“A Live Conversation with Chevy Chase" at the Adler Theatre -- December 17.
Tuesday, December 17, 6 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
On December 17, a legendary comedian and one of his most iconic entertainments will be celebrated at Davenport's Adler Theatre in the touring sensation A Live Conversation with Chevy Chase, with the famed comedy star of Saturday Night Live, Community, and Fletch sharing stories and taking part in a Q&A session alongside a 35th-anniversary screening of his beloved holiday film National lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
A native of Lower Manhattan who grew up in Woodstock, New York, Chase was a member of an early underground comedy ensemble called Channel One, which he co-founded in 1967. He also wrote a one-page spoof of Mission: Impossible for Mad magazine in 1970, and was a writer for the short-lived Smothers Brothers TV show comeback in the spring of 1975. Chase made the move to comedy as a full-time career by 1973, when he became a writer and cast member of The National Lampoon Radio Hour, a syndicated satirical radio series. The National Lampoon Radio Hour also featured John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray, all of whom, like Chase, would become members of the "Not-Ready-For-Prime Time Players" on NBC Saturday Night, which was later re-titled NBC's Saturday Night, and finally, Saturday Night Live. He received two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for his comedy writing and acting on the show, and in Rolling Stone's 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Chase was ranked 10th in overall importance. "Strange as it sounds, Chase might be the most under-rated SNL player," they wrote. "It took him only one season to define the franchise ... . Without that deadpan arrogance, the whole SNL style of humor would fall flat."
After leaving Saturday Night Live early in its second season, Chase established himself as a leading man, starring in some of the most successful comedy films of the 1970s and '80s, starting with his Golden Globe–nominated role in the 1978 romantic comedy Foul Play. Most famously, he portrayed Ty Webb in 1980's Caddyshack and 1988's Caddyshack II, Clark W. Griswold in five National Lampoon's Vacation films, and Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher in 1985's Fletch and 1989's Fletch Lives. He also starred in Modern Problems, Spies Like Us, and ¡Three Amigos!, has hosted the Academy Awards twice (in 1987 and 1988), and had his own late-night program, The Chevy Chase Show, before scoring a popularity resurgence with his role as Pierce Hawthorne on the NBC sitcom Community.
A 1989 holiday comedy and the third installment in National Lampoon magazine's Vacation series. Christmas Vacation was directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, written and co-produced by John Hughes, and stars Chase alongside Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Diane Ladd, John Randolph, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Juliette Lewis, and Johnny Galecki. Based on Hughes' short story "Christmas '59", which was published in National Lampoon, the film tells of Clark Griswold's efforts to have a good old-fashioned family Christmas as his plans take a hilarious turn for the worse. As the final film in the series to involve Hughes and National Lampoon, Christmas Vacation grossed $73.3 million against a $25 million budget, and is now recognized as a Christmas-comedy classic.
A Live Conversation with Chevy Chase takes place in Davenport on December 17, the 6 p.m. screening of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation will be followed by an on-stage talk and Q&A session with Chase and his wife Jayni, and admission is $42-92, with $253 VIP tickets include premium seating and a post-show photo opportunity. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 and visit DavenportLive.com/the-adler-theatre.
