Laughing has many health benefits, such as improving circulation, reducing stress hormones, and freaking out birds. Grow stronger with each giggle with this GrouponLive deal to see Second City's Laugh Out Loud tour at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan on Friday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. For $23, you get one ticket for reserved seating in orchestra rows K–Z or balcony rows A–P (up to a $46 value, including all fees).
Second City, Chicago’s beloved comedy institution, brings a fresh crop of tomorrow’s biggest stars on the road on the Laugh Out Loud tour. For more than 50 years, the famed sketch-comedy school has introduced the world to a cornucopia of famous and influential comic talent, including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, and Gilda Radner. In its live touring show, teams of future-famous performers fill the Genesee Theatre stage with their finest scripted sketches, witty songs, and improvised tomfoolery. From topical humor to sketches collected from years of hit shows, the troupe weaves comic tapestries out of prepared material and the audience's suggestions to craft an immersive show that connects performers to viewers by their funny bones. On the way to their seats, visitors can marvel at the Genesee's hyper-accurate restoration, with every chandelier crystal, ornate molding, and coat-check flapper refurbished in line with the theater's original 1920s movie-palace glory.
Genesee Theatre
Genesee Theatre began its life with a sellout. Opening its doors on Christmas Day 1927, it welcomed audiences to four sold-out movie screenings, but those flickering stories weren't the only attraction. A $25,000 pipe organ—and that's in old-timey dollars—immediately caught the eye, while Italian marble, a stunning chandelier, and the building's Spanish Renaissance–style architecture dazzled.
Over the years, many changes occurred, the glamorous quotient rising or dipping with the times and the theater closing altogether in 1989. But when it reopened again in 2004, it was back in full force. Antique chandeliers and fixtures of the period had been brought in from around the country, the luxe carpet had been re-created from a 1927 photograph, and all the dust bunnies had been sent packing with generous severance packages. Yet not all the updates were of the old-fashioned sort: the stage was doubled in size, and cutting-edge technology was brought in to give the theatre's high-voltage visitors, from comedians to musicians, the star treatment.