'Cirque du Slaque' Begins June 6th at CHAC

Captain Smartypants gives the circus a run for its money in their irreverent new show Cirque du Slaque. A unique taste of homo-comedy at its talented and flagitious best; these nine funny guys take on bearded ladies, criminal magicians, bad candy, politics and more in this pastiche of songs, sketches and video that features at least one clown-related death. Cirque du Slaque is a raucous and sometimes bawdy send-up of circus life (in a sort of eerie and definitely off-beat way). This journey, running the gamut from ridiculous to sublime will both amaze and frighten. The dark and disturbing underbelly of circus life is revealed through a musical story peppered with interesting and dangerous characters.

Directed by Eric Lane Barnes, the cast includes the nine members of Captain Smartypants; Tom Carlisle, Tim Clements, Jeff Erickson, Josh Herrington, Rad Milosavljevic, David Nilsson, Don Riling, Paul Rosenberg, and Steve Watson. Also appearing with the group is Verotica143, an erotic mime who has taken the burlesque scene by storm with her charged depiction of sexual compulsion and control, and Sydni Devereaux, who struts her kittenish wares and recalls moments reminiscent Gypsy Rose Lee, Marilyn Monroe, and Sophie Tucker.

The audience is transported to the world of the weird and wonderful through the not-so-slightly jaded eye of Director, Barnes. Meet the ringmaster with an attitude, Candy the Suicidal Clown, Barbella the Strong Bearded Lady, The World's Shortest Tall Man, Dragoslav the Magnificent, and Charlotte a spoiled little girl who is left behind at the circus and must learn to fend for herself. Songs run the gamut from ridiculous to sublime and beyond. Captain Smartypants will be putting their own stamp on Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" and Dead Can Dance's "The Carnival is Over" as well as songs by Emerson Lake and Palmer, Stephen Schwartz, and a whole passel of classical composers. Original songs by Eric Lane Barnes will take on the daily circus we commonly mistake for our media, the art of onomatopoeia, delicious and disgusting candies, and why no one loves clowns.

Cerebral humor is a trademark of the group, Playing on every child's (and some adult's) nightmare of evil clowns, a dream sequence involving dancing clowns haunts Charlotte's imagination. There are snake charmers, jugglers, and tightrope walkers adorning the stage; and The Man Who Will Swallow Anything makes his mark with, well, you guess.         

Captain Smartypants-Cirque du Slaque! plays at  Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC)  June 6,7,8,13, and 14. For tickets visit www.flyinghouse.org.

 

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