page_title: The Practical Theatre Company
section_title: Megafun
hierarchical_section_title: The Practical Theatre Company / History / The Piper's Alley Theatre and Saturday Night Live / Megafun
caption_attribution_description: English: "Megafun" cast photo: (Bottom) Victoria Zielinski -- (Middle) Richard Kind, Jane Muller, Lynn Anderson, Jeff Lupetin -- (Top) Tom Virtue, Jamie Baron (1983)
context_page_description: The Practical Theatre Company was a Chicago-based theatre company founded by Northwestern University students and active throughout the 1980s. Its productions included new plays, satiric agitprop, rock and roll events, and a series of successful improvisational comedy revues. The PTC, whose motto was "Art is Good", is notable for the fact that the entire cast of its 1982 improvisational comedy revue, The Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee was hired by Saturday Night Live.
  At its peak in the mid-1980s, The Practical Theatre Company operated two theatre spaces: the 42-seat storefront John Lennon Auditorium in Evanston, Illinois and a 150-seat cabaret in Piper's Alley at North & Wells in Chicago. During that period, with its run of hit improvisational revues, the PTC briefly rivaled The Second City as Chicago's leading comedy troupe.
context_section_description: The PTC's second improvisational comedy revue at Piper's Alley, Megafun, opened on March 24, 1983 and became the company's longest-running, most successful show to date. Featured in the cast were Tom Virtue, Richard Kind, Victoria Zielinski, Jeff Lupetin, Lynn Anderson, Jamie Baron and Jane Muller.  To have followed its breakthrough national success with another critical and popular hit established The Practical as arguably the preeminent comedy company in Chicago.
caption: Megafun (1983)
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