The New Variety is an American

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

created and produced by Thomas Goodman and

Richard O'Donnell Richard Mark O'Donnell (born 12 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Blackpool. Having started his career with Sheffield Wednesday's youth system, O'Donnell progressed to the first team where he ...

. It was a fast-paced, ever-changing volley of acts that included

jugglers Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

, fire-eaters,

stand-up comics Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories ...

, singers, musicians, and

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

troupes. It was hailed by June Sawyer of the Chicago Tribune as a cabaret for the '90s.

History

In February 1992, producers Thomas Goodman (founder of CrossCurrents Cabaret) and R. O’Donnell (co-founder of

New Age Vaudeville New Age Vaudeville was an American professional theater troupe founded by Richard O'Donnell (playwright), Richard O'Donnell and Amy McKenzie, and was part of the Chicago comedy boom of the 1980s. History Peninsula Players' Comedy Cabaret In New ...

) teamed up to present the New Variety, located at 400 N. Clark, downtown

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Modeled after the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

of the ‘20s and '30s, the New Variety presented an evening’s worth of acts that included jugglers, fire-eaters, comics, singers, musicians, and

troupes.

Venues

New Variety Cabaret

The original location of the New Variety was the upstairs of the Italian restaurant Bellagio. Built specifically for the show, the cabaret was an elegant and intimate 100-seat theater, revealing a sophisticated art deco-style decor. The audience sat at round black tables with green and black chairs around a small black-and-white checkered stage, slightly raised. Hailed by the June Sawyer of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' as a

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

for the 90s. the bill included artistic director and host

(billed as "R."),

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

band the Vince Willis Trio,

juggler Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

extraordinaire Andy Head, drummer Donny DeMarco Jr.,

tap dancer Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...

Ayrie King,

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

by John Tamborino, and Saxophonist Sarah Underwood, followed by a crowning performance by the incomparable

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

chanteuse Barbara LeShoure.

Improv Comedy Club

In August, 1993, the New Variety moved to the Chicago Improv, (504 N. Wells) and was responsible for changing a faltering 3-ring comedy presentation into a successful variety format. The New Variety now offered a more streamlined, commercial show. Acts included artistic director & host R. O’Donnell, stand-up comics such as Paul Gilmartin (

Dinner and a movie ''Dinner and a Movie'' is an American cooking and entertainment television program aired on TBS Superstation, TBS from 1995 in television, 1995 to 2011 in television, 2011. Each episode included a movie and the preparation of a creative dinner ...

, host), Kevin Rogers, and Steve Seagren and

troupes including the all-girl Nude Coffee, the all-gay The Boys in the Bathroom, and the all-improv The

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, Ri ...

. Dr. Boom (who literally blew things up on stage) was the highlight of the evening. The Chicago Improv was a 400-seat theater whereby audience members sat at long tables in a room about the size of your high school cafeteria. Scott Seigel re-designed the original look of the stage to accommodate the New Variety's edgier feel.

Regular Acts

Boys in the Bathroom

Matt Besser Matthew Gregory Besser (born September 22, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, and writer, best known as one of the four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe, who had their own show on Comedy ...

(

, Ian Roberts,

Ali Farahnakian Ali Reza Farahnakian (born October 26, 1967) is an American actor, writer, and improvisational comedian. He is the founder of The Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT) in NYC and co-starred in the Adult Swim comedy series ''Delocated''. Life and career ...

, Adam McKay,

Rick Roman Richard Roman (August 12, 1966 - April 16, 1992) was an actor and improvisational comedian from Philadelphia. While attending Temple University, Roman began his career in comedy partnering with Paul F. Tompkins in Philadelphia at The Comedy Wo ...

, and

Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Santi ...

)
Dr. Boom
Nude Coffee
Ectomorph (Darren Bodeker, Bart Heird and Jim Kopsian)
Andy Head
Ayrie "Mr. Taps" King
R. O'Donnell (host)
Kevin Rogers
Steve Seagren
The Sound (

A cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group), Paul Mabin, Greg Vaden, Kevin Kent and Keevin Peuse
John Tamborino
Obediah Thomas
Vince Willis Trio
Sarah Underwood

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Variety American comedy troupes Theatre companies in Chicago Theatres in Chicago