CENTER STAGE: No Home Trainin'

The Inspiration's fall show, "No Home Trainin'," played to a full house both Friday and Saturday nights last weekend at the Nursing Education Building, causing cast members and audience members alike to declare the show the group's most successful to date. The 16-member ensemble let loose with songs ranging from Janet Jackson to older Motown, jazz and gospel, showcasing the wide range of talent and vocal specialty within the group. "We try to get a combination of everything," said College senior and Music Director Liza Horne. Strongest numbers included the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" -- which was tightened up further by solos from Horace Anderson, Pernell Williams and Athelstan Bellerand Jr -- and the haunting "Homeless" -- originally performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Paul Simon -- an ambitious number sung in English and Swahili dialect. The show was divided into three acts, bridged by two side-splitting skits and guest performances by Vertigo Friday night and by African Rhythms Saturday. The skits, modeled after MTV videos, Miller Lite beer ads, and the hilariously repetitive "Beauty Shop" stage show, had nearly every audience member on the floor. Their sendup on "Showtime at the Miss America Pageant -- Live from the Apollo" featured Law student Horace Manning in drag, while "No Home Trainin'" brought "comedy! drama! intrigue!" and too many twisted takes on stereotyped black comedy to count. On the method behind the skits' madness, founding member and show co-coordinator Damon Bradley said, "It came from radio ads for this one type of comedy that always seems to arise in the black community?it almost says that we don't even look any more at what we're watching, and if we don't demand something more intellectual, we won't get any more. The skits were funny because people in the audience could recognize the lines immediately, but there was a message with the laugh." Overall the show's innovative musical style and comedy really hit home. The show's success was evident by the sheer number of people who constantly clapped with the music and who gave a standing ovation at the show's close. The Inspiration's spring show, which traditionally attracts many of the group's alumni, promises to improve even more upon the fall success. -- Jennifer Dowling

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