Buy a shirt, help an actor, #chicagoactstogether

May 5, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Chicago-area theaters have been dark for weeks now and when they will reopen is anyone’s guess. When audiences will feel comfortable coming to see theater again is another open question. All that uncertainty has meant no work, and no income, for Chicago actors, directors, crews and other theater professionals. To help our dear theater friends, […]

Watch 2nd Act Players’ scenes from “Old Ringers”

April 21, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Scenes from the 2nd Act Players’ 2019 production of Joe Simonelli’s Old Ringers are now available for watching on the 2nd Act Players website as well as on Facebook and YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU9QYJ0HRT0lklhCwUdlizg/videos The show played to sold-out houses last year. “Old Ringers was the first comedy we did. we decided to stop asking people to think […]

2nd Act Players’ videos now on multiple sites, come watch

April 13, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Scenes from past plays performed by the 2nd Act Players are now viewable through links on two sites run by the League of Chicago Theatres and by a group called Arts for Illinois. The 2nd Act Players began posting clips from past shows in late March after having to cancel it’s upcoming May show because […]

Please share your thoughts with us

April 4, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Pundits are speculating how people will behave once the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic has past and we can leave our homes again. Will people be hungry for public entertainment events such as live theater, movies, concerts and sporting events? Or will they be reluctant to gather in large groups for weeks, months or even […]

Joe Simonelli’s “Old Ringers” scenes to appear in 2nd Act Players’ Video Vault

April 3, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Scenes from the 2nd Act Players’ 2019 production of noted playwright Joe Simonelli’s Old Ringers will soon be added to the 2nd Act Players Video Vault and start appearing on its Facebook page and YouTube channel. Old Ringers has been our most successful play in the seven years we’ve been in existence so we know […]

2nd Act Players Video Vault views top 1,000 in first 8 days

April 2, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Entertainment-starved Americans are flocking to the 2nd Act Players’ Video Vault where they can watch clips from past 2nd Act Players productions. Clips in the vault, which also are available on the 2nd Act Players’ Facebook page and YouTube channel, have been viewed by more than 1,000 since the first one was posted on Facebook […]

Veteran playwrights will judge “60 is the new 40” script entries

January 3, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

Several past winners of 2nd Act Players’ new script competitions will be among the first-round judges of scripts entered in this year’s new script competition with the theme “60 is the new 40.” Among the judges will be: Jerome Jagielski, whose play Intentions was performed in 2019 as part of the 2nd Act Players Women’s […]

2nd Act Players website sees record visitor count in 2019

January 2, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

More people visited the 2nd Act Players’ website in 2019 than in any previous year since the site was launched six years ago. The record annual visitor count, 4,634, came in a year when 2nd Act Players productions played to sold out crowds in New York as well as in its hometown of Evanston. “We […]

Deadline for “60, the new 40?” script competition changed to Jan. 8

December 27, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Entries have been flooding in for the 2nd Act Players’ 2020 script writing competition on the theme “60, the new 40?” and so the entry deadline has been changed to January 8, announced 2nd Act Players Cofounder John N. Frank. “We’ve received more than 80 entries so far, the response has been amazing. We really […]

Enter our 2020 Short-Script Competition — 60 is the new 40?

December 4, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Playwrights — enter our 2020 Short-Script Competition which we’re calling 60 is the new 40? Baby boomers have changed and redefined every phase of life they’ve passed through and they’re doing it again with old age. With more and more of them crossing the “senior” threshold every day, they’re often taking a different approach to […]