'One Nation Undecided'
s it enters its fourth year as Detroit's ter; a divorced couple's reunion at a Tiger
only professional improvisational baseball game; the revelations of a couple
company, The Second City has fi- about to get married; an after-election
heart-to-heart between Bill Clinton and
nally hit its stride.
The ensemble's eighth revue, One Na- Bob Dole; and the confessions of a Detroit
tion Undecided, is bold, sometimes bit- Lion.
The first sketch satirizes urban-sub-
ing, and usually funny social satire, even
if it doesn't quite hold together themat- urban differences with just the right
amount of tweaking, mostly of the sub-
ically.
I recall cringing through one of The urban side of the equation. As the privi-
Second City's early revues, which was leged teen-ager, Shelton attempts to show
rife with scatological jokes and otherwise her largesse by talking to the guy (Wade)
base attempts at humor that not even a who's been mowing her parents' lawn for
better cast could have rescued. I never years. Her first attempt to "connect" with
him falls flat, which leads her to
returned. I'm glad I did.
The synergy of The Second Illann puff up with pride. Finally she re-
treats, as she must, to what she
City players — Angela Shelton,
is — a suburban teen-ager as far
Joshua Funk, Rico Bruce Wade,
Larry Campbell, Kim Greene and Grant removed from the deprivations of urban
Krause — keeps the material, which the life as he is from her own.
The scene between two Detroit Lions
cast also wrote, humming. The entire cast
leads off the show with a jaunty tune in a locker room is straight out of an
about the "sick and twisted" people overblown Broadway musical. One Lion
who've either lived in Michigan, visit- (Funk) confesses his homosexuality to a
ed, or, in the case of Yigal Amir, alleged- teammate (Campbell), who bursts into
ly thought about dropping by. Really, you song about his own gayness and the swell
say to yourself, this state has spawned world of homosexual life.
Perhaps the most poignantly funny
more than a few kooks.
The rest of the revue races and mean- scene is between Clinton (Funk) and Dole
ders, alighting on the racial tensions be- (Krause) on the roof of the White House
tween a black suburban teen-ager and after Clinton has won a second term. As
her family's "lawn man," a black Detroi- the two men puff on a joint together, they
A
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER LARK
Hi Entertainment
Music Director Chad Krueger (at piano) and Grant Krause in The Second City's One Nation Undecided.
speak of large and small events, but in
the end are two men talking on a rooftop.
Producer Lyn Okkerse remarked that
while there isn't a unifying theme that
holds the 25 or so sketches together, the
songs at the show's beginning and end
carry a similar message: America's only
— Julie Edgar
PHOTO BY MEILA PENN
'D3: The Mighty Ducks'
Here come the bad guys.
Eden
Hall's varsity hockey
TAMAR PIECZENIK AND
team
doesn't
make it easy
DEDE JACOBS
for the junior varsity Ducks.
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
With an assol (Anent of prac-
asically, we've skated down this rink tical jokes (such as taking
before. Family movies such as Mighty them to a fancy dinner and
Ducks, D2, The Big Green and Little leaving them the bill), the
Giants all deal with the same story- varsity goes out of its way
line. Team stinks at first, loses a couple of to make the Ducks' lives
games, practices hard (with heartwarm- miserable.
The Ducks' new leader,
ing coach pep talks), and inevitably, wins.
Coach Orion (Jeffrey
But were not saying this is nec-
Nordling), is a stern
essarily bad, just downright pre-
Moults
disciplinarian. The
dictable. In D-3: The Mighty
Ducks, Charlie in par-
Ducks, directed by Robert Lieber-
man, the Ducks are back, having just won ticular, dislike his coaching
full scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, style and resent him, until
the snooty high school whose JV hockey Charlie learns about his
team has held the state title for 20 years. scarred past. In time, they
The Ducks, led by Charlie Conway warm up to him, and he be-
(Joshua Jackson), are distressed to find comes a super and sup-
out that coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Es- portive coach.
The Ducks are chal-
tevez), who started the Ducks, can no
longer lead them. Feeling a little aban- lenged to a game against
doned, they enter the school year with the varsity Warriors. As
usual, they win. Their vic-
mixed feelings.
tory is complete with action
on ice, and, of course, high suspense until
DeDe Jacobs is an 8th-grader at Sally
the Ducks' winning goal.
Allen Alexander School For Girls.
'This movie makes for good family en-
Tamar Pieczenik is an 8th-grader at
tertainment, but really, enough is enough.
Akiva Hebrew Day School.
consistency is her sheer diversity.
"The song is saying we're all unique.
One nation undecided is not a bad thing.
It's a good thing," she said.
Rated PG
B
After three same-plot movies, we say it's
time for the Ducks to hang up their skates
for good.
112
After pulling a prank on the Eden Hall varsity,
Ducks Charlie (Joshua Jackson), Julie (Colombe
Jacobsen) and Russ (Kenan Thompson) ridicule
their helpless "victims:"