Short Takes
Ghost
(Ibsen at the Clarence Brown). I found the unusual staging intriguing, but the
acting (with the exception of the mother) lacking. The maid was stiff, the
maid's "father" overacted, and the preacher seemed a parody. I dozed off so many times I
almost fell out of my seat, and actually dislocated my neck! Maybe it's the
pain speaking, but I'd pass on this one unless for a matinee. On a positive note,
the mad cellist was inspired.
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Local events from February 1999
Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus at the Coliseum. What
has happened to the circus? I haven't been in years and boy has it changed!
For starters there was no sawdust on the floor--just
strips of canvas here and there on the bare concrete. There were fewer
animals and all the acts seemed watered down. The clowns weren't funny. The acrobats and trapeze artists had no nets,
instead they had safety wire tethers--very apparent when the seesaw jump to the
top of a tower fell short and they pulled the girl up by the wire! There was
singing with almost everything--GameBoy
asked, "what is this, a musical?"
During the first half the only animal acts
were dogs and cats and birds--boring. The second act did have a tired tiger act and
finally brought out a dozen or so elephants. The "grand parade" had 2 elephants, 2 zebras, and 2 camels for the exotic
contingent. It was filled out with 4 llamas, a bunch of horses, clowns dressed as
giraffes or carrying cutouts of animals on long poles, and 2 shaggy cows!
The liberty horses weren't particulary in sync--the best part of that act was
watching the cleanup guys trying to scoop the poop while dodging the galloping
dumpers. One of the early acts was girls on pogo sticks carrying torches and hopping in
time to music! Then there was the
"human comet" who set himself on fire and jumped off a ledge.
GameBoy liked the motorcycles inside a sphere, but missed the traditional
zillion clowns climbing out of a car.
The popcorn was good and the stuffed animals were reasonably priced but the vendors
didn't even sell peanuts.
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Betsy Relishs Movies
