NY Clown Festival 2010: The WOW Show

ADAM’S TAKE:

I met Vincenzo Tortorici 18+ years ago at the 1992 International Clown Congress in Philadelphia (part of MTI)  We hung out, bonded then, and like most festivals, at the end we went our separate ways.  We haven’t seen each other since then, so I was really glad to hear that he was performing at the Festival, and I’d get to see his work.

His show was designed for young kids, so for this show, I came prepared with my set of amateur critics– my wife and 2 year old son.  My son loved the show (no surprise– he loves clowns of all stripes and sizes)  My wife thought the show was fun, and said that she thought that Vince and I had a similar style of performance, which was a nice compliment.

Vince came in from the back of the theatre, and everything he saw he said “Wow!” to.  This started off as a nice sense of wonder.  The stage was a mess, and he finds a list of what he has to do.  Along the way he juggles a number of things, tells a story and pulls a number of people out of the audience to help him.

Over all this was a fun kid’s show.  There were two parts that I think could be changed to make the show even better.  I think Vince has a tendency to talk too much.    He ends up talking where he could be doing, and it takes away from his clown finesse and mystique.  I’d like to see the show again, but up until the story telling, he says almost nothing but “WOW!”   I think it would make the show much stronger.

The other thing is that there is (as a plot of the story) a trunk that says “DO NOT OPEN”  He opens it, and finds his story in there, along with all of the props.  And at the end he gives a slightly awkward speech about how in a play, people can open things that say “DO NOT OPEN” but in real life, you should follow instructions.  Unfortunately, the pay off for Opening the DO NOT OPEN box wasn’t strong enough to warrant the speech.  Either cut the DO NOT OPEN sign (change it to “WARNING”) or make something happen because you opened it that warrants the DO NOT OPEN sign.

This was the last performance of this show in the festival.  If you get a chance to see the show anywhere else, bring a young kid– they are bound to love it.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION

THE WOW SHOW

Have Vaude, Ville Travel Productions

Decatur, GA

http://www.polytropic.org/

[For kids 3 & older]

The joy of discovery is distilled through the eyes of an exuberant clown, an innocent who relies on his (admittedly limited) wits and the help of the audience to accomplish his list of tasks.  He enters the theater, explores his environment, and generally makes a mess of things as he tells the story of a Prince, a Witch, and a Princess who loves broccoli.  40 min.

Saturday, September 11th @ 3pm
Sunday, September 12th @ 3pm

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