We went to Wheatfields again for breakfast about 8:30 am - and got a great table for everyone to sit at. The kids and Daddy had sweet rolls and fresh fruit, Suz had the omelet of the day, Mom had eggs, sausage and toast, and I had French toast so I could share with Sam - who ate nearly half of my breakfast, his entire fruit cup and some of the cinnamon roll.
I had hoped we'd have time to walk through the farmers market, but everyone was enjoying breakfast so much that we opted to skip the farmers market and go right to the Arts Center.
The doors opened a little after 10 so we took a few minutes to walk through a few of their galleries. They have some amazing pieces of art from local artists. The current exhibit has a Native American theme with beautiful pieces. The kids and I were definitely drawn to the quilts, but they also had clothing, drums, sculpture, paintings, and other beautiful works of art.
While we waited in the theater for the performance to start there was an older gentleman playing the piano on stage. He did show tunes, kids songs, and other pieces that most people would recognized. He didn't use any sheet music - and he was great with the crowd. As more and more people filled the theater, he played songs that encouraged audience participation - clapping, singing, etc. His playing really made the wait seem shorter and helped to keep the kids interested.
The performance - a one man show called "Slapstick Circus" - was exceptional. I'm not sure what I had expected, but it definitely was above and beyond my expectations. In a letter Daddy wrote to the family about the performance he said "He did a good job of combining pantomime, simple circus acts like balancing and unicycle riding, and mostly self-deprecating slapstick humor." I found the following information about Richard Renner, the performer and his one-man show.
Richard Renner, The Vodvill Klown!
Actor, Juggler, Orangutan, Poet and Fool all describe Richard Renner as performs his special brand of humor. Whether juggling, unicycling, ropewalking, or creating a zany improvisation, Richard performs with unbounded energy and skill. He has spent years and a small fortune studying with such teachers as Marcel Marceau - the French mime master, Yuri Belov - a famous Russian clown, and Avner the Eccentric - the famous New Vaudevillian. He is comfortable entertaining a crowd of on or one thousand in any setting. Whether roving or on stage he creates an excitement and visual spectacle hard to forget. All together his performances are marked with laughter, smiles and participation as he uses all he has learned to make us laugh and discover the love of laughter in us all.
PERFORMING SKILLS: Comedy, Stiltwalking, Juggling, Pantomime, Unicycling, Ropewalking, Acrobatics, Audience Participation
The Slapstick Circus
A one man stage show of 30 to 45 minutes featuring Richard Renner as the VodVill Klown performing circus skills and pantomime techniques. A completely silent act, except for the occasional scream, Richard entertains with physical comedy, prat falls and circus skills. Objects attack, machines refuse to work and all the failures ultimately lead to success as The VodVill Klown explores the possibilities of circus skills in the real world. Unicycling with motors, balancing with cleaning equipment and band music with hardware supplies are some of the surprise your audiences will see in "The Slapstick Circus"!
Our entire group really enjoyed it! He had universal appeal. The gentleman who played the piano for the 30 minutes before the performance started also provided the music during the performance, and again, he was excellent. Sam had a hard time understanding why we were all enjoying the performance. The piano would play music that gave a feeling of suspense or anticipation or worry - and Sam understood that, or could sense that suspense/concern/anticipation. So he spent much of the first half of the performance with his head pressed to my chest while his eyes were glued to the clown. The remainder was on Grandpa's lap.
Rebecca and Emily seriously laughed out loud the entire time. A couple of times I had to tap their knees so they would laugh just a little bit softer. But the whole audience was like that. After the show Richard Renner waited outside to say good-bye to the kids and sign programs. One of those momments when you kick yourself for thinking "There's no reason to bring the camera to this - what will there be to photograph?!"
We will definitely be watching for this performance again next year.
1 comment:
That sounds like so much fun. A couple of years ago I saw a contemporary german movie (the name of which I have long since forgotten) that showed a man making all of these stage sounds for old time radio broadcasts.
With a few simple tools he duplicated the sounds of eggs frying, cannons firing, horses galloping and so on.
I hope these old performance techniques won't be lost.
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