Appearances/Events – Page 4

AARP National Event

May 152014

AARP

I spent this past Saturday morning and afternoon in Boston at the AARP National Event. And before anyone asks, I want to assure you all that I was not the youngest person there.

My wonderful partner, Shelley, and I drove to Boston on Friday, and fortunately for us, the weather held up for the drive. (I can’t say that the weather was as nice on the drive home, though, so she did a lot of the driving.) On Friday evening, Shelley and I had a fabulous visit with our friends the Novacks.

The convention on Saturday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center was jam-packed full of luminaries. Among the many were Jay Leno, Laura Bush, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Russell, and my favorite, Linda Ronstadt.

And then, of course, little old me. During my hour at a table, I signed a whopping 74 copies of my book Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion. It was great meeting so many people who wanted to read it.

A Circus Accident

May 052014

This morning I went on CNN’s “This Hour” with John Berman and Michaela Pereira. They asked me to be on as a circus expert.

If you haven’t already heard, there was a terrible accident yesterday in Providence, Rhode Island. During an aerial act in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s “Legends” show, something went wrong with the rigging equipment and eight female performers fell from a height of over twenty feet. A dancer on the ground was also injured. A few audience members caught the tragic moments on camera and have posted their clips online. The video footage is startling. Fortunately, the Ringling team responded immediately to the accident, and emergency vehicles arrived quickly. As of this morning, eight circus members were still hospitalized. CNN reports that two of them are in critical condition.

One of the young ladies, Samantha Ellen Pitard, posted on Facebook that all of them were conscious and talking, even those said to be in critical condition. My thoughts and prayers are with the performers, their families, and the entire circus community.

This is an awful and tragic accident. As circus performers, we know that such accidents are always a possibility, but because of our extreme care and safety practices, these types of things rarely happen.

This Hour with Berman and Michaela

A major question of the broadcast was whether or not dangerous circus performances should even be performed. As John Berman said, though, part of the circus is about taking risks, and as I reiterated, safety is always a huge concern with the development of any act. Safety measures are put into place as each act develops, and equipment is meticulously inspected before and after rehearsals and performances, often by the performers themselves. Yesterday’s accident seems to have been a rigging failure, and an investigation is currently underway to determine the exact cause. However, I’m positive that Ringling Brothers was thorough in their safety inspections prior to the incident and would have done anything within their power to prevent such a thing from happening.

The other guest on CNN during the segment was Luciano Anastasini, who has worked with the Big Apple Circus. Long before his time with us, Luciano suffered his own tragic performance accident. About 25 years ago he fell from a considerable height while performing on the “Wheel of Destiny.” After many years and several surgeries, he was able to recover, although his career as an aerialist was over. When he worked with us at the Big Apple Circus, he had re-invented himself. His new act is a comedy animal number featuring dogs rescued from animal shelters across the country. It’s a real crowd pleaser. He’s featured with the Big Apple Circus on the six-hour PBS documentary series “Circus.”

It was great to see Luciano, and it was also a pleasure to meet John and Michaela on CNN. I only wish it had been under happier circumstances.

Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday

Apr 262014

As I touched on at the end of my last post (read here), this past Wednesday, April 23, I celebrated William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday with members of the Lotos Club Theatre Round Table. We had a great turn out for lunch, a very active group: seven members of the Round Table were in attendance along with Anne Russell, president of the Lotos Club, who showed up for the recitation of a sonnet, and of course our brilliant, wonderful, terrific leader Gail VanVoorhis, moderator of the Theatre Round Table. As Shakespeare would say about Gail, “how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties.” Typical of Gail’s enthusiasm and love for theatre (and of Shakespeare in particular), she wanted to get the Round Table together to celebrate the Bard’s birthday.

Shakespeare Birthday Poster

The assignment was for everyone to bring their favorite Shakespeare quotes and passages to share with the group during the meal. Gail brought a ton of them, as well as her beautifully-bound two volume edition of the complete works. She also has an app on her iPhone that allows her to easily lookup and access any Shakespearean text by just putting in a few words of the passage.

I want to share some of my favorite quotes here. We should start at the beginning of a play, with one of the best opening lines Shakespeare wrote:

“If music be the food of love, play on” from Twelfth Night, Act 1 scene 1.

Another wonderful passage is …

“I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true, the empty vessel makes the greatest sound” from Henry V, Act 4 scene 4.

I instantly recognized this expression through it’s Yiddish equivalent “hok mir nit kayn chainik,” which literally translates to “don’t bang me a teapot.” What can I say? Shakespeare put it well and almost as colorfully.

Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet in the 1996 film

One of the passages I chose to recite is the famous Yorick speech from Act 5 scene 1 of Hamlet. I have a personal connection to this speech. I delivered it as a eulogy for my friend and colleague Mehdi Rios when he died. He was a precision acrobat but was also the funny man in the act. He always made people laugh in a light-hearted way, no matter how serious the subject. He was just like Yorick.

“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. […] Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chap-fallen?”

I also loved reciting the famous directions to the players from Hamlet Act 3 scene 2.

“Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.”

A lovingly altered copy of “The Chandos”
William Shakespeare oil painting portrait

Always good lessons for all actors. Just a few lines later, Hamlet goes on to say one of the most truthful expressions about the role and function of art:

“the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”

This is probably the most important instruction any artist can receive. As artists, we strive to align ourselves with the forces of nature and relay that truthfulness to an audience.

Happy birthday, Mr. Shakespeare, and thank you for your beautiful words.

The Theatre Round Table

Apr 212014

I love going to theatre. The circus is part of the larger category of performing arts, so I feel right at home in the theatre and I love attending shows and performances of all kinds. It’s a great way to spend a night in New York City.

I am fortunate to be an honorary member of New York’s prestigious arts and literary club, The Lotos Club. I participate in a small group there that meets once a month to discuss theatre.

Illustration of Mark Twain, an early member, at the Lotos Club
By Pierre Brissaud from February 1937 “Country Life”

We are called the Theatre Round Table. The Lotos Club has many different literary-based groups, like the Poetry Talk Table and the Mystery Book Talk Table. As a group of theatre lovers, the Theatre Round Table focuses on plays — all kinds — comedy, drama, and musicals. There are about a dozen members in total. Some of us, including myself, have been involved in theatre and performance, while most of the others simply adore the art. The group is led by Gail VanVoorhis, an astounding and remarkable woman. She’s a graduate of Cal Arts and taught theatre at Manhattan Marymount College. Every month Gail wows me with her knowledge and passion for the performing arts, including the Big Apple Circus.

Tony Kushner

Tom Stoppard

This past month we looked at two radio plays, one by the American playwright Tony Kushner (author of the critically acclaimed “Angels in America”) and the other by the British playwright Tom Stoppard (screenwriter of the Academy Award-winning “Shakespeare in Love”). The plays we looked at were Kushner’s “East Coast Ode to Howard Jarvis” and Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound.” Short radio plays are still performed on the BBC.

The Round Table broke up into two groups, each group took one of the short plays, and we met and rehearsed in separate rooms. We then performed our radio play on open mikes for the group in the other room. It was both fun and challenging, trying to anticipate when I needed to move up towards the microphone to deliver my next line and then quickly slide back out of the way so the next line could be read by a fellow “actor.”

This Wednesday some members of the group will be getting together for lunch in honor of Shakespeare’s birthday. Widely acknowledged as the greatest English writer of all time, Shakespeare will turn 450 this year. That’s a lot of candles!

Mark Rylance as Olivia and Stephen Fry as Malvolio in “Twelfth Night,” the most recent Shakespeare play to be produced on Broadway
Photo by Tristram Kenton

Bello Mania

Apr 052014

I had the great pleasure of being invited to attend the opening night performance of Bello Nock’s new show BELLO MANIA at the always delightful New Victory Theater.

Bello is a brilliant, internationally renowned clown and “daredevil.” He’s also a great friend. I had the pleasure of working with him at the BIG APPLE CIRCUS during four separate seasons. His repertoire includes a wide range of extraordinary acts, always performed with his unique sense of humor and warm connection to the audience.

Topping all of that, his speciality act takes place on a 42-foot high sway pole. (It looked at least 99-feet high to me!) The sway pole is his family’s trademark. He grew up training and developing his skills, first performing the act when he was only 15 years old.

Delightfully populating the stage alongside Bello in this new version of the show is a handful of talented performers. Matthew Morgan is the M.C. for the evening. He’s a bright and cheerful actor and comedian who brings vitality to what, in the hands of a lesser performer, could be an insignificant part. Especially impressive is his ability to be “present,” to be able to react with humor to whatever is happening around him onstage. He’s very clever.

Matthew Morgan
Photo by Jamie Barker

Angelo Iodice (“AJ Silver”)
Photo by James Keivom

Also in the show is Angelo Iodice, who performs as the character “AJ Silver.” He’s a cowboy from the Bronx, yes THE BRONX! After the show at the opening night festivities I playfully remarked to Angelo that he should be introduced as being from Arthur Avenue, the great Italian neighborhood and the heart of the Bronx’s “Little Italy.” Angelo said that his grandfather was actually from there! Originally trained as a rodeo trick rider, Angelo’s variety acts include trick roping, bullwhip artistry, and boleadoras. A “must see” moment in the show is his bullwhip duet with Bello. I’m not giving away the surprise ending, but I bet you’ll love it.

BELLO MANIA is a super show for families, and Bello’s own family is intimately involved in the show. Joining him onstage is his daughter Annaliese who I’ve known since she was an infant. She has become a very good performer in the air, on the high wire and with feet firmly on the ground. Bello’s wife Jennifer is the highly experienced, well-versed writer and director of the show. She is a rock of support for Bello.

After the performance I was happy to meet Heidi Brucker Morgan and Andrew Pratt as well.

I had a great time and recommend that everyone go see BELLO MANIA while it’s in town. The show runs through Sunday, April 20.

Bello Mania - Sway Pole, ELAINE LITHERLAND

Bello Nock atop a sway pole
Photo by Elaine Litherland

Phoenix Sculpture at St. John

Mar 102014

Last weekend (March 1) I joined Mary Jane Brock, the Vice Chairman of the Big Apple Circus Board of Directors, to see an amazing art exhibit at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and I wanted to let you all know about it so that you don’t miss out.

St. John’s regularly houses a collection of visual arts, but they also display travelling art exhibitions. The current exhibition that opened on March 1 is the monumental art project Phoenix by international artist Xu Bing. And “monumental” is the word! The exhibit consists of two sculptures, a male and a female phoenix, that measure 90 and 100 feet long. In case you didn’t catch that … each bird sculpture is approximately 2.5 city blocks in length! Together they weigh an impressive 12 tons, and they are currently suspended in the Nave at St. John’s. Pictures simply cannot do the birds justice, but I’m gonna try.

Photo by Hideo Sakata

Each is composed entirely of debris gathered by artist Xu Bing from amongst Beijing’s numerous construction sites that popped up across the city in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics. This is only the second time that Phoenix has been on display in the U.S., and the cathedral seems a great fit for these mythic creatures.

Photo by Joe Griffin

Phoenix - Xiao Di, courtesy of Jewish Children's Museum

Yang Xiao Di performing his “Chinese Chef” juggling act
Photo courtesy of the Jewish Children’s Museum

I attended the opening ceremony at St. John’s both to admire the exhibit and to support representatives of the Big Apple Circus who performed as part of the celebration. Tanya, Teresz and Kim performed stilt walking, and Yang Xiao Di did his “Chinese Chef” juggling routine. Philippe Petit performed on the tight wire accompanied by his fellow artist-in-residence Paul Winter. Both Xiao Di and Philippe are featured in my memoir Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion (and Other Uncommon Tales from the Founder of the Big Apple Circus).

Phoenix - Philippe Petit, photo by Fred R. Conrad

Philippe Petit walking on a tight wire to St. John the Divine in 1982 for a dedication ceremony at the cathedral
Photo by Fred R. Conrad

Also, old friend and creator of the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, Ralph Lee, performed puppetry. It was a spectacular and heartwarming event!

The Synod House at the Cathedral was an early training home to the Big Apple Circus and its school programs. Every time I visit the Cathedral it brings back waves of memories of those very humble early days.

After The Moth

Feb 182014

The Great Hall at Cooper Union after The Moth

It’s been a week since The Moth event, and I think I’ve almost fully recovered. It was an incredible night, and I was honored to share the stage with a handful of incredible storytellers. A stage, I might add, on which Abraham Lincoln once stood. Oy!

First, a correction … Last week before the event I said that Peter Sagal was going to be the MC for the evening. Well as it happened, Peter was one of the other storytellers, and oh boy, was his story excellent! As it turned out, the host for the evening was the writer and performer Jessi Klein.

Photo from Comedy Central Presents: Jessi Klein

Jessi is currently the head writer and an executive producer for the show Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central, and she’s a regular panelist on Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! And she did a fantastic job as MC. Between storytellers, Jessi shared her own brief anecdotes dealing primarily with the subject of how flirting can lead to disaster—a creative way to tie together the evening. After all, the title of the event was “Flirting with Disaster: Stories of Narrow Escapes” and last week was Valentine’s Day.

The air date is still yet to be determined, but you can be sure that I’ll tell everyone I know when the date and time have been finalized.

I don’t want to give away any of the stories that were shared last week so that you can all thoroughly enjoy them during their broadcast, but I do want to encourage you to be on the lookout for my fellow storytellers: Tara Clancy, Nicole C. Kear, Shannon Cason, and Peter Sagal.

Tara Clancy

Nicole C. Kear

Shannon Cason

Peter Sagal

When you listen to the broadcast, I’m sure you all will be as enthralled by their stories as were the 900 audience members at Cooper Union last Monday night.

A huge thanks to everyone at The Moth Radio Hour for making me (how shall I say?) sweat ….

The Moth Radio Hour

Feb 082014

As I mentioned in closing last time, I’m going to be recording a story for The Moth Radio Hour on Monday, February 10th in front of a live audience. The broadcast date has not been set yet, but the public is welcome to purchase tickets to be a part of the audience for the recording in the Great Hall at Cooper Union. This particular Moth Radio Hour is focused on stories of near danger. The event is titled “Flirting with Disaster: Stories of Narrow Escapes.” The Emcee will be Peter Sagal from Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, the NPR news quiz. On February 10th, I will be sharing an exciting story of near disaster along with four other storytellers. The recording event starts at 7:30pm, and tickets are already on sale. I would love to see some of you in the audience.

Peter Sagal, host of “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”

For those of you unfamiliar with The Moth Radio Hour, the Moth is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on storytelling, inviting both professional and novice storytellers to share exciting, extraordinary true-life events. Founded in 1997 by George Dawes Green, the Moth has hosted thousands of storytellers in dozens of cities across the country. Each event is centered on a single theme, and the evening’s storytellers approach and explore that theme from many different angles. Past storytellers have ranged from bestselling author and staff writer for The New Yorker Malcolm Gladwell to actress, comedian, former Saturday Night Live cast member and fellow Dartmouth graduate Rachel Dratch to civil rights leader and activist Reverend Al Sharpton.

For the event “Flirting with Disaster: Stories of Narrow Escapes,” I will be sharing an incident from my many years as Artistic Director of the Big Apple Circus, an incident that potentially threatened to close down the circus entirely.

The view from the podium of the Great Hall at Cooper Union

This Moth event is part of The Moth Mainstage program, the organization’s “flagship program” with events in both New York City and Los Angeles. I’m excited to be featured as one of the evening’s five luminaries, and I hope that some of you will come out to share the night with me. Remember, Monday, February 10th at 7:30pm at Cooper Union, tickets already available online.

And for any of you who can’t make it to the live event, when I find out the broadcast date I will let you all know!

Paris Festival # 2

Feb 022014

Festival Mondial - Troupe Nationale de Chine

The National Troupe of China

The other gold medal at the Paris Festival was won by an extraordinary handstand act performed by four Chinese artists from the National Troupe of China. Their balancing act involves a mechanical contraption that transforms during the final trick of the act to hoist one of the acrobats over fifteen feet into the air. Quite impressive.

the troupe after their win

One of my favorite acts from this year that did not finish with a medal but was pleasurable to watch was Les Zim’Probables. The duet of Evelyn David and Antoine Broussard is based out of France. This duo’s act is listed as “excentriques” in the program, and eccentric is no understatement for these clown characters! Their routine combines elements of visual comedy, sketch comedy, and audience interaction. I laughed out loud.

Les Zim’Probables (Evelyn David and Antoine Broussard) with Calixte De Nigremont
Photo from Les Zim’Probables

Naomi and Renaldo

And I don’t want you to get the impression that the greatest circus acts are only to be found abroad. The United States was well represented at the Paris Festival.

Kyle Driggs

Trained by the Montreal National Circus School and Circus Harmony in St. Louis, Missouri, Naomi and Renaldo received a silver medal for their classic hand to hand adagio routine. Their joint act is based upon the pair’s gymnastic training, combining the artistic forms of circus and dance with some very impressive acrobatic feats.

Also from the United States was silver medalist Kyle Driggs. Kyle began juggling in Philadelphia, and he has a very unique juggling style, incorporating both rings and a red umbrella. In fact, Kyle can juggle a set of rings while balancing his red umbrella on his chin. He has a graceful, artistic style, and he even composes his own music to accompany his acts.

VIVA LES AMERICAINS!!!

But, still … my favorite photo is: (drumroll please!)

some wonderful trapeze artists (and yours truly)

À bientôt from Paris.

One more thing. I want to alert you to my next adventure (and be sure to watch out for more information about it on this blog). I’m going to be on the Moth Radio Hour! Although the broadcast date has not been set, I’m recording it in front of a live audience on Monday, February 10th. I’m excited about this event, and I’ll be sure to fill you all in as it happens!

Paris Festival # 1 (more to come)

Jan 312014

I’m back home in New York after a fantastic week-long trip to Paris to the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. We call it the “Paris Circus Festival.” It’s officially the “World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow.” It was hosted by the Cirque Phénix in their enormous 6,000-seat venue.

the advertisement poster for this year’s festival

Why “circus of tomorrow”? It’s a festival for performers age 25 and under.

This was the 35th year of the festival, and I still find the entire experience exhilarating. The performers are the newest up-and-comers to the circus from around the world, from countries as far and wide as Venezuela, Brazil, and China. And these solo acts, duos, and troupes are incredible! Circus owners, directors, and agents are on the lookout to discover the next great circus acts, and the level of talent and fresh innovation is often astonishing. All different kinds of circus acts are represented, from tight wire to juggling to trapeze to speciality acts. And because the festival features relatively unknown performers exclusively, the original, imaginative acts that these performers come up with help to constantly reinvent and expand the contemporary circus. The festival truly does showcase the circus of tomorrow.

Aime Morales in action
Photo by Photo CLaza

The Jury, comprised of past medal winners and circus directors, judges each act in three categories: technical virtuosity, artistic presentation, and audience contact. Prizes –gold, silver, and bronze medals– are awarded … plus several more jury prizes.

I want to share with you several of my favorite acts from the Paris Festival.

One of the gold medalists of the festival, and a spectacular performer, was Aime Morales from Venezuela and his Cyr Wheel act, named of course for Daniel Cyr who is a feature act of the Big Apple Circus this year. Aime is masterful in his use of the Cyr wheel, but his performance doesn’t rely only upon his circus skill. He brilliantly blurs the lines between circus artistry and theatrical performance, infusing his routine with playful clowning and artful mime work. Lovely. There are several clips of Aime available on YouTube, and I highly recommend watching them.

Aime Morales and his Cyr Wheel
Photo by Ecole Supérieure des Arts du Cirque

Another wonderful performance was delivered by Avital and Jochen Pöschko. Avital and Jochen performed together on the swinging double trapeze at the Paris Festival, but Avital also frequently performs an aerial straps routine and Jöchen originally trained as a juggler. The Pöschkos were awarded a silver medal, and it was well deserved!

Avital and Jochen
Photos from their website

And just for fun, here is a little photographic gem from the week. The four women pictured here all won Gold Medals at the Paris Festival in previous years on trapeze. From left to right, the lovely ladies are Aurelia Kats (France), Uuve Janssen (Sweden), Darya Vintilova (Ukraine), and Elena Panova (Russia-US). And the guy with the silly grin? Well, that’s me of course.

some wonderful trapeze artists (and yours truly)

In my next blog post, I’ll talk to you about some other wonderful acts that I saw at the festival. See you soon!

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