Bellobration at the United Center

I was in Chicago for the weekend for a family function, and thought I'd check out the Bello-bration. It's the Red Show-- and I hadn't seen it when it was on the East Coast, so I was glad I got the opportunity. I saw it today (last day of the stand in Chicago-- we went to the 1 pm performance.

The pre-show "All-Access Pre-Show" was hosted by clown Leo Acton. Leo is a graduate of Clown College from 1996. I was mostly astonished, because this is the first time that I've seen a Ringling Clown with his own facial hair. Granted the show had a 1970's feel, but I was pretty amazed. This would not have been allowed when I was at Clown College.

Looking around, a lot of the clowns had their own hair--less wigs than I remember. I wondered if maybe it's because a lot of the clowns are no longer Clown College grads. (But it turns out Leo Acton is-- I guess there's been a change of policy) A couple of the costumes wouldn't have passed muster back in the day.

In general the pre-show was pretty good-- the clowns did a variation on Dead and Alive with a lot of knockabout, there was a painting elephant, some hula-hooping, a great trampolining bit by a Russian clown named Alex, and a lot of clowns doing Meet and Greet. The Meet and Greet was a little lame-- standing in back of someone and making fun of them behind their back. I know that 13 shows a week gets a little hard to be original, but I thought it could have gone better. (I did get made fun of, but didn't introduce myself-- I played with the guy, and once he saw I was alive, he seemed to lose interest.)


The pre-show clown bit (with a nice little clown car used by Leo Acton again) was a Campfire Marshmallows advertisement basically-- and not very funny. Something else that didn't quite fly from a clown perspective was the group piece "Dancing with the Clowns." It started off okay, but didn't go anywhere relatively slowly. The ending blowoff (an acrobatic dancer who is much better than the bad dancers) wasn't particularly strong. Good bendover routine with one clown playing a couple as a bendover.

Once the show started, Bello is really the star. He falls in love with the aerialist, and spends the show going from act to act trying to get her to notice him. It's a good idea, and it's done well. The highlight was when Bello and the aerialist are up on twin sway poles, and he gets a kiss from her-- the whole spec turns into a Bello-bration, along with everybody including elephants, dogs, and the circus band, sporting Bello's blonde hair. It was Being John Malkovich for Bello, and very funny.

The second act was less strong, and the pretense of his love for the aerialist went away. Bello did a great act with the Wheel of Danger (it split into two side-by-side at one point-- I had never seen that!) And the show ended with the Human Cannonball-- very impressive, but oh so fleeting.

There were a bunch of good video gags in the beginning of the show-- Bello stuck in the humoungous television monitor and trying to get out. It was so clearly not live, and done a little too fast-- as if they were saying-- I know you are used to speeded up cartoons-- here you go! I enjoyed them, nevertheless

Overall it was a lot of entertainment, although once we added the "Convenience Charge" It was $30 a ticket.) It was a great night out though.

Find out more about the Ringling Red Show and the clowns mentioned by visiting their websites listed below.

RINGLING RED SHOW: http://ringling.com/

BELLO NOCK: http://www.bellonock.com

LEO ACTON: Leo Acton's Myspace Page

School of Physical Theatre, London England

The School of Physical Theatre is a full-time professional school based in London, UK, devoted to the training of physical theatre artists - writers, directors, and actors. The School offers a focused program - a voyage from the complex everyday world to its created reflection in the theatrical space.

The School was founded in 1978 in Toronto, Canada under the guidance of director and principal instructor, Ron East. It was originally constituted as a summer program, associated with Mr. East’s theatre production company. The curriculum engendered such an enthusiastic response that in 1979 the first full-time programme was instituted.

By 1984 the School was sufficiently established to become a separate organisation, and has run successfully ever since. In 1999 the school was moved to London England.

The founder and principal instructor Ron East has over 20 years of experience as an actor, director, producer, and performer. He has written 18 original plays, and worked as a television series director, taught at many colleges, universities, and conservatories, and performed at the Stratford Festival, where he was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie award for his work. He is also the author of Moving Images (currently out of stock at Amazon)

During its history the school graduated over 600 actors, dancers, writers, choreographers, directors, puppeteers and producers. Over 80% of their graduates make their living in whole or in part in the performing arts. Students have come from all over the world to study.

The school offers an intensive one year program, a summer intensive, a post-graduate program for graduates (including a pedagogical internship), and 3 weekend classes open to the public. Studies are based on the work of Lecoq (of whom Mr. East was a student) and include movement analysis, acrobatics, vocal technique, juggling, stage combat, improvisation, maskwork, commedia'dell'arte, clown, and bouffon. Students are expected to create and perform weekly in-house, and there are 3 public presentations of the work during the year.

To find out more about the school, visit their website listed below:
http://www.physicaltheatre.com

Donimo the Silent Clown

International stage and television performer Donimo (born Jonathan Baker) has an extensive background in physical and movement theatre, and has performed around the world for the past 25 years. Jonathan created Donimo by combining the ancient art of clowning with the world of silent screen comedy and the contemporary theatre techniques of Jacques Lecoq, Philippe Gaulier and Pierre Byland.

Donimo first appeared on British T.V screens with an award winning performance on Central Television's talent show New Faces, where he received the largest public vote in the history of the series. He has since appeared on a number of shows in England on the BBC and other networks, as well as on TV shows all over Europe and South America.

Donimo has appeared with a number of circuses and stage shows in Branson Missouri, Reno Nevada, Edinburgh Scotland, Atlantic City, Holland, Japan, and on the Cirque Dream Tour in North and South America. He has also been a regular on a number of cruise ship lines, and at festivals and corporate shows throughout England and Europe.

Donimo has performed at a number of celebrity party and gala's, including Prince Charles' 40th birthday party, the Birthday Party Gala of the Sultan of Brunei, and for King Hassan of Morocco and his family. He also performed at the "Sons of the Desert Anniversary Celebration" where he was praised by no less a persona than Hal Roach. He has also worked with Phil Collins, Rick Wakeman, Sir Cliff Richard, David Essex, Stevie Wonder, Freddie Star, Ken Dodd, and Cannon & Ball.

Donimo has been awarded the Gold Clown Award at the Comedy Arts Festival in Tianjin, China and is a Silver Medalist of the prestigious Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris.

Jonathan has taught circus and performing arts classes for the Prince of Whales Trust and was awarded a grant from the Queen's Silver Jubilee Trust for his extraordinary acting and teaching abilities.

To find out more about his work, please visit his website listed below:
http://www.silentclown.com

The Silent Clowns Film Series: NY

The Silent Clowns Film Series is New York's longest-running regularly-scheduled showcase for classic silent film comedy. Every show features live musical accompaniment by Ben Model and introduction and Q&A with film historian Bruce Lawton. Featured are the movies and shorts of Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, Lloyd and more.


Programs are presented on alternating Sunday afternoons from October through April every year, and are geared to the classic film fan as well as to families. The Silent Clowns Film Series is dedicated to the memory of Walter Kerr, whose landmark book, "The Silent Clowns," was the inspiration for the series. See The Book on Amazon


The next films to be presented are on Sunday, November 18 at 2 pm, when they will produce their annual tribute to neglected comics.


On the bill:

The Would-Be Shriner ('12) (Mack Sennett)
She Landed A Big One ('14) (Mack Sennett, with Wallace Beery as "Sweedie," )
All Tied Up ('25),(the Three Fatties)
Anything Once ('27) (the Three Fatties, with Mabel Normand)
Pep Up ('29)( Cliff Bowes)
Blazing Away ('28) Lloyd Hamilton
[note: as these titles are very rare and hard to access on film, this program will utilize video projection]

Also, just added to the program is a 6-minute fragment of the lost 1915 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle comedy short Fatty and the Broadway Stars. This tinted nitrate footage turned up in the collection of the National Library of Norway in 2006 and has been preserved. The footage is from reel 2 of the film and was out of order; the National Library provided a video to Ben Model and Steve Massa who then unscrambled the shots for them. This is the first public screening of this rare footage. [It will be shown at Slapsticon next summer, and
will be available for viewing on the Nationalbiblioteket's website later in 2008]

All shows are held at
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West (betw W 76 & W 77 St)
Tickets: $8 all adults, $5 for kids, seniors and members
(gallery admission to the N-YHS is a separate fee)

For more information about the film series, visit their website listed below:
http://www.silentclowns.com

For more information about Ben Model, live accompanist and producer of the series, visit his website listed below:

http://www.silentfilmmusic.com

Director's Note for We Won't Pay

Here is the director's note I wrote for the production I just directed of Dario Fo's We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! Overall, the play went very well. The set was fantastic, the lighting and costumes were great, the actors really stepped up to the considerable challenge.(In fact, Ron Jenkins, translator of the play, Dario's onstage translator and collaborator, and a clown college graduate and theatre professor) told me that he thought we really got the rhythms of Dario Fo in the play-- something that he has seen a lot of professional companies fail at. And later told the people that hired me that they really picked the right guy! -- Ron, the check is in the mail! )


Considering that I was in rehearsal beating the rhythm of the play out with a stick, I feel pretty vindicated and happy. And a lot of the clown routines I added in (including a three minute chase sequence, complete with Chariots of Fire Slow Motion) were very well received.




There were of course notes I could have given to the end (and continued to work on) but I am very pleased with how the show came out.

Anyway, here's the director's note:

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

I met Dario Fo in 1996 in Copenhagen as part of ISTA (the International School of Theatre Anthropology). Dario and Franca Rame (his wife) were presenting at the conference. I'd known who he was, and was excited to meet him of course, but I didn't really get how great he was until he spoke/performed. He was recovering from a stroke, and he apologized for his weakened state. But with each sentence he spoke he drew strength from the audience’s reactions, until 45 minutes laughter (I mean later), he had transformed into seventeen or eighteen different characters, had us eating out of the palms of his hand, and looked and sounded as strong as an ox. He spoke in Italian, and although I speak nothing more than "Ciao Bella", I felt like I understood Italian perfectly. He was that clear at communicating.

I ended up following Dario to every performance, lecture, and art exhibit he attended for the next two weeks, listening to him speak, watching him drink coffee. I'm lucky I wasn't arrested for stalking. Dario was (and is) my ideal theatre artist -- a hybrid playwright/actor/director/artist/theater owner/social activist who was (and is) equally adept at all of them, and just plain hilarious. I realized that I wanted to become Dario Fo when I grew up. Eleven years later, I haven't managed it, not by a long shot, but Dario Fo is still at the root of my thoughts about what makes compelling theatre.

We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! is perhaps Dario’s most produced play and is emblematic of his work-- a story that starts simply, but quickly gets outrageously complicated. His stories and plots have tangents, embellishments, digs at authority (the pope, the cops, and big business among them) and concrete visual images that are logical and absurd, both at once. These tangents and images push the actors to constantly engage the audience, to charm them, to conspire with them, and to entertain them.

It is amazing how relevant this 35 year old play is today. It's a story about two couples pushed to the edge by rising prices, shrinking jobs, skyrocketing crime (both real and imagined), an uncaring government, and an inability to pay for the necessities of living. In the age of the $3 gallon of gas, the $4 cup of coffee, and the $5 gallon of milk, does this sound familiar? I thought so.

I want to say thank you to EVERYONE at Theatre Fairfield. Everybody I’ve met from students to professors to other guest artists, have acted like real professionals. And of course, I must thank my talented, talented cast, who have generously given of their creativity and talent to make this show the wonderful working experience that it's been.

Enjoy the show! And to quote Dario and Franca (who are quoting Moliere) “Laughter opens the mind of the audience so that the nails of reason can be hammered in. "

I hope you leave the theater with your head full of nails.

Adam

Clown Jonas

Clown Jonas (aka Prosper O, aka John Ghysenbergh) is an internationally known performer from Belgium. He has performed in a number of countries, including an upcoming performance in Japan next week as part of the 3rd Yakumo International Theatre Festival. (See their website for additional information. (in English)


Clown Jonas uses juggling, puppetry, magic, music, and clowning to create his shows. In his street show, as Don Prosper O, he cleans up the street sort of like a Don Quixote of dust. He also has a musical clown show with another Belgian clown (Saxofien) called Allegro con Dysastro which features a number of musical disasters that the two clowns cause and then narrowly avert. There are several other shows as well that he tours through Belgium and internationally.

John is the founder and main teacher of Jonna Theater, a Belgian Youth theatre that teaches students workshops in clowning, t'ai chi, rhythm, theatre-making and much more. He has been teaching there for over 20 years, and has taught workshops internationally as well.


To find out more about John's work, please visit the Jonna Theatre website listed below:

http://www.digilife.be/jonna/
(PLEASE NOTE: The website is in Dutch, so may be difficult to follow. There is an English component to their website, but it's not complete)

Jean Peysson: Boxeur Bleu: Workshops in Mexico March 8-15, 2008

Jean Peysson is a French clown, writer, and theatre creator who lives in Lyon. Jean has written over 30 plays, numerous songs, two volumes of poetry and is currently working on a trilogy as a novelist. When he works as a clown, he works under the name Lulu.

He is also the founder and director of Boxeur Bleu Theatre, which has performed at a number of international festivals, including Okinawa, Shanghai, and others. They teach clowning, put on shows, and create theatre. Their clown show Fanfine & Lulu has received international acclaim.

Jean will be teaching a class in San Miguel of Allende, Mexico, March 8-15, 2008. The workshop is being held privately, under the auspices of a group of artists who live in San Miguel, two French people Daniel Sirdey and Florence Dengreville, and an LA Director David Hunter. The class will be about clown and also about theatre-- creating a clown character, and then using your personal life to create the story of the show. At the end of the workshop there will be a performance

To find out more about the workshop or Boxeur Bleu & Jean Peyyson, visit the websites listed below. All of the websites are only in French, so you might have a problem if you don't speak French. To the best of my knowledge, the class will be in French, with some English translation available, but the website is not clear on this point.

UPDATE: There are two portions to the workshop-- clown & theatre. The clown aspect will be taught in French, English, and Spanish if required. The theatre aspect will be working with French texts in French.

If you are having problems understanding either of the websites, I suggest trying to translate it via this webpage www.babelfish.altavista.com It's not perfect, but it will get you 80% of what you need to know.

The class costs $450 Canadian dollars, and a deposit must be paid via Paypal. The class is limited to 15 students.

WORKSHOP IN MEXICO WEBSITE: www.ateliertheatre.san-miguel-allende.com

BOXEUR BLEU WEBSITE: http://boxeur.bleu.theatre.free.fr/


You can also email Florence vipassana9@gmail.comif you have any questions.

Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk

Cirque du Soleil has created a new "christmas" winter show called WINTUK, about a city boy who craves snow, and who goes to a magical winter wonderland called Wintuk. It's playing at Madison Square Garden, which is a HUGE venue, and very unlike the expensive and beautiful tents that Cirque is used to playing.

I've read the previews which make the show sound like a typical Cirque du Soleil show, which means that I want to see it.

And the reviews have come out, and at least two of them are not very pretty:

NY Daily News

Cirque du Soleil offers a 'Wintuk' of discontent

The Cirque du Soleil brand has become synonymous with highly imaginative, infinitely energetic shows.

But after umpteen productions, even the best franchise runs out of juice.

Witness Cirque's seasonal family offering, "Wintuk," at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Clocking in at 110 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission, the show feels rushed together and as padded as a fake Santa's belly. The music is taped.

As with all Cirque shows, there's a slender narrative. Here, a city boy craves snow. His search for it takes him to Wintuk, a glacial land, which you can read about at cirquedusoleil.com. The program costs $15.

Along the way, the kid runs into unusual people, performers and oversize puppets. Youngsters might get a kick out of the crayon-colored singing street lamps and huge, shaggy white dog puppets. But they might be confused about what to make of the pink shadow of a ballerina who appears now and again. I was.
READ THE REST

and
NJ Star Ledger

Cirque surprise: it's a dud

NEW YORK -- The holiday season begins with a yawn as "Wintuk," a surprisingly duddy event from Cirque du Soleil, bowed last night at Madison Square Garden.

Failing to electrify the holiday slot left by MSG's popular "A Christmas Carol" musical, this numbing new attraction aimed for family audiences is two-hours-plus of nothing spectacular. Aside from being a waste of visitors' time and money, the show's really not much of anything else, period.
READ THE REST

Now, granted, these papers are not the NY Times, but they are usually on the money when it comes to what will appeal to their audiences.

What about you-- are you planning on seeing Wintuk? Have you seen it? Let me know what you think about the show in the comments below:

November 9-11: Conference of Hospital Clowns in Buenos Aires

From November 9-11 there will be The First Congress of Hospital Clowns at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires to teach and talk about the art and science of hospital clowning. It will be in Spanish, and all the information is in Spanish, and my Spanish isn't very good, so some of this info may be wrong-- feel free to correct me, and I'll correct the information)

The conference is being organized by two organizations: Payamédicos, and Clowns No Perecederos. Both organizations organize clowns and artists to help the sick and needy feel better in Buenos Aires. Clowns No Perecederos is a project of Argentinian clown Cristina Marti. I am not 100% sure (as I said, my Spanish isn't very good), but I think they create shows that benefit hungry and homeless kids, and help feed malnourished children. Payamédicos is an organizations similar to the Big Apple Clown Care Unit that connects clowns into hospitals.


There is a full schedule of events during the two days, and it looks like clowns and doctors from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Spain will be there. The conference will be in Spanish (naturally!)

To find out more about the conference, visit their website listed below:

http://www.congresoclown.blogspot.com/

To find out about the organizations sponsoring the conference, visit their websites.

CLOWNS NO PERECEDEROS
PAYAMÉDICOS

Portrait of a Clown as a Young Man (okay, not so young)

I sat for a portrait with Bill Wadman, a photographer working on a 365 day project. Each day he takes a portrait of a different person, and posts it. It might be a book or a calendar, or a something one day. I'm 11/02. (and the rest of the photos are even more amazing!) He's been doing this project for a whole year!

It was a lot of fun to be photographed for this purpose. I generally love getting my photo taken, and like most clowns, have been photographed thousands of times (and am probably on refrigerators and flickr accounts all over the country)

Bill was really great to work with, and he has a great eye. So much of being a good photographer is catching someone in the act of being themselves. (and hopefully fabulous)
So here's the photo that he ended up choosing of me. And then a gallery of 11 others that he took that were possibles. (our photo shoot ended up with over 100 shots-- but to get eleven that were print inclusive worthy is amazing.)

What can I say, I give good photo!

If you like the photo, please click the image to see Bill's page, and comment on it there!

	All photos by Bill Wadman for his project 365 portraits

CIRCA: Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army

CIRCA (The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army) is a very loosely organized group that creates protests, actions, events, etc, that are political (and clowny) in nature. They protest at events such as the G8 Summit, Presidential visits, and other events that they think might make a difference. Their aim is to take the ideas and actions of the clown out of the circus ring, birthday party, and stage, and bring them to the street as a method of protest. Or as they say as part of their manifesto:

"CIRCA aims to make clowning dangerous again, to bring it back to the street, restore its disobedience and give it back the social function it once had: its ability to disrupt, critique and heal society. Since the beginning of time tricksters (the mythological origin or all clowns) have embraced life's paradoxes, creating coherence through confusion - adding disorder to the world in order to expose its lies and speak the truth."

They hold training events for non-clowns to learn their techniques (both clown techniques and civil disobedience techniques), and offer advice to groups looking to form. The groups (called gaggles) are autonomous, and do their own actions and events. CIRCA provides some basic ideas about things to do at a protest, but each group is responsible for their own work.


The group seems to be mostly European based, with many of the actions that they list happening in London, and in Europe. Because of the loose structure & clandestine nature of the group, it's hard to say who is actually a member, and who is dressed at a clown as part of a protest.

To find out more about this group, and how to start a gaggle of your own, visit their website listed below:

http://www.clownarmy.org