Remember when you were a kid, and you read those choose your own adventure books? You know, the books that would give you the choice between option A or option B and you would have to choose to continue the adventure? If you like those books then you are in luck, because Dada Cabaret offers their very own choose your own adventure show.
On Friday the group of musicians performed at the Acoustic Coffee House in Johnson City. The room was packed and dimly lit with all of the light focused on the performers on the stage.
The show began with the narrator saying that he did not like to do introductions, and then after explaining the rules of how to choose between the different options in the story, he launched into a wild tale. With the help of the audience he tells a story about how the character of the narrator runs away to join an eccentric cult and winds up accidentally helping them blow up a factory near the west coast.
The story just gets stranger from there, with the cult members being rescued by the Roman god Jupiter. After riding on the back of an eagle all the way across the country, the characters are dropped off at a dingy coffee shop in a mountain city, and when they walk in, they see a man on stage telling an audience that he does not like to do introductions…
Andrew Ford, the writer of the story said he would not know how to classify the types of shows Dada Cabaret does. “It’s up to other people to categorize us.”
Along with a funny skit, in between each part, there is a small musical number. The instruments in Dada Cabaret consist of an oboist, a tubist, a piano player, a percussionist, and other musical volunteers.
“The style we play is a mix,” Oboist Heather Killmeyer said. “We describe ourselves as kind of an experimental chamber ensemble. We usually do a piece featuring the instrumentalist and the vocalist. But then we try to do a different thing. There is no music for piano, oboe, tuba and tenor, so that’s why we do a lot of arrangements like that. Essentially this is a musical show interspersed with narration.”
The audience enjoyed helping the narrator choose what he should do on the adventure. With each twist and turn they were laughing at the hilarious outcomes of the situations they picked.
“This is my third or fourth show,” audience member Chloe Garner said. “I think it’s a great combination of different music and different humor that you don’t often get to hear. The guy on the little piano that did his solo, that was probably my favorite part. They’re my favorite show to come see.”
