As Master of Ceremonies
and Circus Historian Steve Smith reveals, because of John RinglingÕs bringing
his company and his museum to Sarasota, the area abounds with families of
people dedicated to the circus and other visual and performing arts. Since the
Queen of the Air Dolly Jacobs (daughter of the famous clown Lou) and Pedro Reis
formed Circus Sarasota, theyÕve been dedicated to having home-town artists
perform for home-town families each summer. Their 7th Summer Circus Spectacular has low prices and high
quality, also introducing young audiences to the 18th Century Italian court theater as a venue that unites
art of past, present, and pointing to the futureÑlike The Ringling
itself.
A warm-up by Robb Zeiser,
Silent Comedian, both juggles and gets kids from the audience to master the
tricksÑone, two, three kids and times matching. He also uses audience
clapping like music to accompany the tricks and even goes down into the seats
to manage balancing props like tumblers and plates. Not the usual audience
participation stuff! Mr. Bob comes
back with weighty to light-as-air tricks after the historical segment by Dr.
Smith, former dean of Clown College, whoÕs not above donning a clownÕs red nose
or not donning shoes with otherwise formal wear. Trick roping and whip
cracking, Texas Jack Fulbright egged on by his lovely wife makes a lot of
HOOP-la, wonderfully improvising new loops when his rope knocks off his
ten-gallon hat. Rafael Palacious
proves a Master Magician, seemingly cutting off the head and then body of his
gorgeous assistant, then making all disappear. He performs several illusions that are equally if not more
spectacularly cutting edgeÑeven getting the gal into a relatively tiny
basket before slicing through it and then welcoming the wholesome aide in an
untouched outfit and out of her confines.
In the esthetic part of
the program, Dolly Jacobs becomes a ballerina as she flies around and above the
stage and almost all the way out into the audience. SheÕs a vision in white,
like a bird except more versatile. She can fly upside down! ThereÕs no way to top someone whoÕs controlled the top, so Mr. Robb
provides a few down to earth
moments of catching spoons, three at a time, in juggled tumblers. His big trick is removing tableclothes
from fully set tables, even on uneven ground. Then, like Dolly but downstage
center, two new grads from Sailor Circus (now run not by the county School
Board but by Circus Sarasota), show off spectacular Feats of Balance. I would put this Duo Romanesc on a par
or better with the balancing acts IÕve seen in Las Vegas and at Cirque de
Soleil. Like Dolly Jacobs, they
make feats not only daring but
beautiful. Appropriately, the show
ends with The Circus Spectacular Finale, a parade of the artists and bits of
their talents on display.
What a fun morning or
matineeÑfor kids to great-grandparents! Aaron Muhl as Managing Director and Bob
Halla as Assistant Tech Director head a staff which produces magical effects
with lighting and scenic elements.Classical music aids aura and timing.Techies Stefani Lewis and Jenna Luchkiw assure all tech
elements meet artistic standards.