Second City Office Burnings Recall History
Tina Fey. Chris Farley. Steve Carell. Bill Murray. John Belushi.
Chicago might not be the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning these comedy legends. Yet, the city is the one thing they have in
common. It’s where they got their start.
The famed Second City Theater first introduced its genius to the world in 1959, taking the place of a run down Chinese Laundromat. Founded by
Paul Sills, Howard Alk, and Bernard Sahlins, The Second City immediately became a Chicago staple, as the improvisation comedy troupe easily generated laughs from its audiences. A Chicago Tribune article from the time of the theater’s opening referred to the charming site as the “center of comedy culture.”
As the years progressed, the theater only grew, opening locations in Hollywood and Toronto and three stages in Chicago. With many of the
theater’s alumni going off to perform on Saturday Night Live, in movies, and on Broadway, the theater drew the attraction of several aspiring performers.
Because of the theater’s fame, the burning of its offices after an extra-alarm fire caused by an adjoining restaurant caught the city’s attention last
month, causing the company to cancel shows until September 20.
Tyler Alexander, The Second City’s Vice President of Brand and Marketing, explains the severity of the damage done to the theater.
“Our offices have been pretty much mostly destroyed and are a complete loss. However, the only things that we lost in there are some personal
items, office furniture, and office equipment. The restoration process hasn’t really even begun [to this area]. We’ve done some clean up to those areas, but not a tremendous amount,” says Alexander.
The next area of the damage is smoke and water damage, affecting several of the theater’s spaces, but, luckily, leaving the stages unscathed.
“Our stages were relatively unaffected, but they did suffer some smoke and water damage, nothing that significant,” explains Alexander.
While the damage to the theater’s stages are minor, the temporary cancelling of performances came as a disappointment to the performers.
“We love performing for audiences and that’s why performers come to us and want to work at The Second City, so they can perform, and we
haven’t been able to do that. People are okay, but creatively, we haven’t been able to perform. It’s something that we all enjoy,” says Alexander.
Alexander contributes much of The Second City’s success to the performers and individuals who have gotten the opportunity to call the theater
their home.
“As far as fires go, this was probably the best possible outcome. No one got hurt and the interruption isn’t tremendously significant. There’s been
a tremendous amount of support in the community. Alumni have been very supportive on social media. All things considered, this was the best possible outcome,” says Alexander.
Any more damage to theater would have caused even more significant delays in performances and would have directly impacted the fates of
performers and students of the theater, including current Second City student, Brandon DeMuro.
A long time fan of Second City alum Steve Carell, DeMuro used him as motivation to attend the theater’s improvisation program. After attending
a workshop at the theater, DeMuro’s mind was set and he saved money to move to the city.
“It was definitely the best decision I made because the learning you get there is phenomenal,” says DeMuro.
Like many Second City performers, DeMuro hopes to one day perform on Saturday Night Live and follow in the footsteps of the several Second
City alumni who’ve made it to “the big stage.” While he admits it’s a lofty goal, he believes it’s one he can accomplish.
“The thing with Second City is because they’re so good at what they do, if you commit yourself 110% to them you can’t fail. They give you the tools
to succeed in whatever you decide to do after you’re done there. They make sure you’re ready,” says DeMuro.
A series of pictures of Second City almun cover the halls of the theater’s training center, motivating students to continue their studies and achieve
success.
“The list of alumni who’ve gone there are some of the greatest comedians of all time and for them to have attended Second City is not just
inspirational to me, but they’re an inspiration to a lot of people. The fact that they went there first and learned the ways their craft at Second City is inspiring to me,” says DeMuro.
DeMuro is only one of the several students at The Second City who hope to go on and achieve success through their studies and become one of the
theater’s famed alumni. The Second City Theater’s considers it’s student’s and performers, past and present, as the core of its success
“In between today and when The Second City started, there are hundreds and hundreds, probably even thousands of people who’ve contributed
things to this company, both onstage and offstage. It’s really remembering our people. The Second City is who we’ve got working for us and that’s really important for us,” says Alexander.