Dada Cabaret comes to Davis

Second-year Master of Fine Arts candidate Hope Mirlis is bringing the Dada Cabaret to downtown Davis and the university. “The Dada Cabaret should make people smile, as well as think,” said Mirlis, the creator and director.

She described the May 16 cabaret as “a day of nonsensical, collaborative arts events ... that will engage onlookers and allow them to create their own Dada art.” The entire cabaret program is free and open to the public.

Technically, “Dada means nothing,” according to Richard Huelsenbeck, one of the founders of Dadaism. Yet the Dada movement has spawned all kinds of art, poetry, music and thought.

Mirlis’ inspiration came from the Cabaret Voltaire, a Zurich nightclub where the arts and anti-war politics intermingled in World War I. By some accounts, this is where Dada began, in war-neutral Switzerland, where artists protested the war by rejecting the prevailing standards in art.

By the mid-1920s, Dada artists had melded into surrealism and other modern movements. Mirlis said Dada Cabaret will draw upon Dada themes to convey a sense of chaos and irrationality.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. as “a walking tour and scavenger hunt” with four outdoor venues:

• Train station plaza, Second and H streets

• Mansion Square, Second and E streets

• Davis Commons shopping center, First Street and Richards Boulevard

• Pence Gallery, Second and D streets

What can people expect to see and hear? Modern dance; a chance puppet play; an improvisational violin and watercolor painting performance; a recitation of Hugo Ball’s Totentanz 1916, with dancers on fitness balls; music by Miss Lonely Hearts; and a socially minded silent rant.

Mirlis said the venues also will feature participatory art installations, where adults and children can create masks, photo montages, sound poetry and manifestos, “and learn more about the Dada (anti)movement.”

At 8 p.m., she said, the Dada Cabaret will open at a secret location on campus (clues to the location will be provided during the afternoon festival and on the cabaret’s Web site). People are encouraged to bring picnics.

Mirlis said evening performances will include songs from the Dada era, as well as modern takes on nonsense, dances and sound poems, plus chance surprises.

More information: dadacabaret.com.

Director's Showcase: Private Eyes

This year’s Director’s Showcase belongs to Candice Andrews, incoming Master of Fine Arts candidate. The showcase event is Steven Dietz’s Private Eyes, described on the Department of Theatre and Dance Web site as a “comedy of suspicion” about deception and broken trust.

“Plot twists and turns are framed within the context of a play within a play, revealing layer after layer. Private Eyes will have you playing the detective as you try to sort out the various stories told by the characters.”

Performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. May 28-30 and 2 p.m. May 31 in the Wyatt Pavilion Theatre. tickets are available through the Mondavi Center box office: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org.

Andrews holds a double bachelor’s degree in theater and speech communication from Colorado State University. With grant funding, she has taught around the world, in the poorest neighborhoods of India, Cuba and Africa, and in futuristic institutes and theaters in Japan and Hong Kong.

Giving her regards to Broadway — and the Vanderhoefs

Patti LuPone gives her regards to Broadway in her one-woman show Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, a public concert set for 8 p.m. May 30 in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The show’s title refers to musicals “in which she could have played, should have played, did play and will play.”

With piano accompaniment, LuPone will offer a revue from a long list of musicals, including Gypsy and Evita (she won Tony awards for her starring roles in both); Hair; Bye, Bye Birdie; Funny Girl; West Side Story; Anything Goes; and Peter Pan.

The concert honors Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, who is moving to emeritus status this summer, and his wife, Rosalie.

Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org.