Jeff Fast Facts |
name: Jeff Richmond birthday: January 7th, 1960 alma matar: Kent State University siblings: I know he has a sister spouse: Tina of course! married June 3rd, 2001 children: Alice Zenobia Richmond, b. September 10th, 2005
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WEBMISS: Ashley I am not associated with Tina Fey, NBC, Broadway Productions or anything else mentioned throughout the site. . |
Jeff also played the piano in the SC group The Family for four years and in 2004 he was a contributer to the latest Second City book (left). Most recently he has been the musical director in Saturday Night Live and wrote and produced the song "Hated", performed by Nikki Cleary, for the Mean Girls soundtrack and is now working on 30 Rock with wife Tina.
Review for Slaughterhouse:
Slaughterhouse 5, Cattle 0
Second City Mainstage
Tickets: 312-337-3992
Open Run
Now entrenched in its fifth decade of performing comedy revues, the Second City mainstage has just opened its 85th revue, Slaughterhouse 5, Cattle 0. The ensemble of three men and three women gamely mugs its way through some inspired satire for which the company is so well-known, ending their show with a touching all-ukulele musical number which is a startling counterpoint to the caustic, sometimes volatile comedy that precedes it.
Directed by Jeff Richmond, the revue opens with a jibe at a can't-miss target: Ameritech. The scene progresses predictably, with a frustrated customer wreaking physical violence on the poor haggard employees. It's a crowd-pleaser to be sure but falls remarkably flat perhaps because of the ease with which one can skewer the phone company. The scene is followed by one of the strongest of the show, a three-woman effort with Sue Gillan in a Denny's introducing two of her future bridesmaids to each other: one Black, and one Jewish. Gillan is particularly strong as a white Suburban woman who can't comprehend that not everyone fits racial stereotypes. Nyemi Funk and Tami Sagher play off her very well.
Racial tension is a recurring theme in the piece. While the cast is not as integrated as their breathren on the e.t.c stage, Nyemi Funk, who replaced Angela Shelton shortly after the revue opened, dominates the show with strong African-American characters. A veritable carousel of racial stereotypes meets us as we follow the campaign of Presidential candidate Mark Brown - played to the hilt by Rich Talarico - who proclaims himself as "the world's biggest asshole." The running gag is that we laugh at the outdated stereotypes we meet on stage, with the sobering realization there are plenty of people who believe in them. This powerhouse of satire is preceded in the show by a continuing parody of Mark Brown's political commercials which wears thin quickly, becoming a one-joke exercise slowing down the pace of this mostly solid revue.
Many other scenes range from the startlingly unfunny escapades of Captain Monkey Paw imploring Grandpa to get out of the tree (one gets the impression of trying too hard) to an inspired imagining of the down-and-out jobs that famous writers had to endure, the most disturbing and humorous being the vision of Maya Angelou writing collection notices. The majority of scenes gives us exactly what we have expected from Second City for over 40 years: solid characterization and intelligent comedy. It fits like a comfortable old shoe. We feel like we've been through this territory before. That is a distinct problem with much of this production, and given the astounding success of the landmark revue "Pinata Full of Bees" five years ago as well as its successors, there's the feeling that this cast and this theater can still do much better. Still, the show is packed with much of what has made Second City the most famous comedy theater in the world and for that alone, this revue is highly recommended.
