Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and Conan O'Brien's former Late Night sidekick, Andy Richter. 3541 N. Clark St. (at
Addison St.). & 773/880-0199. www.improvolymp.com. Tickets $5-$14. Subway/El: Red Line to
Addison.
Second City For more than 40 years, Second City has been the top comedy
club in Chicago and the most famous of its ilk in the country. Photos of its vast
class of famous graduates line the lobby walls, from Elaine May to John Belushi
to current Saturday Night Live cast members Tina Fey, Horatio Sanz, and Rachel
Dratch.
Today's Second City is a veritable factory of improv, with shows on two stages
(the storied main stage and the smaller Second City ETC) and a hugely popu-
lar training school. The main-stage ensembles do change frequently, and the
shows can swing wildly back and forth on the hilarity meter. In recent years, the
club has adopted the long-form improvisational program pioneered by Improv-
Olympic (see above listing), which has brought much better reviews. Your best
bet is to check the theater reviews in the Reader, a local free weekly, for an opin-
ion on the current offering. To sample the Second City experience, catch the free
postshow improv session (it gets going around 10:30pm); no ticket is necessary
An Escape from the Multiplex
Chicago has a fine selection of movie theaters—but even the so-called
art houses show mostly the same films that you'd be able to catch back
home (or eventually on cable). But three local movie houses cater to
cinema buffs with truly original programming. The Gene Siskel Film
Center, 164 N. State St. ( & 312/846-2600; www.siskelfilmcenter.org;
Subway/El: Red Line to Washington or Brown Line to Randolph),
named after the well-known Chicago Tribune film critic who died in
1999, is part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The center
hosts an eclectic selection of film series in two theaters, including lec-
tures and discussions with filmmakers. The Film Center often shows
foreign films that are not released commercially in the United States.
The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. ( & 773/871-6604;
www.musicboxtheatre.com; Subway/El: Brown Line to Southport), is a
movie palace on a human scale. Opened in 1929, it was meant to re-
create the feeling of an Italian courtyard; stars twinkle on the dark
blue ceiling, and a faux-marble loggia and towers cover the walls. The
Music Box books an eclectic selection of foreign and independent
American films—everything from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kies-
lowski's epic Decalogue to a singalong version of The Sound of Music.
(I saw the Vincent Price cult favorite House of Wax, complete with 3-D
glasses, here.)
Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. ( & 773/281-4114; www.
facets.org; Subway/El: Red or Brown line to Fullerton), a nonprofit
group that screens independent film and video from around the
world, is for the die-hard cinematic thrill-seeker. The group also hosts
a Children's Film Festival (Oct-Nov) and the Chicago Latino Film Festi-
val (Apr-May) and has an impressive collection of classic, hard-to-find
films on video and DVD (which you can rent by mail).
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