For the cast of Doper Than Dope, watching the early '90s sketch comedy TV show In Living Color was a formative experience. In addition to being edgy and often hilarious, In Living Color stood apart from other comedy shows of the time by featuring a cast made up primarily of people of color, which had a big impact on many of its viewers, including a young Ronnita Miller.
"As a student of comedy," says the Doper Than Dope head writer, "it's very important to me to see people that look and act like people I know represented on screen."
The other writers (all the cast members of Doper Than Dope pull double duty as sketch writers) concur. "It touched us and affected us and inspired a lot of our comedy today," says actor/writer Maggie Maye.
It was that love that inspired producer and director Adrienne Dawes to create a show that pays homage to In Living Color. Like its inspiration, Doper Than Dope will feature sketches, a DJ, and even a "fly girl" dance team, but it's not a recreation or a cover version -- this new live show features all new characters and sketches created by the cast. They're going for a similar feeling (the show's even vaguely set in the early '90s), but the show's all-new.
See 'Doper Than Dope' through August 6 at The Institution Theater.
