A JBB To Do

Wine, Stories, & Serendipity
By the Bombshell

The last Sunday of every month, Chicago’s Serendipity Theatre Company (STC) hosts an evening of live music, wine, and storytelling at the intimately posh Webster’s Wine Bar. Jack Black’s own Bombshell and Oline were on hand for the most recent event.

2nd Story was created by Serendipity Theatre Company’s founding members with the aim of fusing music, wine, and storytelling into one aesthetic experience. It is an intriguing and direct approach to theatre and collaborative performance. Four stories were told over roughly two hours, each completely different than the last. And all quite unforgettable. First up was Lauren Pesca, Artistic Director of Serendipity Theatre Company, who told how she met and adopted her dog, Joplin, and how Joplin, in turn, calmed her anger toward Oprah. Jonathan Messinger, Books Editor for Time Out Chicago, told of his terrifying and oddly humorous ordeal with an anti-semetic stalker. Megan Stielstra, the head of Storytelling Development for STC, related the evolution of her perception of love and marriage culminating in the story of her own wedding, and Matt Miller, casting director for STC, began his story with “There are three things to remember when carving a giant wooden dick for your girlfriend…”

As each of the storytellers began, a flight of wine chosen to complement the piece was served. Music created by DJ White Russian, selected to highlight or deepen the emotion of each story, played softly in the background. The atmosphere was intimate and elegant, more like someone’s chic living room than a drinking establishment.

The entire effect was one of intimate exchange between speaker and listener, and the evening played out the way one hopes a cocktail party will and rarely does. Between stories, the audience, seated on overstuffed couches or around little tables, chatted, nibbled cheese, reclined, and sipped wine. We nodded and sighed and cried and laughed by turns as each story was told. Oddly, the evening had very little sense of “theatre.” Rather, we left feeling as though we had just been to someone’s home and met four fabulous new people who were good-humored enough to share their very best stories.

The next 2nd Story occurs this Sunday September 24th at Webster’s Wine Bar, 1480 W. Webster. Doors open at 7pm, admission is $10, and a flight of four wines can be purchased for an additional $5. For an evening of relaxation and reflection, this event is highly recommended by Jack Black’s Body.