease destined to kill at least three quarters of a million Americans.
And television personalities who are required to be vaccinated turn around and disseminate inaccurate information (to put it generously), just as Republican politicians consistently undermine vaccination efforts and inflame people’s doubts about safety.
It’s as if they were all fighting on the side of COVID.
What hope do we have?
Michael Hart, West Ridge
My wife is a Chicago police officer. She is a dedicated public servant. She has and will continue to run toward the gunfire. She has and will continue to run toward the danger if there is a chance to save others.
My wife and I, after much research and discussion, have chosen not to be vaccinated at this time. Our decision is based in part on her serious allergies. Also, in part, because we lead healthy lifestyles. But now this decision, reached by two consenting adults within the marriage bond, is threatened for one of us. Mayor Lori Lightfoot believes she has the right and moral authority to override our well researched, well thought-out and critically reasoned decision and force my wife to submit to this shot.
My wife is not to have any say over what will be done to her physical person. I hope her union and fellow officers stand strong against this unconscionable and dictatorial abuse of power.
Robert R. Johnson, Mt. Greenwood
“We serve and protect” is the motto of the Chicago Police Department. But who does their union claim to serve and protect, given that they have chosen to spread COVID-19 among the citizens of Chicago by defying a common-sense requirement to get vaccinated?
Vaccinations protect the person who is vaccinated. And each person who avoids infection is one less opportunity for the virus to mutate into a more deadly variant, and it means one less carrier to infect several other people.
Please guys, try not to kill the citizens of Chicago.
Mike Foss Redwood City, California
I wish Mayor Lori Lightfoot was selling her car. She has proved once again that she is a terrible negotiator. And the Chicago Teachers Union has once again proved that they are no better than dishonest car salespeople, talking out of both sides of their mouths.
Sometimes the CTU complains about the lax COVID-19 policies in Chicago’s public schools. Then, on Wednesday, they encouraged the mayor to continue to allow unvaccinated teachers and CPS employees to work, in person and paid, after her vaccine deadline. What is the point to a vaccine mandate if you don’t follow through with the consequences?
I’m not fooled by the CPS/CTU “statistic” that 85% of employees at CPS are vaccinated. That’s everyone within CPS. More than 1,500 teachers, as I write this, remain unvaccinated. Those teachers mingle for many hours, in close contact, with unvaccinated children.
Children until the age of 12 can’t legally get a vaccine, but adults can. They must face harsh consequences for not doing so. Unvaccinated teachers, CPS, the teachers union and Lightfoot are going to drive right off the COVID-19 cliff. Sadly, we’ll go down with them.
Patty Lamberti, Edgebrook
Young’s AJ Casey (20) shoots the ball over Mount Carmel. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
Has Miami and veteran head coach Jim Larranaga come into Chicago and pulled off a recruiting steal?
Has Miami and veteran head coach Jim Larranaga come into Chicago and pulled off a recruiting steal?
Time will tell but Young’s high-profile AJ Casey committed to the Hurricanes on Friday.
Miami was one of the last programs to jump in on the multi-dimensional 6-8 forward, offering just over a month ago. But Larranaga and his staff made up ground quickly and had Casey for an official visit in late September.
“They just recruited me hard,” Casey said. “When I was on my visit and I was able to see how things are there, that’s when I really became interested. Things went so well from the coaching staff to the campus to the school itself. I truly enjoyed myself.”
It was believed that Casey’s decision came down to Miami and DePaul, where Casey took an official visit earlier this month.
“The Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the best conferences in the country,” Casey said. “Playing in the ACC and playing for coach Larranaga, who is one of the winningest coaches of all time, speaks volumes.”
Casey may no longer be the top-ranked prospect in the state as he was the first three years of his career, and the national ranking has dropped a bit, but this is a significant recruit for an out-of-the-region basketball program like Miami. Casey has been the biggest name in the Class of 2022 in Illinois since he arrived on the scene as a freshman.
“I am definitely excited to play my senior year,” Casey said. “I would call it my revenge tour. I want to get back at it and show people all that I can do as a player and lead this team.”
He will now be a foundation piece for a rebuilding Miami program that has struggled of late with three straight losing seasons and a 16-41 record in the ACC during that time.
Casey’s commitment was the second of the day for Larranaga. Three-star forward Danilo Jovanovich, who attends Milwaukee Witnall, gave the Hurricanes an oral commitment a few hours before Casey.
With size, length and athleticism, Casey still remains an intriguing prospect with upside and who figures to be one of the Player of the Year frontrunners in the Chicago area and the state this coming season. He will anchor what will be one of the state’s top high school teams this winter, bringing a vast amount of versatility as he can run the floor, handle the ball and step out and be a threat with his perimeter face-up jumper.
Casey began his high school career at Simeon as a freshman before putting up monster numbers at Tinley Park as a sophomore when he averaged 22 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals a game. He then transferred to Young for his junior year, leading the Dolphins to a 15-1 record last season.
Casey is a four-star recruit who is ranked nationally as high as No. 55 by Rivals and No. 57 by ESPN.
AJ Casey commits to MiamiJoe Henricksenon October 15, 2021 at 10:06 pm Read More »
Chicago police work the scene where a 55-year-old man was shot in 2000 block of West North Avenue in the Wicker Park neighborhood, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
The man was in the 2000 block of West North Avenue when someone approached, demanded his belongings and opened fire, Chicago police said.
A man was shot Friday afternoon during an attempted robbery in an alley in Wicker Park on the North Side.
The man, 55, was in his car in the 2000 block of West North Avenue when someone approached, demanded his belongings and opened fire about 3:45 p.m., Chicago police said.
He was struck in the left hip and leg and taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
At the scene, crowds gathered around the busy intersection to watch investigators work. Police focused their attention on a black SUV stopped on North Avenue with one shell casing near the driver’s door.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Chicago police work the scene where a 55-year-old man was shot in 2000 block of West North Avenue in the Wicker Park neighborhood, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.
Workers at a Starbucks on the corner said they did not hear anything.
Two blocks of North Avenue were shut down from Milwaukee to Hoyne Avenue following the shooting.
Over the weekend, four people were wounded and another was killed after gunmen opened fire just blocks away in front of a music venue.
Brothers Justin and Shane Snyder continue the city’s legendary puppet performances in Rolling Meadows.Read More
Clark quarterback Dontrell Starks (22) is chased by Rabi’s Kierre Turner. | Kevin Tanaka/For the Sun-Times
All the scores from around the area.
Please send scores and corrections to [email protected]
BIG SHOULDERS
UP-Bronzeville 50, Dunbar 12
GREAT LAKES
Catalyst-Maria 2, Ag. Science 0 (forfeit)
HEARTLAND
Kennedy 27, Steinmetz 18
SECOND CITY
Carver 14, Julian 6
WINDY CITY
Von Steuben 28, Schurz 8
CHICAGO AVENUE
Little Village 2, Juarez 0 (forfeit)
MICHIGAN AVENUE
Dyett 20, Englewood STEM 6
NONCONFERENCE
Phoenix 22, Little Village 18
BIG SHOULDERS
Hyde Park at Brooks, 7
HEARTLAND
Speer vs. Rauner at Rockne, 4:15
LAND OF LINCOLN
Westinghouse at Lane, 7:15
Young at Taft, 7:30
PRAIRIE STATE
Clark vs. Payton at Lane, 4:15
RED BIRD
Perspectives vs. Curie at Rockne, 7:15
SECOND CITY
Harlan vs. Washington at Eckersall, 3:45
Solorio vs. Vocational at Gately, 4:15
WINDY CITY
Amundsen vs. Sullivan at Winnemac, 3:45
CHICAGO AVENUE
Kelly vs. Tilden at Stagg, 3:45
MADISON STREET
Marine at Chicago Academy, 4:15
CENTRAL SUBURBAN NORTH
Highland Park at Vernon Hills, 7:30
Maine East at Deerfield, 7
Maine West at Niles North, 7
CENTRAL SUBURBAN SOUTH
Evanston at Maine South, 7
Glenbrook South at Glenbrook North, 7
Niles West at New Trier, 7
DUKANE
Geneva at Wheaton North, 7:30
Glenbard North at St. Charles North, 7:30
St. Charles East at Batavia, 7:30
Wheaton-Warrenville South at Lake Park, 7:30
DUPAGE VALLEY
DeKalb at Neuqua Valley, 7
Metea Valley at Naperville Central, 7:30
Waubonsie Valley at Naperville North, 7
FOX VALLEY
Burlington Central at Cary-Grove, 7
Crystal Lake Central at McHenry, 7
Crystal Lake South at Prairie Ridge, 7
Dundee-Crown at Huntley, 7
Hampshire at Jacobs, 7
ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT
Coal City at Reed-Custer, 7
Herscher at Peotone, 7
Lisle at Manteno, 7
Streator at Wilmington, 7
INDEPENDENT
Ottawa Marquette at Christ the King, 7:30
KISHWAUKEE I-8 BLUE
Harvard at Richmond-Burton, 7
Marengo at Sandwich, 7
Rochelle at Plano, 7
KISHWAUKEE I-8 WHITE
Kaneland at Ottawa, 7
Morris at LaSalle-Peru, 7
Woodstock at Sycamore, 7
METRO SUBURBAN BLUE
Aurora Central at Ridgewood, 7:30
Bishop McNamara at IC Catholic, 7:15
Wheaton Academy at Elmwood Park, 7
METRO SUBURBAN RED
Aurora Christian at St. Edward, 7
Riverside-Brookfield at St. Francis, 7:30
Westmont at Chicago Christian, 7:15
MID-SUBURBAN EAST
Prospect at Hersey, 7
Rolling Meadows at Elk Grove, 7
Wheeling at Buffalo Grove, 7
MID-SUBURBAN WEST
Conant at Barrington, 7:30
Palatine at Fremd, 7:30
Schaumburg at Hoffman Estates, 7:30
NORTH SUBURBAN
Lake Zurich at Stevenson, 7:30
Mundelein at Lake Forest, 7
Warren at Libertyville, 7:30
Waukegan at Zion-Benton, 7:30
NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY
Grayslake North at Wauconda, 7
Lakes at Grayslake Central, 7
North Chicago at Grant, 7:15
Round Lake at Antioch, 7:15
SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE
TF North at Bremen, 6
TF South at Lemont, 7
Tinley Park at Oak Forest, 6
SOUTH SUBURBAN RED
Evergreen Park at Eisenhower, 7
Oak Lawn at Argo, 7
Reavis at Shepard, 7
SOUTHLAND
Bloom at Crete-Monee, 6:30
Kankakee at Thornton, 7
Rich Township at Thornridge, 6
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST
Plainfield East at Plainfield South, 7
Romeoville at Plainfield Central, 7
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE WEST
Oswego East at Oswego, 7
Plainfield North at West Aurora, 7
Yorkville at Minooka, 7
SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN BLUE
Homewood-Flossmoor at Sandburg, 6
Lincoln-Way East at Lockport, 6:30
SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN RED
Andrew at Lincoln-Way West, 7:30
Stagg at Bradley-Bourbonnais, 6
UPSTATE EIGHT
East Aurora at West Chicago, 7:30
Fenton at Streamwood, 7:30
Glenbard South at Glenbard East, 7:30
Larkin at Elgin, 7:30
South Elgin at Bartlett, 7:30
VERMILION VALLEY NORTH
Momence 2, Watseka 0 (forfeit)
Clifton Central at Seneca, 7
Dwight at Iroquois West, 7
WEST SUBURBAN GOLD
Hinsdale South at Proviso East, 7
Leyden at Addison Trail, 7
Morton at Downers Grove South, 6:30
WEST SUBURBAN SILVER
Downers Grove North at Oak Park-River Forest, 7
Glenbard West at Lyons, 7:30
Proviso West at Hinsdale Central, 7:30
NONCONFERENCE
Bolingbrook at Lincoln-Way Central, 7:30
Brother Rice at Marian Catholic, 7:30
Danville at Thornwood, 7
De La Salle at Hope Academy, 7:30
Fenwick at Marian Central, 7:30
Hillcrest at Richards, 7
Johnsburg at Woodstock North, 7
Joliet Catholic at Benet, 7
Loyola at St. Patrick, 7
Marist at Carmel, 7:30
Marmion at Leo, 7:30
Montini at Nazareth, 7
Mount Carmel at St. Viator, 7:30
Providence at St. Rita, 7:30
St. Ignatius at DePaul Prep, 7:30
St. Laurence at Notre Dame, 7:30
York at Willowbrook, 7
BIG SHOULDERS
Lindblom vs. King at Eckersall, 1
GREAT LAKES
Bogan vs. Comer at Eckersall, 4
Johnson at Goode, noon
HEARTLAND
North Lawndale vs. Prosser at Lane, 1
LAND OF LINCOLN
Phillips vs. Lincoln Park at Lane, 4
PRAIRIE STATE
Back of the Yards at Orr, 1
Raby vs. Bulls Prep at Rockne, 4
RED BIRD
Kenwood vs. Simeon at Lane, 10 a.m.
Morgan Park vs. Hubbard at Gately, 7
WINDY CITY
Lake View vs. Mather at Winnemac, 1
CHICAGO AVENUE
Collins vs. Gage Park at Stagg, 4
LAKE STREET
Longwood 2, Fenger 0 (forfeit)
Bowen vs. Corliss at Gately, 4
Butler vs. South Shore at Eckersall, 10 a.m.
MADISON STREET
Foreman vs. Roosevelt at Winnemac, 4
Senn vs. Pritzker at Rockne, 10 a.m.
MICHIGAN AVENUE
DuSable vs. Woodlawn at Stagg, 10 a.m.
Hansberry vs. Chicago Richards at Stagg, 1
STATE STREET
Phoenix 2, Marshall 0 (forfeit)
Crane vs. Rowe-Clark at Rockne, 1
UIC Prep vs. Clemente at Lane, 7
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST
Joliet Central at Joliet West, 11 a.m.
NONCONFERENCE
Longwood vs. Chicago Military, TBA
Walther Christian at Perry, Mich., 11 a.m.
High school football scores: Week 8Michael O’Brienon October 15, 2021 at 8:54 pm Read More »
Jordan Davis is causing all kinds of chaos for Georgia’s defense. | Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Short answer: heck no. Kentucky-Georgia, Oklahoma State-Texas, Purdue-Iowa, Rutgers-Northwestern predictions and more.
It’s the short straw. The runt of the litter. The cracked egg in the carton. The burnt french fry at the bottom of the bag.
Say hello to Week 7, college football fans. It stinks.
Every college season has a worst-looking week of games. Well, it’s here. And it’s so bad, there isn’t a matchup worth leading this column with. So let’s take stock of where we are at midseason instead.
TEAMS OF THE FIRST HALF
Georgia: The Bulldogs’ defense rocked Clemson’s post-Trevor Lawrence world in the opener and has become the story of the season. Clemson, Arkansas and Auburn combined — yes, combined — to score 13 points against the No. 1 team in the land.
Cincinnati: The win at Indiana was a key early hurdle to clear, and the ensuing win at Notre Dame was a declaration: The Bearcats intend to win ’em all — and they should — and put massive pressure on the playoff committee to include a Group of Five team for the first time.
Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State: Look at all those zeroes in the loss column. The Hawkeyes, Wolverines and Spartans have raised the Big Ten bar big-time.
TEAMS OF THE SECOND HALF
Alabama: Perfect no more, the Crimson Tide have a clear mission now: Get to Atlanta with just the one loss, beat Georgia for the SEC title and end up in Indianapolis playing — Georgia again? — for all the marbles.
Oklahoma: For an unbeaten, fourth-ranked team, the Sooners have been pretty awful. Maybe the benching of superstar quarterback Spencer Rattler will light a fire under everybody and turn this pretender into a contender.
Ohio State: Sounds nuts, but nobody’s talking about the one-loss Buckeyes. Just imagine how annoyed everybody will be after they beat Michigan State, Michigan and (in the Big Ten title game) Iowa back-to-back-to-back to get back into the playoff.
HALFWAY HEISMAN
My top two so far are Georgia nose tackle Jordan Davis and Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III. The betting favorites to win the thing are QBs — shocking — but a lot of guys other than Alabama’s Bryce Young, Matt Corral or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud could rise up and win it.
WEEK 7 PICKS
Rutgers (-1 1/2 ) at Northwestern (11 a.m., BTN, 720-AM): The Wildcats have had two weeks to think about a more-than-humbling 56-7 loss at Nebraska. Wait, is that a good thing? Scarlet Knights by a touchdown.
No. 12 Oklahoma State (+3 1/2 ) at No. 25 Texas (11 a.m., Fox-32): It’s not quite Oklahoma-Texas fun, but it’s a heck of a good time. Run, Bijan Robinson, run — Longhorns, 38-30.
No. 11 Kentucky (+22 1/2 ) at No. 1 Georgia (2:30 p.m., Ch. 2): The Wildcats are 6-0 and have this way of hanging around that’s so impressive … most of the time. Dogs, 31-10.
Purdue (+11 1/2 ) at No. 2 Iowa (2:30 p.m., Ch. 7): A mismatch? The Boilermakers — who’ve beaten Iowa three times in the last four years — are laughing at the question. Hawkeyes, 23-17.
Bowling Green (+9) at Northern Illinois (2:30 p.m., ESPN+, 560-AM): BGSU has a 10-game MAC losing streak, but surprisingly good NIU is still without running back Harrison Waylee. This league is never not weird. Huskies by only a field goal.
TCU (+13 1/2 ) at No. 4 Oklahoma (6:30 p.m., Ch. 7): The Sooners have beaten Tulane, Nebraska, West Virginia, Kansas State and Texas all by single scores. The lights are on in Norman, but is anyone home? Boomer by 21.
No. 18 Arizona State (pick ’em) at Utah (9 p.m., ESPN): There are lots of people who believe the Sun Devils are the best team in the Pac-12. Did I call the MAC weird? The Pac-12 is weirder. Utes, 27-23.
My favorite favorite: No. 5 Alabama (-17) at Mississippi State (6 p.m., ESPN): Somebody has to be the poor team the Tide annihilates after a loss.
My favorite underdog: Missouri (+11) vs. No. 21 Texas A&M (11 a.m., SEC): How bad is the Aggies’ hangover after upsetting the Tide? Mizzou is terrible defensively, but it can score on anybody. This is crazy. Completely crazy. Upset.
Last week: 6-3 straight-up, 4-4-1 vs. the spread.
Season to date: 40-17 straight-up, 33-23-1 vs. the spread.
The Second City mainstage revue “Together at Last” stars Asia Martin (from left), Adam Schreck, Evan Mills, Sarah Dell’Amico, Jordan Savusa and Mary Catherine Curren. | Timothy M. Schmidt
After a tumultuous time, the new mainstage revue ‘Together at Last’ arrives, and it’s just a little better than the last one.
What’s radical about “Together at Last,” the first Second City mainstage revue in almost two years, is that it’s not all that radical.
After all, this is a show emerging from chaos. It’s been one round of upheaval after another at the old Wells Street institution — a revolt over institutional racism, a longtime owner out, a new owner in. Not to mention the pandemic that shut down Second City’s theaters and limited it to the Internet for more than a year.
Now the company comes back with a show of new material, shaped over the last few months, and it’s far from a game-changer. Aside from a few tweaks, it’s typical 21st century Second City: sketches and blackouts performed with high energy, frenetic pacing and flashy lighting. And the cast arrives almost intact from “Do You Believe in Madness?,” the 2019-20 show cut short by COVID-19.
“Madness,” unfortunately, was a mess. And while this show also falls short of Second City standards, the ensemble has become more deft and the material a little stronger.
Working with a new director — Anneliese Toft, transferred from the e.t.c. stage — the actors open the revue with friendly waves and then a blunt declaration that “we’re f- – – ed!” (It’s the first of many naughty words in a show with a serious swearing problem. Artful cussing has been a Second City staple ever since Del Close dropped the f-word the day after the JFK assassination, but in this show the profanity is seldom there to enhance the joke. It’s meant to be the joke. And the joke gets old.)
While improv-heavy, “Together” does settle into a few scripted songs and scenes. One clever number teaches the uninformed how to navigate a current-events discussion (you can always cite the Atlantic because “nobody reads the Atlantic”), and Sarah Dell’Amico and Evan Mills do a graceful song-and-dance as a couple thrilled to be divorcing. Dell’Amico also teams up effectively with Mary Catherine Curren to play estranged Florida friends whose conflicts are dredged up in amusing, well-written detail.
The night’s big political set piece is an extended take on Joe Biden by Adam Schreck, who oddly portrays the famously deliberative president as a fast talker with a George W. Bush twang. Less than trenchant, the sketch goes after easy targets like Marjorie Taylor Greene and the fly on Mike Pence’s head.
But most bits hinge on the suggestions that audience members text (to screens next to the stage) or shout when prompted. In a step up from the dreary Charades and Freeze Tag of “Madness,” these segments are innovative, if borderline bizarre: Cuddly Jordan Savusa roars as a minotaur sensitive to one-liners about a suggested topic, or floating plane-crash survivors look to audience ideas to understand how they’re mystically bonded.
Watching nimble comic minds instantly spin gold from suggestions is one of the great thrills of Second City. But on opening night, the “Madness” actors often lacked command of the improv, sputtering uncertain responses or entertaining each other (if not us) with their incoherence.
In a bawdy, overlong improv about pandemic frustration, the three women play party girls leaving lockdown and desperate for action. Each questions a guy in the audience and turns his answers into sex talk, writhing as they proposition him with dumb schoolyard innuendo. Hooray for celebrating female sexuality, boo for cheap humor.
The newcomer to the cast, Mills, is an intriguing presence who uses his big eyes and lithe moves to play a stalker whose identity is a punchline. Also making an impression is Asia Martin, a Black woman who builds goodwill throughout the show with her effervescent charms, then exploits it with a cheery demand for money from guilt-ridden white people (complete with her Venmo ID on the screens).
The show ends in a sing-along of an upbeat ditty about making the most of today. It seems fitting for a kinder, more inclusive Second City, where audience members now are told individually, face to masked face, before the show that bigoted suggestions aren’t welcome. That’s a goal that’s noble, and surely can coexist with being smarter and funnier.
