Later this month, A&O Productions will bring a childhood hero of many Northwestern students to campus.
A&O announced that “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson will be appearing at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. as A&O’s annual Winter Speaker. Thompson is also known for his work in the film “Fat Albert” and the Nickelodeon television shows “Kenan & Kel” and “All That.”
Weinberg senior Max Brawer, A&O’s director of speakers, said Thompson should appeal to the NU community because many students grew up watching Thompson on television, noting that Thompson is the first “SNL” cast member born after the show was created in 1975.
“This is someone who has been with us for the last 17 years in some of the first movies we ever saw as kids,” Brawer said. “He starred in two of the first-ever comedy shows for youth, and then – after all that – as we grew up, he grew up too.”
Communication senior Elsa Stahura, A&O’s co-director of promotions and public relations, said she agreed that Thompson’s appeal stems from childhood nostalgia.
“I remember being a kid and watching ‘All That,’ seeing him in ‘Mighty Ducks,’ and now that he’s still on ‘SNL’ 17 years later, I think he’ll have a lot of great things for all the students here to really get in touch with,” Stahura said.
Brawer said student input played a major role in Thompson’s selection.
“We love to do something that the students want to come see,” he said. “We take a lot of stock in the A&O poll at the beginning of the year and he was in very high demand, so we were glad to supply.”
Tickets for Thompson’s show go on sale on the Norris Box Office website Friday, Jan. 20 at 10:30 a.m. Tickets will cost $10, and students will be able to purchase up to four tickets each. The venue can seat 989 people.
