The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 9, 1996 - 8

Bader talks about 'Carey' show

By Julia Shih
Daily Arts Writer
It's a little past one in the afternoon, but
while the rest of the world is scrambling
around in the full swing of things, Diedrich
Bader is at home relaxing. More than a little
sleepy after having spent a
wild night at Drew Carey's
wrap party to celebrate the P
end of taping, the actor
from ABC's "Drew Carey
Show" spent a few
moments out of his busy
day to share some thoughtsV
with The Michigan Daily.
"We finished shooting (a few days ago) at
5:30 a.m.," Bader said in his tired but friendly
voice. "We did our last dance video. It was
'Rocky Horror' versus 'Priscilla: Queen of the
Desert."'
For those not familiar with "The Drew
Carey Show," the sitcom opens every week
with a creative dance routine featuring the
members of the cast.
"We're going to try to get a different open-
ing every year with a different dance number,"
Bader explained.
But as fans know, the opening is not the only
form of entertainment the show provides. The
weekly sitcom about an ordinary guy living in
Cleveland (Drew Carey) also features funny
premises, a group of talented actors (Bader
plays Carey's friend, Oswald) and occasionally,
high-profile guest stars.
"This year has been incredible as far as guest
stars are concerned," Bader said. "It certainly
helps that we're doing well in the numbers.
People that wouldn't have come on last year
want to come on this year. We're very, very

RI
Wed

lucky that way, that we get top-quality guest
stars."
For Bader, working on "The Drew Carey
Show" is a good reward after all the hard
work he has put into his career. The actor
first trained at the North Carolina School of
the Arts before moving
to Hollywood at the age
EVIEW of 21, where he did a
The Drew variety of guest spots on
shows. After successfully
arey Show auditioning for "The
ABC Drew Carey Show,"
dnesdays at 9:30 p.m. Bader has become one of
the most charming fac-
tors of the hit series.
"It's a fantastic job," Bader said enthusiasti-
cally. "We just go in and have a good time all
day. You know, I just feel so lucky that I get to
make a living doing what I like best."
Bader has also been previously seen on the
short-lived television show, "Danger Theatre,"
where he played the character "The Searcher,"
as well as on the big screen as Jethro in "The
Beverly Hillbillies."
"I had worked with the director (of 'The
Beverly Hillbillies'), Penelope Spheeris.
She was the executive producer of a series I
did called, 'Danger Theatre.' It only lasted
for seven episodes, but we really hit it off
and she really fought for me. If it wasn't for
her, I wouldn't have gotten (the part of
Jethro)."
"It was a great opportunity working with the
people that I grew up watching, like Lily
Tomlin and Cloris Leachman," Bader contin-
ued on the topic of "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Though he has proven that he is quite adept
as a movie actor, Bader would much prefer to

continue working in the television industry.
"I would love to keep doing television. It's
the only way to maintain life and make a great
living as an actor," admitted Bader. "The great
thing about TV is that you work basically 9 to
5, because this is only a sitcom. If you worked
on a one-hour show, you're never home. But if
you work 9 to 5, you can have a real life."
But being in the television business isn't all
peaches and cream, as Bader has become well
aware of the industry's tendency towards
superficiality and shallowness.
"The hardest thing about the television
industry is not true with 'The Drew Carey
Show,' which is a wonderful thing. The televi-
sion industry is almost entirely looks-based.
Everybody has to be really beautiful to work
on television, and it's one of the most galling
things that I have to deal with on a regular
basis. Because nobody in America looks like
the people that are on television, and I just
don't know what the deal is that everybody has
to be so damn beautiful. But on 'The Drew
Carey Show,' everybody looks like people that
you know, which is one of the nice things about
the show."
This characteristic of the sitcom is apparent-
ly widely appreciated by audiences all across
the nation as "The Drew Carey Show" is doing
extremely well in the ratings. With enough
momentum, the sitcom should be generating
laughs for years to come.
As for Bader's future? "I'm working on get-
ting married. I'm really happy about that, he
said.
Although Bader has already found his spe-
cial someone, you can still catch the gifted and
extremely funny actor on "The Drew Carey
Show."You won't be disappointed.

Diedrich Bader (left) poses with Drew Carey, Christa Miller and Ryan Stiles of "The Drew Carey Show."

'Wedding Band' wonderfully orchestrated.
Director turns Theatre Department production into an incredible piece of art

By Evelyn Miska
For the Daily
Love isn't easy to deal with. Add laws
and racism to the formula and things
become even more difficult. These are
only a few of the issues that must be
faced in this recent production of
"Wedding Band."
The play centers
around the 10-year '.
relationship I Sp
between a black
woman named Tn
Julia, and a white
baker named
Herman. Problems arise due to a law that
forbids inter-racial marriage and the
racist views of Herman's mother. When
Herman becomes ill with influenza, Julia
must face the question of whether she
should keep her love for Herman a secret
or risk the penalty of breaking the law by
displaying her affection. Julia is sur-
rounded by opposing views; her neigh-
bors and landlady want her to remain
quiet because they could lose their jobs

ve

and have their names tarnished if they
were to be associated with her and her
inter-racial relationship. On the other side
is Herman's mother and his sister
Annabelle, who want her to remain quiet
because she is black. Because of this,
Herman's family believes she is below
them and would tar-
nish the family's
VIE W name.
dding Band The role of Julia
was played by
blood Theatre Sophina S. Brown,
April 3, 1997 who did an incred-
ible job of portray-
ing a woman torn between silence and
honesty. She made her role believable
and couldn't possibly have been more
convincing as a distraught and heart-
broken woman as she did in her second
act "mad scene?' The only thing casting
a slight shadow on her performance
was the difficulty in understanding her
character at times. Other than this, it
was truly a pleasure to see the passion
put into her role.

Herman was played by Joshua Parrott,
who accurately portrayed a man dying of
influenza. Parrott also did a wonderful
job of showing the difficulty Herman had
with trying to remain a good and faithful
son, while at the same time remaining
faithful to the woman he loved.
Julia is surrounded by caring but
nosy neighbors and a landlady who is
the epitome of a busybody. The neigh-
bors were played by Tiffany D. Jones
and Jennifer B. White. The landlady,
Fanny, was played by Nyima Anise
Woods, who was outstanding in creat-
ing a character that evoked laughter and
anger at the same time. At times, the
self-centered behavior of Woods' char-
acter was funny, while at others her
concern for her own well-being was
infuriating.
Heather Dilly and Krista Braun cre-
ated the characters of Herman's mother
and sister respectively. While their char-
acters may not have been the favorites
of the play, Dilly and Braun were out-
standing. It often seems the characters

with some evil in them are the most dif-
ficult to portray well, but Dilly and
Braun were up to the task. Dilly was
chilling with her portrayal of Herman's
racist mother. Braun was equally amaz-
ing with her portrayal of Annabelle,
Director Michele Shay truly pro-
duced a wonderful piece of art. She
assisted the actors in creating characters
the audience could relate to and love.
There is little doubt that each member
of the audience was sympathetic to the
plight of Julia and Herman.
Overall, the cast and crew of
"Wedding Band" did an incredible job.
The show had everything necessary to
be a success. Wonderful actors, a beau-
tiful set and great music all helped t
create a touching evening. While the
issues "Wedding Band" deals with are
sensitive ones, Shay and the cast could-
n't have done a better job of addressing
such subject matter. "Wedding Band" is
without a doubt a wonderful play and a
great evening of entertainment and soul
searching.

y[I
Joshua Parrott and Sophina Brown star in Alice Childress' "Wedding Band."


1

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Self-improvement messages
grace new Teachers record

Poor Righteous
Teachers
The New World Order
Profile

If ever a rap group was deserving of
nationwide attention it's the Poor
Righteous Teachers. These three brothas
have been dropping much needed knowl-
edge since the turn of the decade when
their debut album, "Holy Intellect," was
released. Unfortunately, much like
prophetical rapper KRS-One and the
socially conscious, hip-hop singer
Speech (who released a solo album after
Arrested Development dissolved), Poor
Righteous Teachers never received the
critical acclaim they deserve for remain-
ing above the depths to which rap music
as a whole continually sinks.
And even sadder, with the release of
their well-done fourth album, "The New
World Order," Wise Intelligent, Father
Shaheed and Culture Freedom will prob-
ably still not receive deserved recogni-
tion for serving as a beacon of light
reminding the world that rap music can
be a powerful tool for social reconstruc-
tion and the demand for real justice.
The Poor Righteous Teachers are a
different brand of rap group, transcend-

ing the negative rap-artist stereotype
that many rappers stupidly try to per-
petuate. They are as real as rap artists
come, translating the negativity of their
real-life situations into a criticism of a_
hypocritical nation. "Miss Ghetto*
attacks not the ghetto neighborhood,
but rather the types of attitudes people
from the ghetto feel they must have.
"We Dat Nice" basically teaches what
Poor Righteous Teachers is all about,
saying: "We ain't just rappers. We
changin' some black situation, teachin'
this nation ... My occupation, to stimu-
late your elevation, to motivate and nav-
igate the revelation"
The Poor Righteous Teachers' philo
sophical teachings throughout "The
New World Order" are bolstered by
guest artists, also well-known for drop-
ping the mind juice on a dime. Brother
J and Sluggy Ranks appear on "They
Turned Gangsta" and KRS-One speaks
the gospel on "Conscious Style."
The songs, the interludes, the writing
on the, inside CD cover - "The New
World Order" is as powerful (and realisti-
cally pessimistic and ominous) as the LP*
that preceded it. To ignore the truth they
speak is to deny oneself the type of self-
contemplation and self-improvement we
all could stand a little bit of.
- Eugene Bowen

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