The Second City Presents THE SECOND CITY'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH SHOW

The Second City proudly celebrates Black History Month with a special engagement of The Second City's Black History Month Show, featuring iconic scenes written and created by the theater's lauded African American alumni, which include Keegan-Michael Key, Sam Richardson, Amber Ruffin and more. The show is directed by Second City alum, Resident Director, and Associate Artistic Director of the Training Center, Anthony LeBlanc. The castfeatures performers Andy Bolduc, Terrence Carey, Asia Martin, Maya Haughton, Seth Thomas, Rob Wilson, and Lilliana Winkworth. The creative team also includes Dionna Griffin-Irons (Producer), Marques Stewart (Music Director), Abby Beggs (Stage Manager), Claudia Michelle Wallace (Casting Director), and Joe Ruffner (Line Producer).

Featuring archival scenes dating back to the 1990s with poignant relevancy about race, class and gentrification, The Second City's Black History Month Showwill include classic scenes like "Porches," written by Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Netflix's Friends from College) and Nyima Funk; "Gourds" written by David Pompeii and Craig Cackowski; "Rasheeda," written by Angela Shelton (Frangela); "Mother Son," written by Sam Richardson (Veep, Detroiters) and Edgar Blackmon (Freeform's Alone Together); and "Outblack," written by Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers).

Other notable African American alumni who started their early careers in comedy with The Second City include Robin Thede (BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede) and Chris Redd (Saturday Night Live, Netflix's Disjointed.).

"Audiences in 2018 will be surprised to see that material created by our alumni is ever more relevant and topical now," said Donna Griffin-Irons, show producer and The Second City's Director of Diversity and Inclusion. "This show is a timeless treasure and reason to celebrate our alumni during Black History month."

In 2002, Griffin-Irons and fellow Second City alum Claudia Wallace teamed up to curate and direct Words, a showcase of twenty-six poets, comedians, improvisers, musicians and dancers who hailed from Chicago's North and South side neighborhoods. Words became an annual hit, performing in Donny's Skybox Theater for five years before branching out to annual festivals until 2010. The platform helped elevate The Second City's ongoing mission to increase diverse representation on its stages. The 2018 engagement of The Second City's Black History Month Show was suggested by cast member Seth Thomas(The Defiant Thomas Brothers), who appeared in the original 2002 production of Words.

The Second City's Black History Month Show will be performed on Wednesdays, February 14, 21 and 28 at 8pm at The Second City e.t.c. Theater, located at 230 W North Ave, 2nd Floor of Piper's Alley, Chicago.

Tickets, priced at $20, are available at the Second City Box Office (230 W. North Ave, First Floor, Piper's Alley), by phone at 312-337-3992 or online atwww.secondcity.com.

About The Second City Diversity and Inclusion Program

Since 1992, the Diversity and Inclusion program has upheld Second City's ongoing commitment to introducing the improv art form to diverse voices, underserved communities and developing new talent. Under the leadership of Dionna Griffin-Irons, the program provides annual audition opportunities, summer intensives, ensemble shows, and forges new partnerships in the community. A 2014 teaming with NBC Universal launched D&I's flagship program, the Bob Curry Fellowship, which is awarded to 16 exceptional candidates each year. The Bob Curry Fellowship is offered bi-annually at Second City Toronto with an inaugural Hollywood program launching at The Second City Hollywood this summer. NBC Universal also partners with the annual Break-Out Comedy Festival, now in its fourth year, which showcases the country's freshest comedic voices in stand-up and improv.

About the Artists

ANTHONY LEBLANC (Director) is from Beaumont, TX. He performed with Boxaganga while obtaining a Computer Science and Physics BS at Loyola University New Orleans. LeBlanc wrote two Second City Chicago Mainstage revues, America: All Better and Taming of the Flu, as well as directed for the Second City Touring Company and etc Stage.

DIONNA GRIFFIN-IRONS (Producer) is Director of Diversity and Inclusion for The Second City U.S. and Canada. A Second City Detroit alumnus with more than 18 years of experience as a performer, producer and facilitator, she has taught 200+ workshops at colleges, women's shelters, corporate boardrooms and worked with the United States Embassies in Norway and Latvia to introduce improv as a tool for social change. Griffin-Irons spearheads the Bob Curry Fellowship and the NBC Universal Emerging Voices scholarship. Her diversity and inclusion work has appeared in Diversity Journal and has been featured on NPR, ABC, NBC, and in numerous academic posts, including a 2015 TEDx Talk at University of Chicago.

MARQUES STEWART (Musical Director) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and and has performed as a musical director/accompanist for the Second City Chicago, MCL Chicago, and Stage 773. Outside of the improv community, Stewart worked on the first three seasons of Fox's Empire as a featured musician alongside Grammy-nominated rapper Snoop Dogg and actor Terrence Howard. Stewart received a B.A. from Morehouse College and an A.M. from the University of Chicago.

ANDY BOLDUC (Ensemble) is an actor, improviser, and writer from Bangor, Maine. He performs frequently at the Annoyance Theater, iO, ImprovAcadia, and with his sketch comedy group, Cigarette Sandwich. Bolduc is represented by Gray Talent Group and El Centro Management.

TERRENCE CAREY (Ensemble) comes from Madison, Wisconsin, and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Theater and a concentration in Acting. A member of The Second City Touring Company, he has previously appeared in Second City productions #DateMe, Legendary Laughs, and Improv All-Stars. Carey can also be seen performing or teaching workshops all over the city with the improvised spoken word collective he co-founded, PREACH!

MAYA HAUGHTON (Ensemble) is currently in the casts of Matt Damon Improv, Trigger Happy and Barrel of Monkeys Productions. Maya has previously worked with Improv Asylum and Second City Theatricals.

ASIA MARTIN (Ensemble) is originally from Washington D.C., and moved to Chicago to pursue acting and comedy. Upon graduating from DePaul's Theatre School in 2015, she has done shows and readings at Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Timeline, Court, The Playground, The Crowd, The Revival, The Annoyance and Goodman Theatre. Catch her around town doing stand-up about her cats, partying with her spoken word improv troupe, PREACH, and making funny sketches with Huggable Riot.

SETH THOMAS (Ensemble) is a comedian who hails from Oakland, California. Thomas is a graduate of the theater program at Clark Atlanta University, as well as The Second City Training Center Conservatory. He currently performs with his comedy duo The Defiant Thomas Brothers, winners of the Best Sketch Award at the 2005 HBO Comedy Fest. Thomas is also the creator of "Technique For Unique Characters" which he teaches in Chicago and at festivals and theaters nationwide.

Rob Wilson (Ensemble) was born Queens, raised in Virginia, and came to Chicago to improvise with the best. His favorite projects include NBC's Chicago Fire, working on the Chicago premiere of Bootycandy, written and directed by Robert O'Hara, and playing "Edison" in The Death of Thomas Edison at NYC International Fringe. He is also an ensemble member of Baby Wants Candy and Shamilton.

LILLIANA WINKWORTH (Ensemble) also plays at iO Chicago with the Harold team The Teenagers and at CIC Theater with house team The Falls.Winkworth is part of the two-person writing team Todd's Friend Todd, which produces sketch video content for the iO Comedy Network and co-created the original web series Kill Me.

About The Second City

Since opening its doors 1959, The Second City has grown to become the world's premier Comedy Club, theater and school of improvisation, entertaining 1 million theatergoers a year around the globe. Alumni of The Second City's resident stages, touring companies, and theatrical divisions include some of the biggest names in entertainment, and in addition to the sold-out shows playing nightly on resident stages in Chicago and Toronto, the comedy empire has staged productions with a wide range of illustrious creative partners and theatre companies, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Goodman Theatre, Center Theater Group Los Angeles, Portland Center Stage, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, La Jolla Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and even the Chicago Bulls.

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