Second City's 'Girls' Night Out' a fun, funny ode to women
Second City's "Girls' Night Out: Uncensored" plows unapologetically through the psyche of modern women.
No subject is off limits - not sex, not scandalized politicians and certainly not the turbulent terrain of male/female relationships.
The show, on stage at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, is not for the easily embarrassed. It is however, for women willing to laugh at themselves, not to mention their friends and mothers.
"Girls' Night Out" features a mix of sketches and improv featuring Vanessa Bayer, Claudia Michelle Wallace, Niki Lindgren, Natalie Sullivan and "token guy" Tim Stoltenberg. They skewer a vast array of topics, but refreshingly steer clear of easy targets. Except for one sketch in which a woman kills the mood with a guy she just picked up by droning on - and on, and on - about the unpleasant side effects of her chosen method of contraception, there's nary a mention of hormones.
Early in the show, a man and a woman do an elaborate pantomime date. The woman (Lindgren) clearly interprets each gesture as the prelude to a proposal, growing more and more excited until the guy (Stoltenberg) utters the scene's only line of dialogue: "I think we should see other people."
In another, a desperate woman (Bayer) pleads with an unseen employer to get her laid-off husband back to work. Why so frantic? He makes the kids go to Menard's. He follows her around turning off lights. He drives ridiculous distances to save a few cents. "Just get him out of my house," Bayer begs.
The cast is strong and works well together, though Claudia Michelle Wallace stands apart from the pack. Her command of verbal and physical comedy make several of her sketches particularly memorable. Her best skit, however, is a musical number about searching for love online. As she belts out overly optimistic impressions of the men she meets, a Greek chorus made up of the other women counters with the far-more-likely reality. "No drama," thus, becomes lives with mama. And so on. It's a hoot, a knowing ode to the way single women often delude themselves as they search for Mr. Right in a sea of Mr. Oh-So-Wrongs.
"Girls' Night Out" clearly states the show's intended audience, and on the night we went the audience was filled with groups of women out to have a good time. Interestingly enough, the show is directed by a man, Bill Bungeroth, and our Friday night audience revealed maybe a dozen brave male souls - though a couple slipped out after intermission.
Those guys should have stuck around: They might have learned something.
"Girls' Night Out: Uncensored"
Rating: 3 stars
Location: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. Fridays through Sept. 19
Running time: About two hours, with intermission
Tickets: $28.50, $33.50 for stage tables
Parking: Some street parking, free parking garage nearby
Box office: (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com
Rating: For adults (sexual humor and language)