By Karen Bloom
For starters, the traditional ringmaster has evolved into a “Zingmaster,” in the form of 23 year-old magician Alex Ramon, who makes his circus debut at the helm of “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
The world-class illusionist summons over a decade of magic experience to bring a new perspective to the American circus. “It’s a blessing to part of a such a great production,” said Ramon, in discussing his evolution from illusionist to circus star. “It’s an incredible honor to say ‘Ladies and Gentleman, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on earth.’”
This year's show, “Zing Zang Zoom, involves the mystery of magic and illusion to bring a spellbinding dimension to the circus arts.
The Magical Zingmaster and his assistant, the alluring Levitytia, lead audiences through a kaleidoscope of color and imagery revealing extraordinary worlds of fantasy, flight and phenomena that celebrates the uplifting spirit of the circus and wards off a cynical Mr. Gravity and his team of “heavies” who try to bring everyone down.
Some of the acts that have mesmerized audiences, since the production began touring in January, include:
• Zingmaster Ramon, with help from his assistant, perform an illlusion in which a four-ton elephant disappears before your eyes, and a gravity-inducing nemesis transforms across species into a ferocious tiger.
• A dazzling trapeze artist performs a perilous, anatomically unimaginable one-arm speed-spin high atop the arena floor.
• The first female duo of two female human cannonballs are blasted through the air in a daring, awe-inspiring display of bravery at 65 miles per hour.
* The dexterous Fernando family electrifys the audience by performing flips and jumps on a dangerous double wheel of steel; the gasp-inducing high wire and soaring gigantic swings defy both gravity and logic.
* Highly trained dogs perform stunts that include a scooter ride, back flips, barrol rolls, dancing and a astonishing front leg walk.
Fun-filled magic merges with traditional circus arts to create a world of infinite possibilities where apprentice illusionists levitate their parents with a wave of a wand, and audience spirits keep rising as the high flying circus is (literally) turned upside down.“The illusions are interwoven throughout the show,” said Ramon. “We are combining the thrills, laughter and comedy of the traditional circus with the mystery of magic all in one show. It really touches all the emotions.”
As always, the spectacle features an array of exotic animals, including a herd of majestic Asian elephants, magnificent Bengal tigers and elegant Arabian and Friesian horses.
Everyone can get in on the excitement with some pre-circus fun, at at the All Access Pre-show. Arrive an hour early and step onto the arena floor and into “The Greatest Show On Earth,” up-close and personal. Here participants can learn the basics of clowning and juggling at Clown Alley, meet the animals, get autographs and photos, witness those adorable Performing Canines jump through obstacles and hoops, watch the contortions and table juggling of the Chinese Qi Qi Har Troupe, and learn a few of the “tricks” from the Zingmaster himself.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Wednesday through Sunday, Mar. 18-22. Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale. Tickets are $15-$150; opening night tickets are $12. A portion of the proceeds from the Long Island and New York City opening night performances will be donated to the American Recreational Military Services (A.R.M.S.), a volunteer organization that supports deployed service members and their families. Tickets are available at www.ringling.com, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (631) 888-9000.
Photo: Hofstra Tempest 2
Caption: Hofstra’s production of The Tempest stars Peter Sander as Prospero and Bethany McNamara as Miranda.
From dream to reality
Hofstra Shakespeare Festival turns 60
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep.”
These are the renowned words spoken by the magician Prospero in The Tempest about the fleetingness of mortal life – one of thousands of famous quotations recited during the 60 years of Hofstra’s annual Shakespeare Festival.
The Tempest – Shakespeare’s his last complete play, in which the exiled ruler Prospero, a practitioner of magic, causes a tempest to shipwreck his enemies as he seeks revenge for wrongs committed against him 12 years earlier – is the featured production of this year’s Festival, which runs March 5 to 15. It’s directed by Dr. James Kolb, with fellow Hofstra Professor Peter Sander in the role of Prospero.
The Festival includes a companion play – a new one-hour adaptation of Macbeth by Hofstra Adjunct Professor of English Maureen McFeely – and the Shakespeare Festival Musicale, a concert of early music titled “Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On,” directed by Professor of Music William Hettrick.
“We are the longest continuing Shakespeare Festival in North America,” said Dr. Kolb, reflecting on the Festival’s 60th anniversary.
Hofstra’s Shakespeare Festival has traveled a long road to this year’s momentous anniversary. The person most responsible for bringing the Bard to Hofstra was noted Shakepeare scholar John Cranford Adams, president of Hofstra from 1944 to 1964. Before the John Cranford Adams Playhouse was built in 1958, the Shakespeare Festival – and all other Hofstra plays – were performed in the Calkins Gymnasium. For many years Dr. Adams had researched the design of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and he created a model of the Globe in a ratio of one-half inch to one-foot scale. With the help of architect Irwin Smith, Dr. Adams refined and improved the model.
The first Hofstra Shakespeare Festival, featuring Julius Caesar, opened on March 22, 1950, with an audience consisting primarily of 1,000 high school students. When the show closed four performances later, more than 4,500 people had attended the Festival’s play, symposiums and music recitals. Audiences continued to grow over the years, as the Festival evolved. By 1969, 10 performances of The Comedy of Errors attracted 12,000 people.
The stage set is inexorably linked to the history of the Festival, although it is not being used for this year’s production of The Tempest. Hofstra’s life-scale replica of the Globe, which opened in time for the second annual Festival, was based on Dr. Adams’ model, and is faithful to the playwright’s vision. The Hofstra set was the first of its kind in the Eastern United States.
The festival and its set have inspired the careers of actors and directors over the decades. Professional actors were used in many of the early Festivals, but the available student talent soon made this an option, rather than a necessity. Casts over the years have included Phil Rosenthal, the creator and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond; Tony-nominees Tom McGowan and Peter Friedman; film and stage actor Joe Morton; stage, film and television actresses Susan Sullivan, Margaret Colin and the late Madeline Kahn; and Tony-nominated Broadway director Susan Schulman, among many others. Even award-winning actor Brian Dennehy – who is not a Hofstra alumnus but performed in the Shakespeare Festival High School Competition as a teenager – said his brief participation in the Festival was responsible for igniting his love for acting.
“The goal of the Festival is to stretch undergraduate actors,” said Dr. Kolb. “Their participation in the festival often leads to opportunities, once they have stretched their acting muscles.”
Five plays hold records for being the most repeated over the 60 years of the Shakespeare Festival: Romeo and Juliet holds the record with five productions. The runners-up with four season each are Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Dr. Adams’ model of the Globe Theatre, which was shown for many years at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is currently on display in the lower lobby of the John Cranford Adams Playhouse.
Hofstra Shakespeare Festival
The Tempest: Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 5-7, 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 8, 2 p.m. Also, Friday and Saturday, March 3-14, 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 15, 2 p.m. $12; $10 seniors/students
The Shakespeare Festival Musicale, “Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made
On” and the Shakespeare Festival Companion Play, a one-hour adaptation of Macbeth: Saturday, March 7 and
14, 2 p.m. $10, $8 seniors/students
John Cranford Adams Playhouse,
Hempstead. (516) 463-6644
