24 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE MAY 19, 1995

The One Thing You Can Do After You've Done Everything

hospice

Visiting Nurse Association of Cleveland

♦Compassionate nursing care ♦Pain and symptom management ◆Respite care

♦Mental health services

◆Volunteer attorneys

♦Friendly visitors

♦Bereavement services

Medicare and Medicaid Certified State Licensed

Call 931-1450

...when you need more than just the straight numbers.

Ernest Giaco

Certified Public Accountant

3255 Warrensville Center Road, Suite 204 Shaker Heights, OH 44122 (216) 561-1212

ADVANCED AUTO GLASS "Clearly the Best"

WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT & REPAIR

INSURANCE REPLACEMENT CLAIM CENTER STONE CHIP

AUTHORIZED BY MAJOR INSURANCE COMPANIES

FAST MOBILE SERVICE

TO YOUR HOME OR OFFICE

REPAIR

$24.95

OPEN 8:30-5:00 MON-FRI ■ OPEN SATURDAYS TIL NOUN

351-6880

WEST

1060 Brookpark Rd.

Between 1-480 & Broadview

EAST

6029 Mayfield 1-271 & Mayfield

EVENINGS OUT

Improv comedy troupe sneaks up with laughs

Something Dada

Improvisational Comedy Co. Cabaret Dada

Reviewed by Michael A. Miller Something Dada Improvisational Comedy Company believes in the therapeutic and healing effects of comedy. To that end, they realize contemporary comedy must expand in a healthy (which doesn't necessarily mean

To say Dada follows a format minimizes the production's dynamic. They maintained unity, however, by occasionally asking the audience to suggest an activity, a relationship, a locale, and a prop, which they created in pantomime. They did more with these contrived worlds, invisible toys, and T-shirt and jean outfits than some have done with fullscale scripts, scenery, and wardrobe. The performers crafted the improvised sketches well, owing to their focus on situations and coplayers. The production had the feel of a clever party game gone amok.

Something Dada: Brian Reed, Jim Green, Russel Stich, Patrick White, Chris Bohan, (left) Stan Morse and Jeff Blanchard.

"traditional, family value-oriented") fashion. Striving to rise above others' solutions to that challenge, the Cleveland troupe was born out of the individual company members' needs for a collective voice.

Dada fancies themselves as stealthy in their presentation. They "sneak up from behind” on their audience, then commandeer a tour-deforce from their tri-faceted platform. I suggest they watch their own backs, though, so they'll be prepared for the success that will seize them if the continue at the performance level I witnessed during their preview on May 6.

Cabaret Dada, in the lower level of the Bradley Building in Cleveland's Warehouse District, was finished and roomy enough to seat 150-200 in civilized comfort, but bohemian enough so as not to alienate the urban "chic-oisie." The set was a snooze by any decorating standard, but the muted tones of the peaked flats, wooden stools, and upstage doors were prepped to become places most would venture only in their most delicious fancies.

Where good things stem from fresh flowers.

For special occasions, or no occasion, good things stem from fresh flowers at VASE TO VASE, The Flower Store

VASE

O TOO

VASE

THE FLOWER STORE Flowers & Fine Art 10431 Clifton Boulevard Cleveland, Ohio 44102 216 631 1441

Some of the more brilliant routines were those in which one actor was required to maintain the flow of a scene by picking up where the previous actor left off. Most of the scripted material, interspersed between the improvs and appearing mostly in Act II, was more biting than that on Saturday Night Live and Second City TV at their peaks. The "Quebec Secession Movement" was especially funny, where two zealots in a canoe attempted to bully a toll out of the crew of the S.S. Minotaur on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The most poignant moment of the show for me was the company's pantomime of a day in New York City to music director Chris Telzerow's stirring performance of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind." By contrast, though, Cleveland-specific references in both the improvised and scripted presentations were an endearing quality and demonstrated Dada's pride in being the first company of this nature in the area.

Some of the material, though, was too contrived, such as the Wayne's World-esque "Munchie Show," where two stoners shared their snack recipes with their viewers. Segments that had cast members guessing plot elements of scenes were prolonged and became uncomfortable, as the actors struggled to keep the scenes moving. Overall, though, the successes of Something Dada nearly obliterate the weak points.

I observed that many of the characters created were either ambiguously or obviously gay, and the actors, all men, didn't seem inhibited about touching or physical closeness. At the after-performance party, they insisted that was not because they knew the Chronicle was going to be covering the performance. Nor were they falling back on an easy laugh or trying to degrade any segment of the population. "I'm not personally gay," said Dada cofounder Stan Morse, "but 90 percent of my friends are. My sister's a lesbian, also. So, I will never try to bash anyone for whatever their beliefs are."

Company member Russel Stich believes gay characters and gay-oriented comedy is "just another hook-like women, overweight, black, Puerto Rican comics-whatever. It's a stereotype in a sense, but it's being perpetuated by the comics themselves, which I don't think is wrong. If it's what you know, go with it. When we're looking for a character to pull, when we're doing a scene, we're looking for a character to put in that situation. Choosing a gay character has as much of a chance as choosing a black character or one of us playing a female character. It's all in the pool and you just pull out what works."

I've always believed Ohio contained proportionately as many talented artists as reputed in New York and California, but I never thought I'd see them showcased like they were in Something Dada. This company deserves every honor it will receive, if for nothing else than for setting a standard that may thrust Cleveland's performance community into overdrive. ♡

Performances are Thursday and Friday 8:30pm, Saturday at 8 and 10pm; tickets $12. Cabaret Dada is at 1210 W. 6th St. in Cleveland, phone 216-696-HaHa (696-4242).