Page 44 - the NOISE July 2015

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S CIRCUS
THIS JULY IN THEATRE
STORY BY CLAIR ANNA ROSE PHOTOS BY GEAN SHANKS
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S CIRCUS
Circus Bacchus takes to the Orpheum’s stage with an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream — playfully dubbed A Midsummer Night’s Circus.
Theperformancecombinestheaterandcircustobringthe Fairy Queen and the surrounding tale to life in a new way. “Hippolyta is a belly dancer and we open prior to the opening
of the original play with Hippolyta ruling the amazons,”“Evil Mastermind” and Circus Bacchus Director Esther Smith says. “Helena is a stilt-walker literally throwing herself at Demetrius. The play within a play features jugglers who try not to drop their lines nor their balls. Puck will mischievously deliver lines from 20 feet up the silks. Bottom and Titania perform dazzling tricks on the trapeze and there are many surprises to come. This show will include some adult humor, but no nudity and is aimed to be “PG-13.”
Circus Bacchus member Kevin Hagberg is the lead juggler for the circus. He first got a taste for juggling at the age of 13 at a summer camp, and his interest was rekindled at the age of
19. By chance, his sister shared a Circus Bacchus casting call for jugglers and he’s been a member for three years. He tells me a little more about Midsummer Night’s Circus. “It’s a scaled back version of the play. There’s a heavier influence of dance, aerial and circus arts. The play is the framework of the showcase.”
Mr. Hagberg plays the role of Peter Quince, the director of the play within the play Pyramus and Thisbe. He tells me there will be a lot of juggling and comedy, “I get to be a bad actor on purpose, so I’m excited about that,” he says. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, we’ve been doing read-throughs for about a month now. Midsummer is really interesting for us because about half of us have never done theater before. It’s been an interesting adjustment period. The other half has a lot of theater experience.”
A Midsummer Night’s Circus will take place at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday, July 25 at 8PM. CircusBacchus.org
THEATRIKOS BRINGS THE FULL MONTY
Every now and then Theatrikos brings a musical to the stage of the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse, and the artistic committee has selected The Full Monty, the musical, for the 2015 season.
Director Jan Rominger tells me how the artistic committee chose The Full Monty. “We were scratching our heads trying to figure out a good one and we had a couple that came up that just didn’t excite us as a group and when I said, ‘Full Monty — the Musical,’ everyone kind of perked up — so the artistic committee thought it was a great choice,” she tells me.
“They Americanized it for the Broadway stage. It has about 15 musical numbers and mostly men, though there are some very important women — the wives and girlfriends and of course the women who want to see the men go the Full Monty. There is some dancing, but most of it is done to honor the fact that these guys aren’t Broadway performers. These Buffalo, NY guys get laid off from a steel mill and they’re trying to figure out a way to make money. Times are hard and their wives are going to the Chippendale’s every Monday night and having a blast. Two of the guys cross paths with a Chippendale dancer who is making thousands of dollars a
night and they decide maybe they can do this.”
What Ms. Rominger likes about the heart of the story is that the men are not performers, dancers or strippers. “The money kind lures them in to thinking they can do it and then they begin to doubt themselves because they become insecureabouttheirphysiques,”thedirectorexplains. “That’s an interesting element of the story, I think, because I know many women are probably suffering through that in their lifetime and the media brings attention to the women who are feeling that. There’s a whole song about the men feeling insecure about their bodies, and embarrassed and not sure if they can go do this event they’ve been practicing that they know is going to be able to help them pay their mortgages.”
The Full Monty opens at the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse, 11 W. Cherry Ave, on July 24 and will play through August 9. Theatrikos.com
KIDS RUN AWAY ...
This summer Theatrikids offers workshops for children ages 4 to 19. Director Joseph Maniglia tells me a little more about the summer offerings. “There are two performance workshops
— the first is The Wizard of Oz and is currently in production. The next performance workshop will start mid-July and is for 12 to 19 year olds. We will be performing Les Miserables Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15 at 7PM and then Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16 at 2PM.
Participants will get to experience all aspects of putting on a show — costuming, choreography, acting, set design, and lighting. “We try to make our camps all about the full experience, not just performance, but creation, rehearsal, teamwork then of course the theatrical & performance side,” describes Mr. Maniglia.
In between productions weeklong workshops for children age 4 to 12 will be held and will cover a variety of topics. Starting Friday, June 26 are one-week workshops that will have performances on every consecutive Friday from 3PM-4PM.
There are still some spaces available in the Theatrikids Summer Camps and plenty of scholarships that can be applied for. Theatrikos.com
... AND JOIN THE CIRCUS!
Once again Flagstaff Arts Council in partnership with Flagstaff Aerial Arts presents FunTown Summer Circus Camp for Kids — returning o the Coconino Center for the Arts Monday, July 20 through Friday, August 7 9AM-1PM. Three weeks of fun, silliness, and refining of circus skills — aerial dance, trapeze, stilt walking, acro-balance, clowning, tumbling, and juggling are a handful of the fun activities that campers will experience. Children ages 7-18 can sign up for
1-3 weeks, and space permitting can participate on a single- day basis. A big show will take place on Friday, August 7 at 5PM at Heritage Square, showcasing all the circus kids have learned. FlagstaffArtsCouncil.org, 928/779-2300
CAMP LAUGH-A-LOT
Summer Camps aren’t just for kids — Flagstaff Art Council presents Improvisational Comedy Workshops with Garrison Garcia. Participants ages 18 and older will learn about improv through form games — check out some episodes of Whose Line is it Anyway for an example.
Mr. Garcia performs with Northern Arizona University’s
NAUty Bits and Tiny Punches, the Circus Arts Studio house improv team that performs at the Flagstaff Foundry (founded by Mr. Garcia and hails from the Circus Arts Studio.)
This improv camp will take place Tuesdays 6PM-8PM July 21-August 25 at the Coconino Center for the Arts. A performance will be held on Tuesday, September 1 at 7PM. 928/779-2300 flagartscouncil.org
HOMEGROWN VARIETY
Flagstaff has a new monthly Variety Show each month at the Circus Arts Studio, 1311 E. Butler Ave, The Flagstaff Foundry. On May 30 the first run of the Flagstaff Foundry took place featuring aerial performance, stand-up comedy, improv, juggling/unicycling/balloon making (at the same time!!!), Belly dancing, live music and Radio Theater. As the summer progresses new acts will find their way into the foundry and community performers can sign up at tinyurl. com/flagstafffoundry. All performance modalities are welcome to sign up and acts should be PG-13 and performers 18 years or older. The next Flagstaff Foundry takes place on Saturday, July 25 at 8PM. Audience members are encouraged to show up early to get a good seat and bring their 20 closest friends. Facebook.com/flagstafffoundry
LOVE, FLAGSTAFF
Once again this summer, Master Chorale of Flagstaff will be bringing to the Orpheum Theater, “Flagstaff Follies II: A Trip through the Decades,” on July 18. This year’s theme weaves Flagstaff’s history into the play that showcases a variety of acts by local performers.
Performances by the Master Chorale, individuals and smaller group from within Master Chorale share the stage with members of the performing arts community. Director and founder of the former Flagstaff Youth Theater Sara Drye, musical director Stephanie Galloway and Theatrikos Executive Director Drew Purcell have been working together as the production team of this upcoming performance.
The show starts at 7:30PM, and beginning at 6:30PM Celtic-themed performers entertain as the theater seats fill. Throughout the evening a silent auction will be taking place.
Tickets are available at Rainbow’s End, Stage Left Deli, Animas and tables can be reserved by contacting Drew Purcell at drewpurcell@gmail.com. All proceeds benefit the Master Chorale of Flagstaff. MasterChorale.net
A NEW YOUTH THEATER
A new Children’s theater is forming in Flagstaff. Alpine Community Theater (ACT) will be a learning theater where children of all ages can take part in the whole journey of a production. Though in its very early stages, the theater has filed for their non-profit status and is planning their début: New Beginnings, a variety show and fundraiser featuring many performers from Flagstaff’s Theater community. Theatrikos will be host to Alpine Community Theaters New Beginnings on Wednesday, July 29 at 7PM at the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse, 11 W. Cherry Ave. 928/699-3763
| Clair Anna Rose ran away to join the circus ... again. editor@thenoise.us
44 • JULY 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • JUNE 2015 • 21