One of the longest lasting traditions in the Toronto theatre scene are the annual holiday shows put on by the team over at legendary institute Second City. Started in Chicago over 65 years ago, Second City has become a proving ground and training space for some of the hottest talents in comedy and performance. The Toronto outpost of Second City has only been around since 1973, but since its modest beginnings on Adelaide Street and its more widely known space at The Old Fire Hall on Lombard, holiday and year end revues have been a staple for both in house and touring companies alike.
Now, in their still relatively new home at a luxurious new multi-theatre space at One York Street (opened in 2021), Second City Toronto is embarking on their most ambitious holiday schedule to date, and it offers something for theatre goers of all ages and persuasions.
“I have my own fond memories of these shows, because I used to be on stage at Second City, and my first show that I created was a holiday show back when I was in the touring company,” says Etan Muskat, Artistic Director for Second City Toronto during a zoom call late last month when asked about the importance of holiday shows for the company. “For the last couple of years, we’ve put up a couple of different holiday shows, and this year we’re doing three, which I think is the most we’ve ever done at once. We have a main-stage show, the touring company is putting up a show with a bunch of original material, and we also have a kids show, which is really exciting.”
The three different shows offer up different experiences for everyone, with one offering some classic sketches and material, one of entirely new stuff, and a third aimed at a younger audience than one might expect from boundary pushing improv comics.”
“Our main stage show, called Rizz the Season, is a best of show full of really fun improv, and we’ve pulled together a real all-star cast for it, just because it’s a special occasion and limited time thing that we might’ve not been able to bring to our stages otherwise,” Muskat says about Second City Toronto’s holiday centrepiece for this year. “We have Ann Pornel, who’s well known from The Great Canadian Baking Show, who’s an alumni and someone I’ve had the pleasure of working with before. We have Franco Nguyen coming back, who’s fresh off of Tallboys. We have Alex Tindl, Michelle Hart, and Ben Sosa-Wright, who are all wonderful comedians that have been active in this city for a long time. And then we have Zoe Marín, who’s still an up and coming actor and comedian who just rounds out this fun and versatile cast. It’s very playful, and it’s a bit naughty. It definitely has an adult cabaret kind of vibe. And they’re such a seasoned group that there’s a lot of play between them. Every night they’re finding new things to change and tweaking little moments here and there. They’re so great, and they’re always discovering new things. It’s like being at a holiday party where everyone’s just going for it.”
“Our national touring company show is called Let It Snowball, and it’s a really lovely group of performers who just started working together, maybe just about a month ago. A lot of this show is original material that they’ve written together. I would say the energy of that is a little sillier. There’s a bit more absurdism, which is a lot of fun to watch, and a lot more experimentation, but they’re such a charming group of performers that we’ve been excited to assemble. Our touring company ensembles really just hit the ground running. They always find new ways to channel their talents, and it’s a delightful show to watch.”
“Our kids show is something we haven’t had the pleasure of doing for the last few years, and we’re excited to be doing one again. It’s called Rudolph Runs Wild, and it’s our adaptation of a show that was created at the Chicago Second City. It’s just a really fun time for the family, with a lot of improvisation and audience interaction. If you’ve seen any of our social media posts, I’m going to say there’s no less than one inflatable costume,” Muskat says with a hearty laugh. “I can’t say quite how many there are because I don’t want to ruin that. And it’s such a great introduction for younger audiences to the world of live theatre and improvisation. It’s an afternoon show, and it’s only an hour so the more active kids can only stay in one place for so long. We have such a wonderful cast for that show, and there’s lot’s of music and fun and games. It’s a terrific afternoon out.”
The idea of Second City staging a family show isn’t anything new. In fact, many legends from stalwart Second City troupes of old, including Dan Aykroyd and John Candy, got their start in part from performing in front of younger audiences. As Muskat describes, it’s a very different, but useful skill set for a performer to have, especially when it comes to improv, an art based upon taking scenarios as far as they can go. And no one can take scenarios further and more fantastical than kids.
“Historically, we used to have this thing called Family Co., which is where we sent younger performers and improvisers to cut their teeth,” Muskat says about the Second City tradition of crafting shows for kids. “That’s changed, and I think we’ve taken a much different view of it now. There are some performers whose sensibilities – or possibly just one aspect of those sensibilities – really does play well towards family friendly audiences. We built this cast with a combination of alumni, established, and emerging performers. Our director of the show, Mark Andrade, said he wanted to create a cast of characters where when a kid sees their face, they feel excited and delighted. We didn’t necessarily set out to find people who would have to fight their instincts to remember it was a family show and they have to keep things clean, but what we did want were people who would thrive in that kind of space. There are a few parents in that cast, so they can kind of imagine the fun of playing to their own families. And although improv is always about taking things further and further, we want to show that there are ways of going in that direction that are inclusive for younger audiences. We’re not looking to scandalize or bewilder children,” he jokes.
Part of the fun of the holiday shows at Second City is that they happen at a perfect time to bring in talent from a variety of different places. With television and film production slowing down somewhat as the end of the year approaches and new endeavours often happening in the new year, the holiday shows are a great chance to bring alumni talents back to the Second City stages.
“Being able to bring alumni back is a really valuable thing for Second City,” Muskat says about dipping into talent pools of the past. “We’ve often thought of ourselves as a launchpad for emerging creators to develop their instincts, generate some material, and interact with audiences. And the path is usually that we launch those people, and they go off into the world to make their fortunes, but it’s delightful to bring alumni back. And with a lot of these holiday shows, it’s a shorter run and contract, which makes it easier for us to bring in some familiar faces from the past at these shows. They’re really just from about the end of November and up until New Year’s before they close and everyone is on to the next season of programming. That’s an ideal situation for an alumni when they maybe aren’t working on a television show or project that’s shooting or being staged in December.”
But the ambitious nature of putting on not one, but three different shows that will run simultaneously in the same space does take a lot of coordinating. Unlike a lot of the revues that occur throughout the year at Second City, the holiday shows aren’t as reliant on topical, of the moment humour that often needs to be honed and re-written on the fly and as world events change. Like most comedic, sketch, and improv based productions, things are changed and tweaked over the run of a show, but the holiday offerings require a lot more advanced planning to ensure everything is in the right place.
“This year, in particular, we really needed quite an on-ramp because we were putting up so many shows, with all of them essentially starting at the same time,” Muskat notes about the challenges of Second City Toronto’s ambitious schedule this year. “Those conversations begin almost a year in advance, and it starts with building the schedule as the base. Then we put together the cast and crew. Then it goes on to coming up with titles and artwork, and then the directors start coming up with the vision for their show, and decide if it’s going to be archival material or original material. Then starts the process of finding scripts and ideas that go well together and fit the theme of the show as a whole. We’ll then go to the actors to check in with them and ask what kinds of things they would want to do and what ideas they have. And we’ll then start to firm up the casts and see who works well together in what scenarios.”
“With the touring company show, they go through and do a lot of writing,” Muskat continues, noting a key difference between the two core attractions for adults this season. “They actually had a series of shows throughout the fall where they would put up those premises and develop them in front of an audience before finalizing the show itself. That’s a different and interesting part of the process where we test out material in front of a live audience to make sure it’s strong, funny, and satisfying as it can be.”
“Both kinds of shows take a lot of different roads and a lot of planning, and all of that intensifies as we get closer to opening. And typically – like all live theatre – there’s some kind of mad scramble to the end, but this year things went refreshingly smoothly, knock on wood. Everyone is so positive and aligned, and all of the creators and performers had very clear ideas what they wanted to put up across all three of our shows. It’s been a delight to work on them.”
In addition to the shows themselves, part of the charm of seeing something at Second City Toronto also comes from taking in their impressive multi-stage space. Located in an almost hidden away part of what seems like an everyday retail space, Second City Toronto is like stepping into a hidden bit of comedic history. People can take in a show (or two) or just stop by for a drink (or two) in the in house restaurant, The Bentwood. And with multiple shows going on at the same time as Second City Toronto is also renting out theatre space to other travelling shows and running their own legendary training classes, the vibe in the building is always rich with character, experimentation, and most importantly, a sense of genuine community.
“It’s quite different from any other space we’ve had,” Muskat beams with happiness when complimented upon their latest address. “Second City Toronto has made work of any number of different spaces, many of them not intended for use as theatres, the iconic Old Firehall most specifically, which I think was our longest lasting venue. This space is unique in that we have our main stage, our Theatre 73, and our black box theatre that’s associated with our training centre, which is the John Candy Box Theatre. Our classrooms are all in the same space, too, as well as the bar and restaurant out in front. It really makes for a full experience. The other night we had our main stage show happening, then in Theatre 73 we had a different touring company show going on, and then there was a student jam in our box theatre. All in all we had about four hundred people in the space and it felt so alive. And we also had the opening night party there. It was such a great feeling of community. There were a lot of performers in the space alongside emerging talents and students and audience members, and it’s a great place for all those worlds to mix together. It’s also a great place for a holiday party to happen amid all of the atmosphere. It’s a joy to book these shows that kind of cross over into each other in the space. Every room has a different experience, but there’s a shared experience being in the space itself.”
“One of the real delights of our casts when they’re playing at the top of their game, the audience gets to feel like they’re in the presence of extremely talented friends. You can feel that bond on stage and the fluid creativity they have with one another. While it’s still a show and everyone takes the live performance aspect seriously, there is something about being on stage that conveys the excitement of being together. There is a sense of community that comes from watching live comedy, in particular.”
Rizz the Season, Let It Snowball, and Rudolph Runs Wild are all currently staging at Second City Toronto. For tickets, information, and dining packages, check out their website.
