SIN Entertainment
A Gilda By
Any Other Name
JULIE YOLLES ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
W
gree and stock broker career.
So it will be very fitting, then, on
Sunday night, when Hauser takes
the stage at the Royal Oak Music
Theatre. She'll join the Motor City
Women of Comedy in a benefit per-
formance to raise money for a new
Royal Oak facility for Gilda's Club
Metro Detroit. A free, nonprofit can-
cer support group formed in memo-
ry of former Detroiter Gilda Radner,
who died of ovarian cancer in 1989,
the Gilda's Club Metro Detroit chap-
ter was formed in 1994 by the late
Bernice Gadon, Marcia Gershenson,
PH OTO BY ANDY GREENWE LL
en Gilda Hauser's
mother named her
newborn daughter 35
years ago, she must
have been doing some serious sub-
liminal foreshadowing.
Though Hauser was named after
her grandmother Goldie, she's often
accidentally introduced as the late
comedienne Gilda Radner during
her own stand-up comedy act,
which she performs at local clubs
about four times a week — a path
she's opted to pursue full time
since abandoning her music de-
Motor City Women (and one man) of Comedy 1996: Back row — Mary Miller, Coco; center —Alyce Faye, Jill
Washburn, Stacey DuFord and Darrin Brege; front row — Maria Menorzi, Karen Bell Brege and Gilda Hauser.
Jacqueline Grekin, the late Ina
Kadish, Geri Lester, Maureen Mar-
tinez and Sherry Medsker.
In June, Gilda's Club Metro De-
troit purchased a 5,300-square-foot
house in Royal Oak. Once renovat-
ed, the building will provide a home-
like atmosphere for weekly wellness
and family groups, lectures, work-
shops and social events for children
and adults.
"When I was in college, I used to
do [Radner's "Saturday Night Live"
character] 'Roseanne, Roseanna
Danna,' says Hauser, who now lives
in Southfield. "That's when I decid-
ed to do stand-up. It started in my
dorm room at Eastern, and then my
roommate used to make me do
`Roseanne, Roseanna Danna' in the
cafeteria — I adored Gilda Radner.
I thought she was wonderful."
While Hauser may or may not
break into that character Sunday
night, there will be "Laughs Across
America" in the third annual event
and all-new production. Hosted by
Alyce Faye and Mary Miller, co-
founders of the Motor City Women
of Comedy in honor of their mentor,
Radner, this year's show will feature
the stand-up comedy of Hauser, Coco,
Stacey DuFord, Lisa Goich, Jennie
McNulty, Maria Menozzi and Jill
Washburn; sketch comedy by Karen
and Darrin Brege; and a special ap-
pearance by "General Hospital's"
Sean Kanan (A.J. Quartermaine).
"Gilda Radner was my idol for
years. I loved her," says Stacey Du-
Ford, who's been a comic for eight
years and can also be heard every
morning on WNIC 100.3 FM's
"Breakfast Club." "My grandmother
is a cancer survivor — twice. Gilda's
Club is all about attitude and mak-
ing people feel relaxed and comfort-
able. I like being a part of being able
to further that cause."
For Sunday's event, DuFord plans
to try out some new ideas suggested
by her husband, Elliot Lerner, on a
pre-midnight drive through the cof-
feehouse mania of Birmingham.
"Elliot insists that all of my best
material comes from him," she says.
"Most of the time I deny it. But, yes,
it's probably true." ❑
lit
The Motor City Women of
Comedy presents "Laughs Across
America" to benefit Gilda's Club
Metro Detroit on Sunday, Aug 25,
at the Royal Oak Music Theatre.
$75 VIP Suite Seating includes a
buffet dinner at 6 p.m.; $55 VIP
Preferred Seating and $35 Regu-
lar Seating. 7:30 p.m. showtime
and 10-11:30 p.m. dessert after-
glow. You must be 21 and over.
318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak.
Call Ticketmaster at (810) 645-
6666 or Gilda's Club at (810) 851-
6557:
Birmingham
Concert
The Wallflowers
The band that features Bob
Dylan's son will tell you about
their "6th Avenue Heartache"
on 7th Avenue at 7th House.
7 N. Saginaw, Pontiac. (810)
335-3540.
ONe
The second-to-last of this sum-
mer's outdoor series in Birming-
ham's Shain Park features the Big
Band sounds of the Sun Messen-
gers. (810) 644-1700.
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