Category Archives: improvisation

As You Kink It

Posted on September 5, 2022 by dgsweet

Because of serendipitous scheduling, I saw Kinky Boots on a matinee and the New York Shakespeare production of As You Like It that night. Kinky Boots is about a guy who gets to say and do some things because he … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, improvisation, musicals, New York, off-Broadway, theater, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Hyprov”

Posted on August 24, 2022 by dgsweet

I remember someone bringing up Whose Line Is It Anyway? to Del Close, the Chicago improvisational theater master. A student said something to Del about the players on the show flying without a net. Del retorted, “They may be flying … Continue reading →

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Watching a TV series reminds me of a play I saw in 2007

Posted on July 27, 2022 by dgsweet

Watched an oddball but extremely affecting British miniseries on Britbox tonight called Don’t Forget the Driver starring Toby Jones (in two roles) and co-written by Jones and Tim Crouch. The plot concerns a bus driver in Bognor Regis who discovers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Chicago theater, improvisation, movies, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Second City, television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“American Buffalo” on Broadway

Posted on May 20, 2022 by dgsweet

In 2001, I served on a grand jury. At one point, an ADA played for us a recording from a wiretap. It was a conversation between two members of a violent drug gang. One was assigning the other to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, improvisation, playwriting, Second City, theater, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Thoughts Triggered by “Next Stop, Greenwich Village”

Posted on October 13, 2021 by dgsweet

I’ve been working on a revised edition of Something Wonderful Right Away, my oral history of the founding and early days of Second City. It was originally published in 1978 and, inevitably, many of the people I interviewed for the … Continue reading →

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Life Sucks

Posted on March 29, 2019 by dgsweet

Once upon a time, when a musical opened on Broadway, it was common for a combo to release an LP (everybody remember what an LP is?) of jazz impressions of the score. Shelley Manne released Jazz Performances of Songs from … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, Chekhov, improvisation, off-Broadway, playwriting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Second City and the President

Posted on March 4, 2019 by dgsweet

I’m working on a new edition of Something Wonderful Right Away.  Here’s an excerpt of a new passage: The satiric voices that first were heard at Second City once made mock from the sidelines.  Today, satiric comment from Second City … Continue reading →

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