This evening, hosted by the festival coordinators, gave us an altered glimpse at the inner workings of the selection process. Clowns, Crabwell and Honeytree struggled with mountains of paperwork, hours of videotape, and lots of inappropriate behavior on each of their parts. The Brick even set a mysteriously scary figure over them to make sure they did their work. I only wish they had been a bit clearer with each introduction.
The show was the epitome of variety. More physicality, more skill, more red noses than any of the other cabarets. Kathy Horejsi is at her best as the disaffected, disgusted custodian. Heavens forbid she should touch something that has hit the floor, or even worse, break a nail!
Billy Schultz was charming as he danced to different radio stations. I wish he had shown us clearly the Lost & Found box, as it would have set up his premise more clearly.
Mr. and Mrs. Clown's "acrobalance" act was well choregraphed. As they assumed a new position they gave it a descriptive name, one more sensual than the last. If they had called the piece the Clown Kamasutra, they would have gotten even more mileage out of the titles. My favorite moment happened when Mr C dropped his nose as he was lifting Mrs C into a two-high. He was distracted by the nose and she called out, "Make a choice, your nose or your wife!"
Lisa Lewis sweetly offered to replicate the photo of a woman on a rolling globe with juggling clubs and rings. Wisely, she got our empathy for her weaknesses, and then proceeded to wow us with a huge choice of skills. I have seen Lisa perform many times and it was refreshing to see her so vulnerable.
Captain Napkin (Alex Kipp) bravely stuck to his search for love, even when he got such reticence from most of the audience members that he approach with his song, "I wanna feel what love is, I want you to show me." He clung doggedly to the one glimmer of response and drew it out until he actually go a hug.
By far the most satisfying and surprising moment of the night was provided by Brett Alters. The fabulous illusion of two dwarves carrying a big sack was so astonishing and funny. I wish he had stayed still for just one moment for us to get a good look at him. But I laughed so hard at the angry whiteface "clown dwarf" kicking inflatable toys around as if he was in a fury. I am very impressed by the physical skill required to create this illusion so clearly. I have seen a few of these kinds of "hobby horse" interpretations and flip bunnnies. This is by far the best ever!
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