Take a walk through the wild side of carnival life in one of this year's Vancouver International Fringe Festival productions.
Burnaby resident Brian Anderson -a 20-year veteran of Vancouver Theatresports League and director of last year's Fringe hit Gutenberg! The Musical! -takes the title role in his creation Arnie the Carnie's House of Fun.
From nailing hammers up his nose to laying on a bed of nails, and offering up card tricks, the show is a glimpse into the sideshow stunts made famous over the years.
"In a world of YouTube and CGI, it's rare for people to experience wonders in real life," said Anderson in a press release. "We'll be performing some classic stunts of the carnival in front of a live audience and tracing the history of the legendary carnies who created them."
North Vancouver piano player Matt Grinke -who is also currently appearing as lead keyboardist at Theatre Under the Stars' Bye Bye Birdie -provides musical accompaniment and a few stunts of his own.
"When I realized that Matt's talents went beyond the keyboard, we wanted to find a way to showcase his amazing mathematical skills," said Anderson.
During the show, Grinke will unscramble a Rubik's Cube in under a minute, and try to create a magic cube square -where every row and column adds up to a specific number. In this case, the number will be decided by the audience. Allen Morrison, also of Vancouver TheatreSports, is directing the production.
2011年8月25日星期四
2011年6月12日星期日
WTC daredevil Philippe Petit’s one-man show is all talk — and no walk
In August 1974, Philippe Petit committed what some call “the artistic crime of the 20th century.”
The lithe, ginger-haired Frenchman and a ragtag gang of accomplices snuck into the then-new World Trade Center and, under cover of night, set up a steel cable between the top floors of the towers. At dawn, Petit walked over the void, with nothing to catch him if he slipped.
Petit’s exploit was illegal, but instead of going to jail he was adopted by New Yorkers as a cultural icon. In the early ’80s, he became artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2008, the WTC feat was immortalized in James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” and the following year it became the linchpin of Colum McCann’s hit novel “Let the Great World Spin,” which won the National Book Award.
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Tamara Beckwith
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Now Petit, 61, is about to step down to earth — a k a the Lower East Side’s Abrons Arts Center — where he’s performing the one-man show “Wireless!” from Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s autobiographical in the sense that I’m sharing who I am and what I do with the audience,” Petit says, before warning that there won’t be any actual wire-walking. “I wouldn’t want to have a little demonstration of the high wire in a show like this, which is the kind of thing that people love here: ‘Can you show me? Can you teach me?’ Well, do you have two years? In five minutes, you want me to hold your hand so you can make a fool of yourself and of my art? Also, putting a wire in a theater is a total nightmare. You need tons of equipment, you have to drill holes, weld things.”
Rest assured that Petit won’t skip out on his claim to fame, though: “I’m constantly on a metaphorical wire,” Petit says, “miming what happens on the actual one.”
Besides, he has enough tricks up his sleeve to fill 90 minutes, as was obvious to those who saw him make a coin appear and disappear during his Oscar acceptance speech.
“I learned magic around 6 years old, which led to juggling when I was a young teenager,” he recalls. “Magic requires a certain amount of dexterity and involves the art of misdirection, and all that I see on the wire. There is a certain amount of primitive magic in the presentation of someone walking on a wire.”
Jay Wegman, the director of Abrons, compares Petit to a Rubik’s Cube: “He has all these sides to him, and it’ll be interesting to see how he twists and turns them around. He’s a clown and acrobat and magician, and that French accent of his helps a lot — it just adds to the sense of playfulness.”
Indeed, the ebullient, mischievous Petit seems to be a bottomless font of enthusiasm.
“He’s the most extraordinary storyteller you’ll ever meet,” says J. Ralph, the musician who wrote the theme for “Man on Wire” and is contributing an original score and sound design for the new show. “He’ll make any jaded person feel excited.”
After all this time, Petit knows people still expect to hear about his trademark coup, even if for him it’s just one of many.
“I keep a box of index cards, and for each walk I write down the length, the height, how much I was paid, the music I used, the costume I wore,” Petit says. “I’m now at 80 walks in 45 years.”
What was No. 1 like?
“It was a Bastille Day lake-
crossing in France. Nobody noticed because there was a fishing contest going on underneath the wire.” He laughs. “It was a fiasco.”
The lithe, ginger-haired Frenchman and a ragtag gang of accomplices snuck into the then-new World Trade Center and, under cover of night, set up a steel cable between the top floors of the towers. At dawn, Petit walked over the void, with nothing to catch him if he slipped.
Petit’s exploit was illegal, but instead of going to jail he was adopted by New Yorkers as a cultural icon. In the early ’80s, he became artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2008, the WTC feat was immortalized in James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” and the following year it became the linchpin of Colum McCann’s hit novel “Let the Great World Spin,” which won the National Book Award.
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Tamara Beckwith
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Now Petit, 61, is about to step down to earth — a k a the Lower East Side’s Abrons Arts Center — where he’s performing the one-man show “Wireless!” from Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s autobiographical in the sense that I’m sharing who I am and what I do with the audience,” Petit says, before warning that there won’t be any actual wire-walking. “I wouldn’t want to have a little demonstration of the high wire in a show like this, which is the kind of thing that people love here: ‘Can you show me? Can you teach me?’ Well, do you have two years? In five minutes, you want me to hold your hand so you can make a fool of yourself and of my art? Also, putting a wire in a theater is a total nightmare. You need tons of equipment, you have to drill holes, weld things.”
Rest assured that Petit won’t skip out on his claim to fame, though: “I’m constantly on a metaphorical wire,” Petit says, “miming what happens on the actual one.”
Besides, he has enough tricks up his sleeve to fill 90 minutes, as was obvious to those who saw him make a coin appear and disappear during his Oscar acceptance speech.
“I learned magic around 6 years old, which led to juggling when I was a young teenager,” he recalls. “Magic requires a certain amount of dexterity and involves the art of misdirection, and all that I see on the wire. There is a certain amount of primitive magic in the presentation of someone walking on a wire.”
Jay Wegman, the director of Abrons, compares Petit to a Rubik’s Cube: “He has all these sides to him, and it’ll be interesting to see how he twists and turns them around. He’s a clown and acrobat and magician, and that French accent of his helps a lot — it just adds to the sense of playfulness.”
Indeed, the ebullient, mischievous Petit seems to be a bottomless font of enthusiasm.
“He’s the most extraordinary storyteller you’ll ever meet,” says J. Ralph, the musician who wrote the theme for “Man on Wire” and is contributing an original score and sound design for the new show. “He’ll make any jaded person feel excited.”
After all this time, Petit knows people still expect to hear about his trademark coup, even if for him it’s just one of many.
“I keep a box of index cards, and for each walk I write down the length, the height, how much I was paid, the music I used, the costume I wore,” Petit says. “I’m now at 80 walks in 45 years.”
What was No. 1 like?
“It was a Bastille Day lake-
crossing in France. Nobody noticed because there was a fishing contest going on underneath the wire.” He laughs. “It was a fiasco.”
2011年5月8日星期日
Local festival puts science in the spotlight
Where can you find live tarantulas, a physicist singing rock songs and a Hollywood director? Only in Las Vegas.
Thousands of people came to the inaugural Las Vegas Science Festival expo Saturday at the Cashman Center to see more than 60 displays, including interactive exhibits, live animals and a mini planetarium.
The expo was the conclusion of the weeklong festival focused on getting children more excited about science.
“Vegas is not often thought of as a place where a lot of science and engineering happens. And we can change that,” said John Good, president of a locally based company that makes museum exhibits and the co-director of the festival.
Good said he heard about the idea of cities holding science festivals at a conference about two years ago and decided it needed to be done here.
Unlike most similar festivals, however, the Las Vegas event wasn’t able to get government grants to support it and relied solely on corporate donations to stage the free festival.
People repeatedly warned Good not to be disappointed if no one showed up.
The warnings weren’t necessary. About 2,000 people participated in the first day of the festival on Sunday, and nearly that many participated in smaller events spread over five weekdays.
About 3,000 people attended the expo just in the first two hours Saturday, putting the event well on the way of reaching its goal of 10,000 participants.
“Las Vegas has turned out...and it shows they care about science,” Good said.
One of the keynote speakers at the expo was Robert Weiss, a Hollywood producer and the president of the X Prize Foundation.
Best know for its initial competition to encourage private companies to invest in space exploration, the foundation now sponsors contests to encourage technical innovation. Weiss spends a fair amount of time traveling to science events across the country and said he was impressed with what he saw in Las Vegas.
“I’m blow away at the turnout at this. It’s rough sometimes when you start the first of anything,” he said. “When I pulled in, the moment I saw the parking lot was full, it really did my heart good, because it shows there is interest here.”
Weiss’ presentation at the expo was focused on encouraging childrens’ interest in science, math and engineering.
Even though he likes sports, he said, too much attention is given to athletics when only a small fraction of children will ever play professionally. On the other hand, a young person interested in science and engineering has a good chance of making an exciting career out of it, he said.
“Every one of these kids can turn pro. And that’s cool,” he said after his presentation.
Weiss, who also spoke to West Prep School and UNLV students, said the nation “will suffer the consequences” if children aren’t interested in science.
“This is an opportunity — things like the science festival — to really stimulate them and keep them interested,” he said.
It seemed to be working, judging from the frenzy of activity at the expo, where it was sometimes difficult to maneuver through the crowds.
Connie Taylor brought her family to the expo for some “free fun,” she said.
She said she was impressed with the displays. “It kind of makes you think about all the different things people are doing; it’s a different perspective,” she said.
Thousands of people came to the inaugural Las Vegas Science Festival expo Saturday at the Cashman Center to see more than 60 displays, including interactive exhibits, live animals and a mini planetarium.
The expo was the conclusion of the weeklong festival focused on getting children more excited about science.
“Vegas is not often thought of as a place where a lot of science and engineering happens. And we can change that,” said John Good, president of a locally based company that makes museum exhibits and the co-director of the festival.
Good said he heard about the idea of cities holding science festivals at a conference about two years ago and decided it needed to be done here.
Unlike most similar festivals, however, the Las Vegas event wasn’t able to get government grants to support it and relied solely on corporate donations to stage the free festival.
People repeatedly warned Good not to be disappointed if no one showed up.
The warnings weren’t necessary. About 2,000 people participated in the first day of the festival on Sunday, and nearly that many participated in smaller events spread over five weekdays.
About 3,000 people attended the expo just in the first two hours Saturday, putting the event well on the way of reaching its goal of 10,000 participants.
“Las Vegas has turned out...and it shows they care about science,” Good said.
One of the keynote speakers at the expo was Robert Weiss, a Hollywood producer and the president of the X Prize Foundation.
Best know for its initial competition to encourage private companies to invest in space exploration, the foundation now sponsors contests to encourage technical innovation. Weiss spends a fair amount of time traveling to science events across the country and said he was impressed with what he saw in Las Vegas.
“I’m blow away at the turnout at this. It’s rough sometimes when you start the first of anything,” he said. “When I pulled in, the moment I saw the parking lot was full, it really did my heart good, because it shows there is interest here.”
Weiss’ presentation at the expo was focused on encouraging childrens’ interest in science, math and engineering.
Even though he likes sports, he said, too much attention is given to athletics when only a small fraction of children will ever play professionally. On the other hand, a young person interested in science and engineering has a good chance of making an exciting career out of it, he said.
“Every one of these kids can turn pro. And that’s cool,” he said after his presentation.
Weiss, who also spoke to West Prep School and UNLV students, said the nation “will suffer the consequences” if children aren’t interested in science.
“This is an opportunity — things like the science festival — to really stimulate them and keep them interested,” he said.
It seemed to be working, judging from the frenzy of activity at the expo, where it was sometimes difficult to maneuver through the crowds.
Connie Taylor brought her family to the expo for some “free fun,” she said.
She said she was impressed with the displays. “It kind of makes you think about all the different things people are doing; it’s a different perspective,” she said.
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