Playwrights: Carisa Barreca, Brooke Breit, Mike Kosinski, Michael Lehrer, Punam Patel, Pat Reidy, Tim Ryder and Chris Witaske. At: The Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells St. Tickets: 312-337-3992; www.secondcity.com; $31.50. Ongoing run
I've often been told to catch a Second City revue close to when it first opens. That's because the show's ensemble of writer/performers who devised most of the material is more likely to be fully intact. A few months later, sometimes replacements are called in, and those actors have the difficulty of embodying sketch roles that they didn't create.
So six months after it first opened to largely rave reviews, A Clown Car Named Desire at The Second City e.t.c. does noticeably have a few replacement actors listed in the program. But the recent performance I caught still had most of the revue's original cast intact, and the show appears to be holding up remarkably well.
As suggested by the show's title ( a play on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire ), there is a significant portion of the second act of A Clown Car Named Desire devoted to spoofing the late gay playwright Tennessee Williams. In true Second City fashion, the ensemble perform a lesser-known Williams work based upon audience suggestions for the play's symbolic title and a prominent character who makes an appearance close to the curtain. Southern drawling, hard-drinking and numerous bitch-slaps are all part of the action, plus the hint of a lurid motivations lurking beneath the characters' motivations.
The "Desire" theme is also integrated into the show's musical numbers, which has the ensemble expounding upon dreams, wants and hopes ( which more often than not are unrealistic and easily dashed ). Modern trends are also spoofed and explored by the fine comic ensemble under the skilled direction of Ryan Bernier.
There's a great sketch involving an uncomfortable older brother ( Barry Hite ) having an awkward conversation with his younger brother's male date ( the long-limbed Mike Kosinski ) for High School Senior Prom. Carisa Barreca and Michael Lehrer are also hilarious respectively as a customer seeking medical treatment from a doctor with dubious credentials at Walgreens.
Brooke Breit stands out as a woman who initially appears to be romantically duped by an online "catfish" relationship, and it's great to see Hite as the restaurant worker who is forced to pick up the woman's wrecked emotional pieces so close to closing time. Punam Patel is also fun as a jive-talking Dairy Queen manager who becomes depressed at the fact that she's so far behind career-wise to one of her past friends ( Kosiniski ) and his super-nice fiancee ( Barreca ).
But undoubtedly the most laugh-inducing sketch is of Breit, Kosinski and Hite as three American Apparel employees who try to outdo each other in terms of their hipness factor with dietary, fashion and life trends. This extended riff is perhaps the best in the whole revue.
Six months down the line, A Clown Car Called Desire is in good shape, although there is some sloppiness in the performances. Several cast members were very visibly "corpsing" ( getting the giggles ) when they shouldn't have at key moments. But that only seemed to spur the audience to laugh even more, so that's a slightly forgivable performing sin.