Playing right now next door to Second City's Main Stage revue "Red Scare" is the Second City ETC show, "From Fear to Eternity." Like the adjacent "Red Scare," as well as many ETC shows (26, in fact) before it, "From Fear to Eternity" examines what it's like to live in American nowadays, satirizing the everyday, the bizarre and the political in equal measure.
This latest offering is not quite as funny as other shows Second City has provided in the past. There are certainly delightful moments; things get off to a nice start with a date between two people (actors Peter Grosz and Jennifer Bills) with extreme emotional baggage issues (they can't even order dinner without someone mentioning a word that triggers a traumatic childhood memory). Another appealing sketch deals with the humorous ganging up of three guys on the unsuitable fiance (Matt Craig) brought to a Cubs game by the baby girl of the family.
Other moments are not so successful. As a sort of framing device for both the acts, Rebecca Drysdale leads a song that aims to be a parody of the "Wilkommen" song from the Kander and Ebb musical "Cabaret;" while the parody is recognizable, we aren't taken to the comic heights such a number could reach. A sequence with no dialogue that features an absurdly inept stage magician (Ithamar Enriquez) and his assistant also doesn't land as strongly as it might. A standout performer in an ensemble of skilled comedians is Frank Caeti, however; his sung lament about his tragic middle name almost snatches victory from the jaws of defeat during the "Cabaret" parody, and his Bible-thumping car salesman is pure comic gold.
All of these antics take place before the interesting scenery provided by Aaron Carney; we are presented with an urban skyline dominated by an enormous moon, which sometimes is backlit to resemble a total eclipse of the sun. Strong music direction by Trey Stone helps keep "From Fear to Eternity" as a viable option for Second City fans who've already seen "Red Scare."
Second City ETC at 1608 N. Wells; (312) 337-3992; $18-$19.50. Open run; 8 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. & 10 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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