Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#1
Posted: 10/12/21 at 6:14pm
Running December 21st through February 5th at The Shed
https://www.playbill.com/article/cecily-strong-will-make-theatre-debut-in-the-search-for-signs-of-intelligent-life-in-the-universe
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#2
Posted: 10/12/21 at 6:31pm
Awesome news! She and Vanessa Bayer were always two of my favorites in the recent era of SNL. I've never seen her onstage, so very much looking forward to this!
The Shed has had a really strange start as far as its theatrical programming. Very curious to see how this season plays out for them. If they play their cards right, it could go a long way to helping them become more established and respected as one of the major non-profit theatres in NY - which hasn't really been the case for them, despite throwing a lot of money and big names at their few productions thus far.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#3
Posted: 10/12/21 at 9:50pm
I've never seen her onstage, so very much looking forward to this!
This is her theatrical stage debut. No one has seen her on stage. Yet.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#4
Posted: 10/12/21 at 9:53pm
BrodyFosse123 said: "I've never seen her onstage, so very much looking forward to this!
This is her theatrical stage debut. No one has seen her on stage. Yet.
She’s done improv and sketch comedy on stage for years, not to mention SNL has a live audience, so as usual you are wrong.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#5
Posted: 10/12/21 at 9:58pmRe-read what I wrote, genius: THEATRICAL STAGE DEBUT. She’s never done a full book play before. Geez, Louise.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#6
Posted: 10/12/21 at 10:01pm
BrodyFosse123 said: "Re-read what I wrote, genius: THEATRICAL STAGE DEBUT. She’s never done a full book play before. Geez, Louise. "
No one ever suggested she had, you asshat.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#7
Posted: 10/12/21 at 10:11pm
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#8
Posted: 10/12/21 at 10:31pm
Wow, that escalated quickly.
But yes, as Totally Effed pointed out, she has performed onstage many times in a variety of settings. I never specified seeing her in a play, I said “onstage.” So yeah, if I had seen her in another live setting I would’ve counted that as seeing her onstage. Even if I had seen a live taping of SNL.
She even performed on Broadway in Celebrity Autobiography, which I guess the article doesn’t count as theatre. I wanted to see her in that show but I couldn’t attend any of the performances she did (or was it just one?)
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#9
Posted: 10/12/21 at 10:42pm
ive seen her live at Studio 8h three times, and her stage presence is nothing to be worried about (and has grown considerably since her debut 10 yrs ago)
Broadway Star Joined: 7/21/04
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#10
Posted: 10/12/21 at 10:51pm
Cecily was a child actor in Chicago so this is absolutely not her theatrical debut. She was in "House Of Martin Guerre" at the Goodman and "Fahrenheit 451" at Bailiwick among several others. I was surprised and thrilled to see the 11-year-old I music directed a billion years ago crushing it on SNL. But she's been on the professional stage many times.
Here's a review of "Martin Guerre" where she played young Bertrand.
https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/deceptive-packaging/
And one of Fahrenheit 451.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-04-07-9804070302-story.html
Playbill has gotten very, very sloppy.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#11
Posted: 10/13/21 at 6:13amWell there's also the idea that Signs of Intelligent Life is not a real play as it was specifically written around one of Lily's already established characters. Though there have been other productions, multi actor productions at that.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#12
Posted: 10/13/21 at 6:38amHow does that make it "not a play"?
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#13
Posted: 10/13/21 at 9:27am
temms said: "Playbill has gotten very, very sloppy."
In Playbill’s defense, it looks like they got it from the Times. Surprised they would make a mistake like this!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/theater/cecily-strong-claudia-rankine-the-shed-season.html
EDIT: just realized the NYT said “New York theatre debut” which Playbill maybe misappropriated. However, I would actually argue that the Times is still mistaken, as I would consider her performance in “Celebrity Autobiography” to be her New York theatre debut.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#14
Posted: 10/13/21 at 9:34amStrong also has a BFA in theater from CalArts.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#15
Posted: 10/13/21 at 12:28pmI know SNL usually takes a Christmas hiatus, but they tend to come back sooner than February. So, I’m curious how many weeks of SNL she’ll be missing for this. She also, notably, was out of SNL for most of the first half of last season to film Schmigadoon.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#16
Posted: 10/13/21 at 12:48pmLorne Michaels is very supportive of the SNL cast so he allows everyone to also work on other projects during the season if there is a scheduling issue with that other project. He’d have her do an SNL Weekend Update appearance which doesn’t require her to attend a full week of production.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#17
Posted: 10/13/21 at 1:57pm
Call_me_jorge said: "I know SNL usually takes a Christmas hiatus, but they tend to come back sooner than February. So, I’m curious how many weeks of SNL she’ll be missing for this. She also, notably, was out of SNL for most of the first half of last season to film Schmigadoon."
Lorne Michaels has never allowed his cast to do "half" or "partial" seasons- you're either in or you're out. But over the last two years (perhaps due to pandemic?) he has eased up and negotiated contracts that allowed SNL cast to take breaks for other projects. Keenan Thompson shot his series last year (but didnt miss a ton) and Cecily Strong did Schmigadoon and was out for the first few weeks of the season. This year, Kate McKinnon has been MIA on SNL (not sure what she is doing) but will be back later this season (perhaps around the time Cecily Strong takes a few weeks off in the mid winter).
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#18
Posted: 10/13/21 at 2:49pm
I also think Lorne would prefer a 50th anniversary cast with lots of seasoned performers in a couple years and that has helped him learn to be somewhat accommodating.
I love this play and almost any of the women in the current SNL cast would be great in it. Kate would be my personal first (and perhaps most obvious) choice, but Cecily I think will particularly nail the undercurrents of sadness. Heidi Gardner would also kill with the striver characters.
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#19
Posted: 10/13/21 at 5:33pm
Worth noting that Playbill has since amended their article:
https://www.playbill.com/article/cecily-strong-will-make-theatre-debut-in-the-search-for-signs-of-intelligent-life-in-the-universe
Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE#20
Posted: 10/13/21 at 5:38pm
dramamama611 said: "How does that make it "not a play"? "
That it was more of a performance piece than a real "play". There were some complaints at the time that Lily should not have been nominated for Tony for best actress in a play.
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