The Arrowhead Center for the Arts was packed last Tuesday, March 24 to witness the 10th annual Theater Sports event. Fifteen seniors split into two teams to “compete” to see who could outdo each other in a wide variety of improvisational skits or fast moving scenes. As always, the kids were hilarious and a great time was had by all. (L-R, front) Morgan Mixdorf, Jami Sjogren, Danielle Hansen, Elizabeth O’Phelan, Emma Olfson, Brenna Hay. (L-R, back) Richie Furlong, Ava McMillan, Andrew Thompson, Ashley Berglund, Lauren Thompson, Carolina Palmer, Britta Andress, Libby Zafft, Aubry Lewis.
Ten years ago, said Michael McHugh, the Cook County senior high school graduating class was in second grade. Ten years ago, he said, Mr. Dorr had hair. And ten years ago Saturday Night Live was only in its 30th year!
With that, McHugh asked the 15 seniors participating in Theater Sports to take the stage at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts (ACA) in front of a packed house.
Before the madcap antics began McHugh thanked fellow English teacher Ivy Church. “She has been my partner for all of these 10 years and I can’t thank her enough. She has been my mentor and my friend. This wouldn’t be possible without her help,” he said.
And so it began.
McHugh ran the kids through one fast-paced improvisational skit or scenario after another. Those in attendance saw Richie Furlong give birth to sextuplets, Jamie Sjogren was the girl who talked backwards and Britta Andress robbed a penny slot machine to pay for food.
Ashley Berglund and Danielle Hansen were a scream, selling TV products that would cure amnesia. The girls would grab objects they hadn’t seen from a box below their sales table and come up with plausible—and not so plausible— reasons to buy the merchandise for $39.95.
Liz O’Phelan and Libby Zafft presented ESPN’s Not Top 10 list with Andrew Thompson, Aubry Lewis, Ava McMillan, Morgan Mixdorf, Emma Olfson, Lauren Thompson, Brenna Hay, and Carrie Palmer, coming forward to act out the sports scenes with grace and aplomb.
Or mace and a bomb.
One never knew how the kids would approach a scene.
The show, held March 24, ran for two hours. It was a fun-filled evening filled with loud laughter and ample applause.
Keith Johnstone and his Loose Moose Theater invented Theater Sports sometime in the late 1970s. Johnstone, originally from England, was teaching in Calgary, Alberta at the time. Typically two teams are judged on a scale of zero to five, although no score was kept on this night.
After the performance, the money collected at the door was counted and came to $1,400, a new record, said Ivy Church.
Proceeds pay for the college literature class’s annual theater trip to the Twin Cities. During this year’s April 17-18 trip the class will tour museums and enjoy plays at both Park Square Theater and Guthrie Theater.
Members of the two teams competing against each in a series of wacky scenes or suggestions presented to them by the audience or McHugh were Britta Andress, Ashley Berglund, Richie Furlong, Danielle Hansen, Brenna Hay, Aubry Lewis, Ava McMillian, Morgan Mixdorf, Emma Olfson, Elizabeth O’Phelan, Carrie Palmer, Jami Sjogren, Andrew Thompson, Laura Thompson, and Libby Zafft.
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