Why are the Boys in the Basement?

Boys in the Basement is a story about divorced men trying to cope, often badly, with the pain and loss that divorce brings. It’s an unapologetic look at divorce from a man’s perspective, one rarely if ever conveyed on the stage before. The characters all live in the same suburban apartment building and get together […]

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Boys in the Basement show program a big draw for sponsors

Boys in the Basement opens Friday, Nov. 6 and when it does, it’s show program will be filled with a record-number of sponsor ads. “Basically we sold out the program,” says 2nd Act Players cofounder John N. Frank. “We’d have to add more pages at this point to accommodate any additional sponsors for this show.” […]

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First Improv fund-raiser a success, next one Sept. 23 in Evanston

The 2nd Act Players held its first All-Star improv fund-raiser Thursday, Aug. 20, at Little Ricky’s in Winnetka with a small but enthusiastic crowd in attendance and received a range of donations to kick off its 2015 fund-raising campaign. Our thanks to all you attended and donated funds to help us make dreams into reality […]

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Only two days left to buy your tickets, see what audiences raved about

We’ve written already about the positive audience response to the first weekend of performances for Talking with My Dad. Those came from evaluation forms which roughly half of all attendees at our first three performances filled out. In addition to answering questions, we also asked them to supply comments. Here’s a sampling of what they […]

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Tickets are going fast for Talking with My Dad’s final peformances

Talking with My Dad has only three more scheduled shows the weekend of Nov. 22-23 and the Sunday show already is sold out!! So don’t delay, get your tickets today for either of our Saturday, Nov. 22 shows. Simply click here. We hope to see you at one of our shows.

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Audiences are recommending Talking with My Dad

Roughly 84% of audience members filling out evaluation forms on Talking with My Dad during our first weekend of performances would recommend it to others, a ringing endorsement for the show. Also, an incredible 98% thought the cast worked together well and 91% liked the pacing of the story. The positives went on — 86% […]

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The audience has spoken: Talking with My Dad is a hit!!!!!

Audience evaluations from the first weekend of performances of Talking with my Dad, a dramatic new one-act play form the Evanston 2nd Act Players, were overwhelming positive. The play’s emotional messages reached people on a variety fo levels. Those who have lost loved ones said the play’s dramatic moments brought tears to their eyes while […]

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Opening Night is Tonight

Talking with My Dad opens tonight, Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston. If you still don’t have tickets, click here now and buy them before we’re sold out at all our six performances Nov. 15, 16, 22 an 23rd. Tonight’s shows are at 7:30 and 9 p.m. Each performance will be […]

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Making “Talking with My Dad.” The writing process

Moving Talking with My Dad from concept to realty meant writing it. As a professional journalist for more than 38 years, writing is second nature to me. I tend to think in headlines and intro paragraphs even in my daily life. But writing a play is far different from writing a story about heart disease […]

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Making “Talking with My Dad.” It started with life events

The genesis of what you’ll see when you come to watch a performance of Talking with My Dad goes back to a warm March day in 1986. On that Easter Sunday so long ago, my father died of a heart attack while visiting my suburban Chicago home for Easter Sunday. The shock of losing a […]

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