Second City Show Has Hinsdale South Families Rolling

The Second City National Touring Company earned loud applause and high praise from audience members for its performance on Friday at .

Burr Ridge resident Juzer Chinwalla attended the show with his wife, Vandana, and his daughter, Anisha, who is a junior at Hinsdale South High School.

“I loved it. I thought it was really funny,” said Anisha, who has a friend who takes a Second City improvisation class.

“I’m amazed how they can improvise like that,” said Vandana Chinwalla.

Juzer Chinwalla agreed, saying that the improvisation was so high-quality that it almost seemed like the actors had rehearsed it that way.

“We were surprised by how good it was. Overall, it was a great experience,” he said.

The two-hour show included improvisation and sketch comedy that often commented on contemporary life—including online dating, college life, dining hall meal plans, cuts to teacher salaries and positions and expendable school subjects, like music.

"We saw a lot of [Second City] in the city," said Darien resident Pam Henry." She and her husband Ed have two kids in college, so she said she especially enjoyed the college dining hall scene. "Hysterical," she said.

Hinsdale South Sophomores Mary Ladd and Cassie Jensen said they thought the performance was “hilarious.” Jensen said she thought the show contained a great mixture of parental and teen humor.

The cast included Tawny Newsome, Michael Kosinski, Tim Ryder, Eileen Montelione and Daniel Strauss. Pianist Alex Kliner, the music director for the touring company, was the show's accompanist. Kliner’s responsive playing reflected and supported the mood of each scene.

Audience participation was encouraged throughout the performance, with cast members asking for ideas to include in the sketches.

One scene had the actors playing laborers or longshoremen, in 19th-century England.

Audience participation hit a peak towards the end of the show, when the cast divided the audience into sections. With Ryder directing, one part of the audience sang “We Will Rock You” and then “Twist and Shout.”

The performers set the scene by telling the audience that, due to cuts, a school orchestra no longer had instruments for students.

After the scene, the audience applauded, enthusiastically requesting an encore. Cast members responded drolly that they were planning to continue performing, whether or not that was the audience's choice.

The encore was a sketch called the Freeze Game. They built a scene around a phrase from the audience, namely, “It’s Hammer Time.” Two cast members began constructing a house with hammers. A third then jumped into the action, dancing like MC Hammer and wearing parachute pants, a.k.a. "Hammer Pants."

“It was a blast,” Strauss said. “The crowd was better than a typical crowd … It was a really smart audience.”

Montelione agreed, “I loved the crowd. It was energetic and welcoming … It was an impressive space for a high school. I hope we get to come back,” she said.

Brian Ormiston is president of the Hinsdale South High School Foundation, the parent and alumni-led organization which sponsored the event.

“We’re one of the smaller parents’ organizations,” he said. “We wanted to do something different, that hadn’t been done before.”

One of the ideas behind bringing in the Second City touring company was that it would attract a different crowd.

“Second City has a great reputation,” Ormiston, said adding that they wanted to expose students to something new who hadn't seen a performance.

The fundraiser, which charged ticket prices of $10, $25 and $50, raised money for foundation scholarships.

“It’s the first time we’re doing something like this," said Jeff Hufford, the foundation treasurer. “It’s like going downtown and watching Second City.”

Hufford said people who came to the show definitely seemed to get their money’s worth.

“I think the improv is awesome, and I can definitely tell it was a Chicago show, said Hinsdale South Senior Melissa Nava.

Senior Maura O’Donnell said she was impressed by the singing.

“I’m glad I came," said Sophomore Jordan Urbanick.