SNL Alum Bringing Comedy Show to Theatre of Western Springs

Submitted by the Theatre of Western Springs.

Western Springs, IL - Nora Dunn will perform her one-woman comedy, “Mythical Proportions,” at 8 p.m. Feb. 13, at the Theatre of Western Springs, 4384 Hampton Ave. Tickets are $30.

Chicago native Nora Dunn is an actress and comedian known for her work on the NBC sketch variety TV series “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). Her brother is actor Kevin Dunn.

“We are thrilled to welcome Nora back to our theatre,” said TWS Executive Artistic Director Eddie Sugarman. “She visited us last year for ‘An Evening of Conversation with Nora Dunn,’ and our audience was absolutely spellbound by her. During that evening, she talked about ‘Mythical Proportions’ and she graciously accepted our invitation to return and perform the comedy.”

Some of the material in Dunn’s one woman show is autobiographical, some is loosely built on truth and other vignettes are total fiction. The common denominator is the significance to Dunn’s reality.

“It’s a comedy. Some of the things that happen in the show are tragic, but it’s a comedy,” Dunn said. “The piece that I personally like best is one about a woman who ends up killing two people, because she’d never had friends. And because she’s such an anonymous person, she ends up waiting for the authorities, and they never come. And she’s disappointed.”

“Plenty of TV stars have old stories to tell in one-person shows,” said Chris Jones in a review published in 2013 in the Chicago Tribune. “Dunn is not the type, thank God, to show clip reels of Pat Stevens. She is trying something much more rare and worthwhile. Dunn is, this show reminds us, now a gifted Chicago writer, landing squarely within the literary traditions of the city.”

Dunn joined SNL in 1985 with the return of Lorne Michaels as executive producer. The 1985–1986 season proved to be a ratings disaster, and she was one of only five cast members who were not fired at its end. The others were newcomers Jon Lovitz, A. Whitney Brown, Dennis Miller and Al Franken.

Dunn’s characters included half of “The Sweeney Sisters” lounge act alongside Jan Hooks, as well as talk show host Pat Stevens which became a popular recurring role, melodramatic French hooker Babette, and film buff Ashley Ashley from the “Actors on Film” sketch. Her impressions included Ann Landers, Imelda Marcos, Liza Minnelli, Tyne Daly, Joan Baez, Martina Navratilova, and Cokie Roberts.

Dunn appeared in recurring roles on “Sisters” from 1993–1996 and “The Nanny” from 1998–1999, as well as a guest-starring role in a two-part episode of “The X-Files” in 1998. She appeared on LOL in 2012. In the 8th episode of the 9th season of crime procedural drama “Bones,” she played author Tess Brown, a feuding rival of protagonist Temperance Brennan.

Her film work includes “Working Girl,” “How I Got into College,” “Miami Blues,” “I Love Trouble,” “Shake, Rattle and Rock!,” “Three Kings,” “Zoolander,” “Max Keeble’s Big Move,” “Runaway Jury,” “Love for Rent,” “Pineapple Express,” “and “My Suicide.” Dunn has also appeared in a series of commercials for Clorox.

Dunn graduated from the Art institute of Chicago and also studied at the Jean Sheldon Acting Workshop in San Francisco. In addition to her roles on television and film, she performs “Mythical Proportions” in theaters around the country.

The TWS Performance Series

The Theatre of Western Springs’ Performance Series provides a creative environment through a variety of art forms.

The premiere performance was a stunning performance of “The Player King” by writer/actor Darin Dahms that mesmerized the capacity audience. Since then, audiences have enjoyed Jim Peterik and the Ides of March, American English, a “Grease” sing-along, “The Bluz Brothers, Patty Duke in “Love Letters,” “The Santaland Diaries,” Another Round and “The Second City” improv troupe.

Tickets to “Mythical Proportions” are $30. Call the TWS box office at 708-246-3380 or buy tickets online at theatreofwesternsprings.com.