Many of the actors on television comedy shows like "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" got their start with Chicago's Second City.Founded in Chicago in 1959, The Second City's alumni list reads like a who's who of American comedy, as it includes Joan Rivers, Harold Ramis, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, George Wendt, Martin Short, John Candy, Tim Meadows, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and countless others.
On March 22 at 7:30 p.m., one of the three touring companies of The Second City will take to the Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Center stage.
Abby McEnany is one of the six diverse performers with the "Green" touring company of The Second City.
In an afternoon telephone interview March 6, McEnany said every comedy sketch actor is different. The group of six people in the Green touring company represents different races, genders, sexual orientations and religions. There are three women and three men. The three men can really sing, McEnany said, while she has a "mediocre" voice.
"I think we all bring a different perspective for the touring company," she said.
Anthony, one of the other performers, she said, is very good at becoming objects or animals. He loves going into an audience and resonates with people of all ages. He is super, super physical, McEnany said, and likes taking advantage of the whole stage.
"He's very strong and can move people," she said.
For McEnany, it was always a dream to be a part of Second City. She moved to Chicago for school. While in school, she saw Second City performances and wanted to get involved. After school, she started taking classes at Second City. While McEnany started with Second City at age 24, she said many of the performers she worked with started in their teens.
"I have wanted to do this for so long," she said. She has been touring with the company for just more than a year.
In addition, according to her provided biography, McEnany performs with the critically acclaimed all-female improv troupe Sirens. This summer she appeared in A&E, a two-person sketch show (with Erin McEvoy), as part of the Unhinged Series at The Second City. She studied improvisation at The Second City Training Center and the Annoyance. Last summer, she performed in Maine at ImprovAcadia, Bar Harbor's improv venue.
The Second City touring company does a lot of archival material from Second City's last 50 years. Many of it still resonates with today, McEnany said. She said it's fun to look at the way Second City has evolved over the last half century.
Along with the six performers, McEnany said the touring company also includes the stage manager and musical director. The musical director adds a lot to the show, she said.
The eight members of the touring company are very much like a family, McEnany said. Although sometimes a member might want some alone time, members spend much of their time while touring together.
As for the shows themselves, McEnany said about 80 percent of it is sketch comedy, 10 percent is improvised and 10 percent is written by a cast member. It depends what the show director is looking for, she said, and what may be happening in the news.
McEnany said they had some scenes about Democrat Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Before Super Tuesday, the performers thought they might have to take the scenes out, but Clinton and Obama both won some states. Then they thought they might have to take some scenes out after the Texas and Ohio primaries, but Clinton won those and remained in the race, so the scenes could stay in.
The Second City show, titled "One Nation, Under Blog," is rated PG-13. McEnany said the touring company recently talked about what makes the show PG-13 rather than PG or R.
"I don't know what the right answer to that is," she said. "I think we all have different answers."
She said she has an 11-year-old nephew who the show would not be approiate for, but wouldn't be inappropriate necessarily for a 14-year-old.
"One Nation, Under Blog," McEnany said, is really about relationships, politics and living in America. She said the touring company is really excited about performing in Warsaw on March 22.
She said they hope the audience will laugh and look at things in a different light.
"We hope the show makes people think," she said.
Tickets for The Second City are $12.50 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information call the Performing Arts Center at 574-371-5040.
This event is supported by the Dane & Mary Louise Miller Foundation.
