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. `WW.%:.• za 7622. Weil,, T hUi'sR,6 p.m. Thurs., 7 p.m. k‘iwsitz\kk .0.3,TaAra,