There are certain aspects of a circus to which I pay close attention. Theme, quality of acts, pacing, energy, and of course, humor. That said, as an artist who works in a highly visual form - physical theatre - I pay a great amount of attention to what a circus looks like.
A rich visual landscape has always been a primary interest of mine. Physical theatre demands it, even with simple means and small budgets. Without the benefit of language, a production's story, characters, emotions, and humor must be conveyed visually. And a potent design is vital to the production's ability to connect with the audience.
I consider the design elements as important as the performances and the material - and vital that these elements all co-exist and complement each other. I think of the circus in exactly the same way.
Maruti Evans' design for Parallel Exit's ROOM 17B - photo by Jim Moore
Once again, I'm counting my blessings, as I've got what I consider to be the best design team in New York City: set and lighting designer Maruti Evans, and costume designer Oana Botez. Maruti has worked with Parallel Exit over the past few years, most notably on the Drama Desk-nominated ROOM 17B, for which he built us an ingenious and absurd office of floor-to-ceiling file drawers.
Oana is a colleague of Maruti's who has collaborated with him on a number of projects. Their combined design for a 2013 production of Master and Margarita, for example,is breathtaking. And I can't wait for you to see their work on Parallel Exit's new show EVERYBODY GETS CAKE! opening this month.
As we begin throwing concepts around for our season at the circus, Maruti and Oana are asking the kinds of questions I hoped they would: what's the essence of the story we're aiming to tell, who are these characters and how do they exist in the world we're creating, and how do we realize the show in visual terms?
Oana and I at the dress rehearsal of The Big Apple Circus' Metapmorphosis - photo by Paul Gutheil
I think the circus is going to be a great playground for these two artists - a place where they can push ideas to a high level, and have some fun along the way. The circus is a flight of fancy - a place to dream and wonder - and I expect their contributions will lift us above the clouds.
It may come as a surprise to some circus fans, but a choreographer is a huge part of the creative team.
While you won't typically see a kick line of chorus girls in the ring, there are many places in a circus where a choreographer can make all the difference, from the opening and closing group scenes to transitions and smaller moments throughout the show.
I will have the great privilege of working with a close friend and immensely talented choreographer, Antoinette DiPietropolo.
Antoinette DiPietropolo
Antoinette is the choreographer for this year's Big Apple Circus production of Metamorphosis. She'll be doing the same job for our production next season. And I'm the luckiest first-time circus director ever, thanks to her having been through the process this year.
Like most of the team we've brought together, Antoinette has also worked with Parallel Exit, as co-creator and choreographer of our dance comedy POWERHOUSE in 2005.
Antoinette is going to be a second set of eyes and ears on everything we do. And thank God. She's smart, talented, and has personally tried just about every physical stunt the artists will be doing in the show.
Along with staging the big ensemble scenes throughout the show, Antoinette will also be working with me to ensure every act is played for maximum impact, focusing on energy, music, and most importantly, working in the round. Even seasoned circus artists can be tempted to play their material out front, neglecting those audience members seated next to the bandstand.
I'm excited to see how Antoinette tackles the boundless creativity of the full team. Just the other day, the man behind our concept - Joel Jeske - threw this video at us for inspiration. Without giving too much away, the formations made by the dancers at the end of the clip are surprisingly appropriate:
All of the essential ingredients of a great circus - timing, energy, momentum, thrills, connection to the audience - are going to be foremost in our minds as we jump into this production.
I'm thrilled that Antoinette will be standing next to me as it happens.
As someone who is not an historian, but rather an observer, here's what I've learned from my research over the past year.
Like every art form, the circus has practitioners who profess a wide range of philosophies, beliefs, and approaches. Those that hold onto tradition, those consciously aiming to break tradition, and everyone in between.
To find out what's happening with circus in 2014, a great place to start is Circus Now, a website devoted to bringing the circus community together in one central place. Their National Director is Duncan Wall, whose book The Ordinary Acrobatwas the first thing I picked up when I was offered the job of Guest Director for The Big Apple Circus. It's an excellent resource and an entertaining read.
From there, I wanted to learn more about the possibilities of the art form - from the biggest names to the tiniest companies. I've seen the juggernauts in North America - Ringling Bros., Cirque Du Soleil - as well as many international circus artists, thanks to the great programming of The New Victory Theater, BAM, and The Skirball Center here in NYC. But what was I missing?
Start with an act we would all recognize: juggling. A performer with some clubs, balls, perhaps a diablo. This one juggles 7 balls, this one does 9. That's juggling, right?
Take a look at this video, from juggler Jay Gilligan. It's a TED Talk, so you'll have to invest some time. But you won't think of juggling the same way ever again.
Are there other artists challenging the perceived limitations of circus? Yes. Pick up Duncan's book and you'll learn about a lot of them.
Here's one of my favorites: Taras Pozdnyakov, founder of Raw Art. Taras has coined the term "post-circus" and he pushes his artists to think beyond their "tricks" in order to create exceptional art.
The city of Montreal seems to be exploding with new and exciting circus artists. From The 7 Doigts de le Main, to Cirque Eloize, to THROW2CATCH, the number of forward-thinking artists there is amazing.
You can also look at the Cirque de Demain Festival in Paris, which highlights circus artists from around the world, all under the age of 25. To get a taste, here's our friend and Parallel Exit performer Spencer Novich performing at their 2012 Festival:
Now that's all well and good, but are there circuses that are preserving, rather than challenging the art form? Absolutely. And many doing it exceptionally well. Some of my favorites are Circus Roncalli in Germany, Cirque D'Hiver Bouglione in France, and The Zoppe Family Circus right here in the USA.
And where does The Big Apple Circus fit into all of this? I think they lean towards the traditional, while including some of the most exciting new artists in the field. No secrets revealed here, but I'll tell you this - one of those exciting new artists will be part of our 2015-16 tour, and I can't wait.
My way into the circus is from working with clowns.
My partner in my company - as well as my collaborator on the 38th season of The Big Apple Circus - is Joel Jeske. Joel has worked as a clown with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Cirque Du Soleil, and The Big Apple Circus.
Joel with Grandma - photo by Paul Gutheil
Along with his talents as a performer, Joel has an encyclopedic knowledge of the art form of clowning. He and I have spent many hours discussing and viewing the work of the great clowns from the past century: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Sid Caesar, George Carl, Peter Sellers (and on and on).
My discussions with Joel also included many of the great circus clowns: Lou Jacobs, Emmett Kelly, Otto Griebling, Grock, Oleg Popov, and Charlie Rivel. These are all superb performers, each one worth investigating in detail.
In America, clowns have an unfortunate stigma attached to them. Even the best contemporary clowns - Grandma, Bello, Bill Irwin, David Shiner - fight against an unfortunate view of clowns as either birthday party entertainers or terrifying figures from horror films.
In other parts of the world, clowns are considered great artists, held in high regard and beloved for their iconic routines.
When I was in Monte Carlo this year, I got into a fascinating discussion about clowns with the great Jasmine Smart, a highly respected circus equestrian and ring mistress from a famous circus family in the UK. Jasmine recommended I look at the work of two contemporary European clowns: Jigalov and Housch-Ma-Housch.
These two artists, while wildly different in style, represent two directions in circus clowning. Jigalov appears as a kind of everyman character, albeit one in baggy pants and a floppy hat. Housch-Ma-Housch, on the other hand, appears almost alien, with a highly theatrical appearance and unique voice and language.
I'm a newly converted fan of both, but your own taste will guide you as you see them in action.
Looking ahead to our season with The Big Apple Circus, the clowns will be Joel and his sidekick from the past seven years with Parallel Exit, Brent McBeth. For obvious reasons, I couldn't be happier.
Brent and I will be leaning heavily on Joel's experience, as we are both coming to the circus for the first time. Along with conceiving the show, Joel is writing and directing the clown material, and he's obviously earned my trust and respect from our work with Parallel Exit.
Brent and Joel - photo by Peter Dressel
I'm very excited to begin this journey with these two friends and collaborators. Many questions - Will they be funny? Will they work together well? Will they be flexible and able to work quickly? - are already answered. Yes, on all counts. That said, Brent will be stepping into the circus ring for the first time, playing in a new playground and adapting to those particular challenges and expectations.
We're both glad he'll be doing it with Joel by his side.
My challenge to Joel and Brent is this: let's create the funniest routines we've ever done.
No pressure.
We have a long and storied tradition to live up to.
One of the first steps in putting together a circus season is choosing the acts.
As you may imagine, this is a huge and daunting task. There are many factors to keep in mind: quality, energy, variety, pace, balancing solo and group acts, and ensuring each act contributes to the specific vision of that season.
One of the main sources for acts is the circus festival. There are a number of festivals around the world that attract circus owners and directors who are eager to discover new and established talent.
The first four nights of the festival are "competition" shows, with acts vying for a variety of awards, hoping to stand out from a very crowded field. Each of these evenings was four hours in length, packed to the gills with every imaginable type of circus act.
To help me navigate through it all, I thankfully had The Big Apple Circus Artistic Director Guillaume Dufresnoy as my guide. Guillaume has attended this festival for many years, and knows all the in's and out's. He and I would compare thoughts and notes during and after each of the shows, sifting through the acts to see if one bubbled up as a possibility.
One of our favorite acts from the festival has actually already appeared in The Big Apple Circus - "Desire of Flight," who presented a version of their act in Legendarium. They are amazing, and rightfully won a golden clown - the top award at the festival.
Along with appearing in circus festivals, artists regularly contact circuses around the world, sending videos of their acts and hoping to land a contract. I have looked at hundreds of videos over the past year, hoping to find those that make me say "wow" out loud. That "wow" factor is very difficult to describe - it's something that an act has or doesn't, based on their skill, technique, and artistry.
My ultimate goal is to find as many "wow" acts as possible. The search continues....
2014 brought me into the world of variety. Although my company Parallel Exit incorporates elements of variety in our productions, I had never directed a true variety show until this year.
The GOP Variete-Theater in Germany is a circuit of six theatres that present variety (or “variete”) shows year-round. Each show sits down for two months at a time, usually touring to all six venues over the course of about a year and a half.
Parallel Exit was hired to create a show called EXIT that will play the GOP circuit in 2014 and 2015, right up until rehearsals begin for The Big Apple Circus. It’s not only the first time I’ve directed such a production, it’s also the first time the company has been asked to customize one of our existing shows in this way. I’ve just returned from Munster, the second city in our tour, spending a week preparing the show and adjusting for a new space and audience.
And what have I learned? A ton.
First of all, I could not have asked for a better training ground for the circus. Many elements are similar: a simple theme and overarching story; setting a running order that varies in energy and content; an opening act that features the full company (known as a “charivari” in the circus); a combination of skill acts, clowns, music, and audience participation; transitions that cover the setting up and striking of rigging for aerial acts; and a focus on pure entertainment and constant engagement of the audience.
Having worked with the clowns of Parallel Exit for the past ten years, many of these elements were familiar. However, there were some unique challenges: playing to an audience from a completely different culture, learning the conventions of German variete, and incorporating acts into an existing work in three rehearsal days.
So how does a variete show differ from the circus? In this case, we played on a conventional proscenium stage, rather than a circus ring. There are some variete shows that do play on small circular stages (known as “Palazzo” shows in Germany, and currently represented in NYC by La Soiree), but the GOP circuit has more traditional stages. Food and drink also play a big part in the GOP variete shows – not the popcorn and cotton candy of a circus, but proper sit-down meals and drinks for those who purchase an all-inclusive ticket.
The GOP Variete in Munster
In North America, the circus is perceived often as family entertainment (The Big Apple Circus, Ringling Bros., etc.), or as an exotic art-meets-sport presentation (Cirque Du Soleil). Variete, at least in Germany, seems to be more of a fun night out on the town – drinks, dining, and a show, all in one place.
The GOP Variete has built a loyal audience that comes to see everything they offer. Their patrons are savvy and have come to expect a high standard of entertainment. In that way, their audience reminds me of the audience for The Big Apple Circus - an audience that returns year after year to see a completely different show, but one that meets and exceeds their expectations.
We had been meeting since November. My partner in crime, Joel Jeske, had pitched a concept, and an outline was now on paper.
Joel is my link to the circus. He has performed with Ringling Bros., Cirque du Soleil, and was the Host of The Big Apple Circus' 2006 production STEP RIGHT UP!
He is also my chief collaborator and one of my closest friends.
By April 1, here's what we knew: Joel's concept had been approved. He was going to create and direct clown material, and perform as one of the clowns.
And I was going to direct the show.
Here's what else we knew: the show would have a horse act, a dog act, and a Host. And we would spend the next year filling in the rest.
Rehearsals for the 38th season production begin August 2015.
A word about this blog: I come from the theatre (with a Canadian "re"), and so the circus is a new playground. This blog will chronicle my experience and perspective as a newcomer to an art form I've grown to love. No trade secrets, no gossip. Just the work.
