Due to popular demand, The PTC is bringing back its “Ho-Ho-Holiday Revue” for one night only, with a performance on Sunday, February 4th at 7:00 pm. This event will also be available for remote viewing via Livestream. Tickets range from $25 to $35 for theatre and tables seats, with Livestream available for $10.
The “Ho-Ho-Holiday Revue” is staged in a classic variety show format in the PTC’s inimitable style: a throwback to the TV variety shows of the 1960s and early ’70s, featuring sketch comedy, improvisation, stand-up comedy, and music in an evening of sophisticated adult fun. The show touches on everything from the current political scene to mother-daughter relationships, the Greek gods, the Titan submersible disaster, the Supreme Court, Judge Judy vs. Donald Trump, and some classic PTC sketches. Plus, lots of upbeat, soulful, music from Steve Rashid & the Studio5 All-Stars.
Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at the show.
The show stars Barrosse, Victoria Zielinski, and Dana Olsen — backed by a jazz quartet led by the PTC’s longtime musical director Steve Rashid. Adding to the fun are vocalist Ms. Maura and veteran stand-up comedian Emilia Barrosse, whose TV writing credits include HBO’s “VEEP” and TruTV’s “Tacoma F.D.”
The Practical Theatre’s Musical director Steve Rashid, Emilia Barrosse, Dana Olsen, Victoria Zielinski and PTC Artistic Director Paul Barrosse can’t wait to entertain you at Studio5 in Evanston for the holidays!
Want to know how Charlie Brown is feeling nearly 60 years after “A Charlie Brown Christmas” first aired on television — back when there were only 3 networks? Here’s a hint. He’s worried about the state of American democracy. (In a funny way, of course.)
Speaking about the state of American democracy — how about the state of the U.S. Supreme Court? The PTC’s “Ho-Ho-Holiday Revue” features the court’s all-female liberal minority singing a classic Motown melody about their resolve to be a check on the conservative majority. (Don’t mess with these ladies!)
Of course, the gods must weigh in over the holidays — and Zeus, the supreme master of the universe, is in a holiday funk. Why should the almighty Olympian Zeus be depressed during the Christmas holidays? Come to Studio5 to find out!
Tickets are now on sale for The Practical Theatre Company’s latest comedy revue — another in a series of nearly-annual holiday presentations. For tickets, click here. Performances at Studio5 run from Dec. 28 to 31 and Jan. 4 to 6.
The Practical Theatre’s “Ho-Ho-Holiday Revue” is a throwback to the TV variety shows of the 1960s and early ’70s, featuring sketch comedy, improvisation, stand-up comedy, and music in an evening of sophisticated adult fun. Tickets range from $30 to $45, and seats for the New Year’s Eve show range from $45 to $55.
The show features a mix of comedy sketches, original satirical songs, and holiday standards presented like you’ve never heard them before – and will touch on everything from pickle-ball mania and the current political scene to mother-daughter relationships, the Greek gods, the Titan submersible disaster, the Supreme Court, “thoughts and prayers,” Judge Judy vs. Donald Trump, and select, classic PTC sketches. Plus, lots and lots of upbeat, soulful, holiday music that will make it hard to resist dancing in the aisles.
Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at all shows.
The show stars Barrosse, his wife and fellow PTC member Victoria Zielinski, and screenwriter and fellow Northwestern alum Dana Olsen. The cast will be backed by the jazz quintet, The Studio5 All-Stars, led by the PTC’s longtime musical director Steve Rashid. Adding to the fun are blues and soul vocalist Ms. Maura and veteran stand-up comedian Emilia Barrosse, whose TV writing credits include HBO’s “VEEP” and TruTV’s “Tacoma F.D.”
“Vic & Paul & Dana’s Funny Summer Show” is midway through its run at Studio5 in Evanston. There’s one more show tonight, June 25 at 7:30 — then four more shows next week, Thursday through Sunday.
As always, Studio5 features adult beverages and acres of free parking. The PTC provides the laughs.
This Practical Theatre comedy revue includes new sketches, a jazz quartet and a groovy dance troupe.
Here’s what the Evanston Roundtable had to say…
Three talented performers, dare I say senior citizens, who are proven comedians have returned to Evanston from successful careers in Hollywood.
As part of Practical Theatre Company, they have put together a comedy revue, Vic & Paul & Dana’s Funny Summer Show: an hour and a half of clever sketches with professionals who know how to deliver a line.
Victoria Zielinski, Paul Barrosse and Dana Olsen have a long history together, and it shows in how they interact on stage, always in sync and milking laughs from each other.
Barrosse and a group of fellow Northwestern University students originally founded the Practical Theatre Company in 1979. After some success in Chicago, members of the group were hired by Saturday Night Live for the 1982 season. They were young and their humor was edgy and about having fun with current events and politics.
Their material is still about having fun, but the topics they focus on are now geared to older audiences: computer confusion, pickleball, health conversations, community fights and subjects that might seem mundane but are actually fodder for comedy.
Their sketch about ChatBot artificial intelligence taking over their jobs as comedy writers, starts the evening. The side effect polka sketch, song and all, is a hilarious medical commentary. And a pickleball sketch, complete with older guys proving their masculinity over a challenge competition, is a witty take on today’s pickleball craze.Meanwhile, another conversation centered on complaints about potholes leads to a more savvy political satire.
Comedy takes energy, and the performers need some breaks in-between sketches. Their creative solution is to have three young women provide dance interludes, and also serve as stage hands as they move pieces of the set around during their dance moves.
It’s nice to know ahead of time that the entertainment is going to be an evening of good humor with skilled performers and plenty of laughs. I recommend going to “Vic & Paul & Dana’s Funny Summer Show” with friends and leaving together in good spirits!
Welcome back to Evanston, Practical Theatre Company, and welcome back Zielinski, Barrosse and Olsen.
Evanston comedian Emilia Barrosse to perform in her hometown this weekend
By Myrna Petlicki
Pioneer Press
May 08, 2023, at 5:05 pm
There were lots of laughs around the table at mealtimes when Emilia Barrosse was growing up in Evanston and then Woodland Hills, California. That’s to be expected when your parents are comics Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski, Northwestern graduates and founders of The Practical Theatre Company, a Chicago comedy troupe that flourished in the 1980′s and whose members are currently enjoying a residency at Studio5 in Evanston.
“They were so funny at home but I never knew that they were comedians because they put that all on the shelf when they became parents,” Barrosse said. “My dad coached my soccer team. My mom was always there to help me with homework. They never told stories about the old days.”
Barrosse noted that her parents were pleased when she decided to study journalism at Northwestern University.
“I don’t think my parents wanted me to go into comedy,” Barrosse said.
But those family roots were too strong to be ignored. Barrosse has become a successful comic, touring the country to share her humorous reflections. She will be doing that at “Standup Comedy Night,” in Studio5 at 1934 Dempster St. in Evanston at 8 p.m. on May 13 and 6 p.m. on May 14. Tickets are $15; $20 for cabaret seating. For tickets, visit tickettailor.com/events/practicaltheatre.
Barrosse’s comedy career began when she was working as an assistant on the TV show “Veep.”
“It was really kind of like a Cinderella story,” Barrosse related. “The joke submission process for ‘Veep’ was blind. A bunch of writers would punch up the scenes with extra jokes. On the sixth season, I decided to start submitting jokes. Immediately they all started getting used but no one knew it was me. For a few weeks, I’d be standing on set holding everyone’s coffee during the show while they read out my jokes.”
Eventually, Barrosse got the courage to tell several of the writers that she had written those jokes. That’s how she became the youngest staff writer on the hit show for “Veep’s” seventh and final season in 2019.
Barrosse began sharing her humor long before that, though.
“Starting in high school, I knew that I had to be funny,” she recalled. “I went to an all-girls Catholic school and I didn’t really connect with the girls there on an interpersonal level but I realized that I could get people to like me if I made them laugh.”
It was when Barrosse was attending Northwestern, where she was surrounded by people who did comedy, that she realized it could be a career.
Standup has turned out to be a successful career for Barrosse who performs all over the country.
“I want to share my ideas with people,” she explained. “I’m constantly coming up with thoughts that I feel I want to tell people. Some of the topics that people like that are my favorites are Trix Cereals, Mount Rushmore and Go-Gurt and the Grand Canyon. Really random topics that you probably haven’t heard standup about before.”
Barrosse has moved back to Chicago, as did her parents. She said that she decided, “Why not live in my favorite city and be a part of this next revival of The Practical Theatre Company that I missed originally.”
It helps that Barrosse is really close with her family. In fact, her comedy performances are part of The Practical Theatre Company’s residency. Her dad, Paul Barrosse, will host the May 13 show; another Practical Theatre Company member, Dana Olsen, will be the host on May 14.
Two other comics will open for Barrosse: Carla Collins, Sothern California Motion Picture Council’s “Comedian of the Year,” and Josh di Donato, who has opened for Sarah Silverman, Dave Chappelle, Margaret Cho, and many other top comics.
In addition to her busy performing schedule, Barrosse is continuing to write.
“I’m working on two scripts — one with a writing partner and one that’s about the last three years of my life since the pandemic, which is the most personal script that I’ve ever written,” she said.
And she is very involved with her parents’ work at Studio5. Barrosse is “on book” to help her parents with lines when they are rehearsing, she attends rehearsals and offers them notes, and she goes to all of their performances.
“My parents are my best friends and most people are like, ‘How?,’” Barrosse said. She explains to them, “You don’t have comedians for parents.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
If you live, more specifically, on the North Side of Chicago.
And if you live, to be exact, on the North Shore – and you have any appreciation for great musicianship, classic film comedy, and an adult cocktail — then there is only one place to be with your loved one this weekend.
On Sunday at 6:00 PM, you must be at Studio5 in Evanston to hear Maestro Larry Schanker play live scores to 3 film shorts by the great silent comedians Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Paul's Voyage of Discovery & Etc. 