DANNY’S SHOW-A-GO-GO!
Corn Productions at Danny’s Tavern
Bouwman and Todd Schaner’s ongoing drag act, Tiff & Mom, about a mother and daughter’s bitchy love-hate relationship, is hobbled by the fact that the two actors take far too long to relax into their characters. Once they do, they’re quite funny; Schaner, as the sharp-tongued mom, is particularly adept at quick, sly, cutting remarks. Unfortunately even when they’re at their best–as in their hilarious guest appearance during Shawn Martin’s musical set–they still lean a bit heavily on getting cheap laughs from the sight of men in dresses.
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THE RETURN OF NEWMAN & CLINE GRAND FOLLIES
Canapeas Productions at the Funny Firm
The Newman & Cline Dancers, reminiscent of the Solid Gold Dancers, displayed a similar ineptitude, stiffly performing choreographer Pat McDonald’s silly production numbers with all the grim determination of people forcing themselves to eat liver. Only the two strip artists in the show–Ursula Sanchez and Quinn Callahan–perform with any relish at all. Ironically, both strips turned out to be far tamer than the ones shown in the 1962 movie version of Gypsy. Quite an accomplishment that–being both sexist and not very sexy.
