Category Archives: Second City

“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 after watching THE VERDICT

Posted on February 1, 2022 by dgsweet

Just watched The Verdict for the first time since it came out forty years ago in 1982. Sidney Lumet at the top of his game, a perfect damn script by David Mamet (I can’t say how much it owes to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chicago theater, drama, film adaptation, movies, off-Broadway, playwriting, Pulitzer Prize, Second City, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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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Terrence McNally Documentary on AMERICAN MASTERS

Posted on May 28, 2019 by dgsweet

Having been involved in NY theatre since 1967, watching Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life stirred up decades of memories. Some of them involve Terrence. I can’t claim to be a close friend, but he and his work have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Second City, theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 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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Rejected by the O’Neill

Posted on February 12, 2019 by dgsweet

I have heard from a number of friends that that have received word that they will not advance to the next level of consideration at the O’Neill. It may surprise some that, even though I wrote the book about the … Continue reading →

Posted in drama, playwriting, Second City, theater, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments