STAGECRAFT IN THE AGE OF GRIMALDI

IN MEMORIAM: Juan Muntaynes "Monti" Martinez (1965-2013)

From Raffael de Ritis...

The Catalan artist MONTI (Juan Muntaynes Martinez) passed away last evening at age 48. Actor, director, a great man of theatre, a true genius; friend, brother, master; a model of being humble and generous; but, above all, one the greatest and funniest Spanish clown of our times. He committed his entire life to the theatrical dignity of the traditional and popular art of circus. Gracias, Monti!

CLARK & MCCULLOUGH: The Belle of Samoa (Fox 1929)

From Wikipedia...

Clark and McCullough were a comedy team consisting of comedians Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough. They starred in a series of short films during the 1920s and 1930s.

Bobby Clark & Paul McCullough, inKickin' the Crown Around (1933)

Bobby Clark was the fast-talking wisecracker with painted-on eyeglasses; Paul McCullough was his easygoing assistant named Blodgett. The two were childhood friends in Massachusetts, and spent hours practicing tumbling and gymnastics in school. This led to their working as circus performers, then in vaudeville. and finally on Broadway. Their hit show The Ramblers (1926) was adapted as a Wheeler and Woolsey movie comedy, The Cuckoos. Clark and McCullough starred in the George Gershwin musical Strike Up the Band on Broadway in 1930.

In 1928 Clark and McCullough entered the new field of talking pictures, with a series of short subjects and featurettes for Fox Film Corporation. In 1930 they signed with Radio Pictures (later RKO Radio Pictures) for six two-reel comedies annually. The RKO comedies are totally dominated by Clark, barging into every scene and monopolizing much of the conversation, with his good-natured buddy McCullough quietly embellishing his partner's antics with subtler gestures and actions. Each film cast the duo in different occupations, which they would tackle enthusiastically if not efficiently. Their names in the films were dictated by their jobs: as lawyers they were Blackstone and Blodgett, as domestic help they were Cook and Blodgett, as photographers they were Flash and Blodgett. Then as now, their fast-paced zaniness is an acquired taste; some audiences enjoy the nutty humor while others do not. The films were re-released in the late 1940s, with exhibitors still divided in their opinions of the team.

Clark and McCullough filmed most of their movies during the summer months, so they could be free to do stage revues during the rest of the year. They appeared in three Broadway shows while their film contract was in force.

ERNIE KOVACS/PROF. PAUL WENZEL: Show Business Illustrated (Oct. 17, 1961)

MICHAEL "COCO" POLAKOVS: RBB&B Albuquerque, NM (1963)

FELIX ADLER: Clown Alley (Circa 1940s)

GLEN "KINKO" SUNBERRY: Fair Date, Out of Makeup (Circa 1950s)

JOE JACKSON: Holiday Message from Variety

CHARLIE BELL: With Felix Adler (1948)

THE GREAT KAPLAN

MONTGOMERY & STONE: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1902)

Fred Stone & David C. Montgomery in the 1902 musical stage production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

MOISTURE FESTIVAL (2013)

THE FRATELLINIS: Marcel Bovis Photo Taken at the Cirque d'Hiver (October, 1947)

FRANCOIS FRATELLINI: Marcel Bovis Photo Taken at the Cirque d'Hiver (October, 1947)

EVETTA MATTHEWS: Evetta the Lady Clown as photographed by Emil Constant Puyo (Circa 1895)

Photos shared through the generous research and assistance of Diane Wanek & Enid Wonder

ALL AUCTIONS ARE NOW CLOSED!

NEW AUCTIONS GO LIVE ON FRIDAY MARCH 1ST!

Thank you for supporting the International Clown Hall of Fame  ; )

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame (Signed Coco Doll)

We have just received word from the estate of Mike "Coco" Polakovs that they would like to join us in supporting the International Clown Hall of Fame!

Coco's daughter Michelle and his wife Hazel are donating one of their few remaining signed Coco dolls.

1991 International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Michael Polakov or "Mike Coco", as he is known, achieved fame in England where the family came while he was a youth and his father (also known as Coco) was the longtime star clown of the Bertram Mills Circus. He was associated with the Bertram Mills and Billy Smart Circuses in England, which later included tours of Europe. He came to the U.S. in 1953 to work for a limited time with the Mills Bros. Circus, before returning to England. Coco later returned to the States and joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, working both as a member of the alley as well as spending eight years as Advance Clown and Goodwill Ambassador. He is credited with creating the makeup for Ronald McDonald, touring theme parks with Coco's Musical Comix and continued performing in circuses and acting as an Advance Clown for smaller shows.

Coco passed away in 2009. This is one of the very few signed dolls left so we are going to start the bidding at $100. for this doll sent directly to the Hall of Fame from the Polakovs' family collection.

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

UPDATE! Bill Irwin Figurine

Word comes to us from artist Angel Contreras (at the Circus Magic convention) that there were only 8 Bill Irwin figurines cast, not 12 like we originally thought.

One is on display in the International Hall of Fame, six are in private collections (one being the private collection of Bill Irwin himself) and one could be yours.

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame (Pink Lemonade)

Next up, Maxwell Frederic Coplan's incredible 1945 photo book, Pink Lemonade.

If you've ever seen the classic Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey poster of Lou Jacobs then you are already familiar with the work of Mr. Coplan. The commentary is by circus press agent F. Beverly Kelley, who helped to write Emmett Kelly's autobiography, Clown.

Bidding for one of my very favorite circus books starts at $35.00 plus shipping

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame (Lou Jacobs Pewter Statue)

Next up we have a Lou Jacobs pewter statue created for his induction in 1998. Mounted on a fine wood base, this very rare and limited statue is a lasting tribute to one of the worlds' most famous clowns!

Start bidding at  $50.00 plus shipping

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame (Red Skelton/Lou Jacobs Print)

Next item up for bid is a Red Skelton lithograph of a Lou Jacobs-inspired, Native American clown.

This item was donated to the International Clown Hall of Fame by Red Skelton himself when he was inducted for future fundraising efforts of the ICHOF. It is a truly beautiful print.

The bidding starts at $50.00 plus shipping

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame (Bill Irwin Figurine)

The second item up for bid is a resin figurine of Bill Irwin by artist Angel Contreras. This is one of only 12 that were cast and the molds were destroyed so there won't be any more. The original is on display at the Hall of Fame.

Bill Irwin was born 11 April 1950, in Santa Monica, California, the oldest of three children born to Horace and Elizabeth Irwin. He was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Southern California. He spent a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as an exchange student. He is a graduate in theatre arts from Oberlin College, OH and a graduate of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Clown College, FL. Mr. Irwin met his wife, Martha Roth, actress-turned-nurse midwife, when he went to her for treatment of a stiff neck. Their son, Santos Patrick Morales Irwin, was born in 1991. 

Bill was an original member of Kraken, a theatre company directed by Herbert Blau, and was also an original member of the Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco where he worked with Larry Pisoni and Geoff Hoyle. He has appeared as a guest artist with the ODC Dance Company of San Francisco, which first produced his original work. His own pieces, often produced with Doug Skinner and Michael O'Connor, include "Not Quite / New York" , "The Courtroom" and "The Regard of Flight" (PBS, Great Performances). Skinner, Irwin and O'Connor have performed "The Regard of Flight" on and off Broadway, across the U.S. and in Sydney, Australia. "Largely New York", Irwin's original work, was developed at The Seattle Repertory Theater City Center and The Kennedy Center, ran on Broadway, and received five Tony nominations as well as Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Dance and Performance awards.  

Mr. Irwin performed "Fool Moon" with David Shiner and the Red Clay Ramblers on Broadway, in Los Angeles, Seattle, Vienna and Munich.  

He appeared at the Public Theater in Beckett's "Texts for Nothing" directed by Joe Chaikin, and as Trinculo in "The Tempest " with Patrick Stewart, directed by George Wolfe (1995), also in "Waiting for Godot" at Lincoln Center with Steve Martin, Robin Williams, and F. Murray Abraham. He adapted, directed, and starred in "Scapin" at The Roundabout Theatre in NYC from Dec 1996 to Mar 1997. 

At La Jolla Playhouse, he played Galy Gay in Brecht's "A Man's a Man", Medvedenko in "The Sea Gull", and Arlecchino in "Three Cuckholds". He appeared on Broadway in "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" with Jonathan Pryce; "5-6-7-8- . . . Dance!" with Sandy Duncan; and in Philadelphia in "Strike Up the Band" as well as "Waiting for Godot" in Lincoln Center with Steve Martin, Robin Williams and F. Murray Abraham.  

Bill Irwin has starred in many other Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional productions, including: "The Goat or Who is Sylvia" opposite Sally Field; "Accidental Death of An Anarchist"; "5-6-7-8 Dance!"; "Waiting For Godot"; "Scapin"; "The Tempest"; "Garden of Earthly Delights"; "Texts for Nothing", and many others. 

Bill starred on Broadway and London's West End in the revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", for which he won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. The production had a national tour in 2007. His 2007 theater piece "The Happiness Lecture" was commissioned by and staged for the Philadelphia Theater Company. 

On TV, he has appeared on "Saturday Night Live," "The Tonight Show," "The Cosby Show," "3rd Rock From the Sun", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "Life on Mars" (US), "Law & Order; SVU", HBO's "Bette Midler, Mondo Beyondo," CBS's "Northern Exposure," PBS's "Great Performances" and, with great pride, on "Sesame Street" in one of his most famous roles, Mr. Noodle. In Britain, he appeared on BBC's "Paul Daniels Magic Show." Irwin has also appeared in many film and television productions, including the PBS Great Performances telecasts "Bill Irwin Clown Prince" and "The Regard of Flight". 

In his film work, prior to Rachel Getting Married, Irwin appeared in such films as: Popeye, Eight Men Out, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Igby Goes Down, Lady in the Water, Dark Matter, Raving, Across The Universe and others.  

Irwin has won many awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship, and Guggenheim, Fulbright and MacArthur Fellowships. He gratefully acknowledges these awards. 

Mr. Irwin is currently appearing on Broadway with David Shiner in the Signature Theater Company production of "Old Hats" as well as the TNT television medical drama "Monday Mornings".

Bidding starts at $100. for this extremely rare figurine.

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

LIVE AUCTION: To Benefit the International Clown Hall of Fame

The first item up for bid is a Leon "Buttons" McBryde doll, generously donated by Leon himself.

Leon is a graduate of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, performed with the Greatest Show on Earth and became the first Clown College graduate to become the circus' Advance Clown. He was trained in the job by none other than Michael "Coco" Polakovs.

Leon McBryde became a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus clown after graduating from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1969.  

Following his apprentice year with the Blue Unit of the Greatest Show on Earth, was selected as the show's Advance Clown (trained by Michael "Coco" Polakovs) and named Ringling's Goodwill Ambassador. Leon devised many promotional concepts, which he later taught as a Clown College instructor.  

In 1980 he created the "Ronald McDonald School Safety Show" and the "Big Red Shoe Review"for the McDonald's corporatation and in 1983 began appearing on "Toddlers Friends", a weekly TV show in Chicago, and with wrote and produced 100 segments.

Today Leon is known for creating the ProKnows clown noses that virtually all professional clowns wear (as well as other ProFace makeup supplies) and is one of America's premier Santa Clauses.

The doll is unsigned and the bidding starts at $40.00 plus shipping.

The bidding starts now and continues through 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday night. Simply place your bid in the comments section of this post.

ICHOF: Eric Stonestreet and the 2013 Annual Fundraising Campaign

Welcome from the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center! It is with great pride and excitement that we introduce our 2013 Annual Fundraising Campaign, Smile – One Laugh at a Time, with our special Honorary Chairperson – Emmy Award winning actor from ABC’s hit television show Modern Family - Eric Stonestreet!

"As a kid, all I ever wanted to be was a clown in the circus. In a sense, my dream came true. It’s with great honor and respect that I get to be my childhood clown character, Fizbo, in the biggest circus of them all, Hollywood.

Please join me in supporting the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center in their efforts to sustain and honor clowns and laughter.

With smiles, laugher and a pie in the face!

All my best–

Eric Stonestreet
Honorary Chairman"

The International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center is embarking on the biggest funding campaign in its 27 year history of bringing laughter, education and preservation to this thing we all love called clowning.

We need your help today to continue our mission to “Preserve and honor the art of the clown”. This museum houses the largest single collection of clown artifacts in the world today. That is a lot of “stuff”. As we explain in our guided tours, behind each clown shoe, trunk, costume, photograph or scrapbook is a story. Sometimes that story belongs to a fairly famous clown name like Red Skelton, Emmett Kelly or Grock. More often than not, it’s the story of a working performing artist who devoted their life’s efforts to this passion and created laughter and memories. To share those stories is our honor.

Since 1989 we have inducted 77 master clown performers into the International Clown Hall of Fame. We continue to strive to give back to our local and world communities through two dozen outreach programs, original historic DVD’s, interactive exhibits, education and training programs, research opportunities, oral history preservation, and to continue to honor those who have come before us, left a lasting impact on this art form and on who’s shoulders we all stand.

I and the entire Board of Directors of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center respectfully ask for your financial help to further achieve the goals and mission of this unique institution. Any gift amount is most welcome and deeply appreciated. Since opening our doors in our new home of Baraboo, Wisconsin in May of 2010, 100% of all donations, tour revenues, grants and gift shop sales have gone towards supporting our outreach programs, new display development, research opportunities and operating expense’s. As Executive Director, I performed my duties on a volunteer, no compensation basis for the past three years.

If you’ve donated to the ICHOF before, we thank you for your generosity, kindness and support. We hope you can take a moment to reflect on our message, remember the laughter and support our mission. Donations can also be made through the PayPal Donate Button on our website, www.theclownmuseum.com. The ICHOF is a 501 (c) 3 not for profit organization, therefore your donation may be tax-deductible.

Very Sincerely,

Greg DeSanto
Executive Director

THE FORNASARI COMEDY MATADORS

IN MEMORIAM: EUGEN "CHICKY" ALTENBURGER

Word comes to us from our friend John Cooper that yesterday (February 4th) Chicky (Eugen Altenburger) passed away in Geneva, Switzerland. I have no further details as yet.

ROCCO PARIS

THE RASTELLIS: The Life

For seventy years the Rastellis have made audiences laugh on five continents, performing in Europe's most prestigious circuses ice shows and variety theaters.

HOW YOUR BRAIN WORKS

This becomes interesting as an explanation of how so many teens and twenty somethings only know clowns as something that is supposed to be feared.

With fewer people attending live circus performances, and producers hiring fewer skilled clowns, the chances that someone has the first-hand experience of seeing a talented professional circus clown in actual performance is astronomically slim.

The far greater majority of people "know" what a circus clown is from film and television, which (even when the aren't mining the "scary clown" trope) are as likely to accurately depict a circus clown as a James Bond film is to accurately depict a female nuclear physicist.

TOM DOUGHERTY & PEPE SILVA

Клоуны Колганов-Белогорлов "Огонь" (2011)

Клоунский дуэт «Конфуз». Реприза "Степ" (2011)

FELIX ADLER: King Orange Jamboree Parade

Photo by Joseph Steinmetz

Felix Adler taking part in a New Year's Eve staple for 65 years, Miami's King Orange Jamboree, the lavish parade held the night before the Orange Bowl.

Клоун

REMEMBERING CESLEE: Ceslee Conkling (December 6, 1965 - January 13, 1994)

Video courtesy of Mike Weakley

28 year old Ceslee Conkling, clown with the Blue Unit of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, perished 19 years ago today in the circus train wreck in Lakeland, FL that also claimed the life of 39-year-old Theodore Svertesky, the circus' lead elephant trainer.

Fellow clown Mike Weakley has very generously shared this footage of Ceslee in rehearsal in December of 1993,  just a few weeks before the crash.

This was taken in Tampa, Florida during Winter Quarters. The 2 male clowns are Cezary Skarzynski & Arturo Figueroa.

THE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME: Big News On the Horizon!

The International Clown Hall of Fame in Baraboo, WI has HUGE news on the horizon! I can't divulge the secret just yet but it is a truly unbelievable announcement.

That said, the Hall could use a little extra cash to make these plans (and a few others for 2013) a reality so if you've got a few extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket at the moment, please consider a donation to the ICHOF in the next two weeks.

You'll be glad that you did ; )

http://www.theclownmuseum.com

ALWAYS LEAVE 'EM LAUGHIN': Arthur Borella (July 2, 1946)

HISTORIA DEL PAYASO

RAMPER: Ramón Álvarez Escudero (Madrid, 1892 - Sevilla, 1952)

Video courtesy of Johnny Xod


Let's start 2013 off right...

DOUGIE ASHTON

Photo courtesy of Sue Lenz

Unless your name is Otto Griebling or David Shiner, you are likely unfit to shine the oversized comedy slapshoes of the one and only Mr. Dougie Ashton.

CHUCK BURNES: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Winter Quarters (March 26, 1957)

Chuck Burnes and Claudie Bennett. Photo by Joseph Steinmetz

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Peace On Earth, Good Will to All

INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME: Holiday Contribution

As you conclude your holiday gift giving, please consider including the International Clown Hall of Fame with a donation of $10.00 - $25.00 to assist this most wonderful and worthwhile organization in the preservation of the history of physical comedy in circus, stage and screen.

FRANCK MARVIN: Bob Williams et Louie en Français

I LUCHETTINO

DONIMO

IN MEMORIAM: Scott Parker

Photo by Susan Felter

Sarasota Man Dies In Drunken Driving Crash

Scott Parker,55, was hit by a suspected drunken driver who fled the scene and who shouldn't have been on the road driving anyway, according to Florida Highway Patrol.

• By Charles Schelle
• December 7, 2012

A 55-year-old Sarasota man has died after a suspected drunken driver struck his car on Washington Boulevard early Friday.

Florida Highway Patrol responded to U.S. 301 and 47th Street at 12:50 a.m. where Siosaia K. Fonua, 29 of Bradenton was driving a 1995 Mercury on northbound U.S. 301 and struck a 1999 Ford Mustang driven by Scott R. Parker, 55, of Sarasota at 47th Street.

The Mercury struck the left side of the Mustang and Fonua fled on foot and was later located by law enforcement, according to Highway Patrol. Parker was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Highway Patrol.

Fonua suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for his injuries and faces DUI Manslaughter, driving on a suspended license and leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, according to Highway Patrol.

Fonua , of 4324 55th Ave. Drive East, has a lengthy criminal record in Manatee County, according to court records.

In 2001, Fonua at the age of 18, was charged with driving under the influence and was sentenced to probation, which was later violated, and to perform community service, according to court records.

Fonua pled no contest to felony robbery charges in 2006 and received probation, which was violated in 2008, but received credits for time served in jail, according to court records.

In 2009, Fonua was charged and convicted for DUI and providing a false name to Manatee County Sheriff's deputies and driving on a suspended license for a third or subsequent offense. He refused to submit himself to a blood alcohol test during that arrest, according to court records.

Fonua's license was suspended again in October 2011 for not appearing in court, according to court records.

THE COMIQUE FILM STUDIO by Charles Simic

Manhattan’s Forgotten Film Studio

Charles Simic

Buster Keaton (left), Fatty Arbuckle (center), and Al St. John, circa 1917

Here, briefly, is the story. In March, 1917, while walking on Broadway, Buster Keaton bumped into a friend from vaudeville who happened to know Fatty Arbuckle, the famous silent movie comedian and Chaplin’s rival. Asked if he had ever acted in motion pictures, Keaton said no, and was invited to drop by Arbuckle’s studio on 48th Street the following Monday. Keaton first declined, because Arbuckle had stolen one of his vaudeville routines in the past, but then changed his mind because his curiosity was piqued by the opportunity to see how movies are made and especially how the gags are filmed.

The Comique Film Studio was located in a warehouse at 318-320 East 48th Street, in the tough neighborhood west of the elevated subway tracks on First Avenue. On the first floor, the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation was in full swing filming Poppy. Near the precariously built sets, a violinist was attempting to put Norma in the proper mood for a love scene with her leading man. On the second floor, Norma’s sister Constance, who first gained attention in D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, was making a new comedy. On the third floor Fatty Arbuckle, who was the first of the silent movie comics to also direct, was at work on a film called The Butcher Boy. There was no script. The director, the actors, and the crew talked over what they were going to do in the next scene and then did it. Keaton with his elegant, laid-back air improvised a routine with a broom and was instantly hired.

Keaton had grown up in show business. His father, Joe, worked in a traveling show with Harry Houdini called the “Mohawk Indian Medicine Company,” which in addition to entertaining rubes, sold patent medicine on the side. Keaton became a part of his parents’ comedy act when he was three. His mom played the saxophone while he goaded his father, who would respond by grabbing the boy by the suitcase handle they had sewn to the back of his jacket and throwing him against the scenery, into the orchestra pit, and at times even at the hecklers in the audience. So one might say he had a professional interest in seeing how Arbuckle dealt with the various acrobatic feats that were the staple of silent comedy.

On April 23, 1917, The Butcher Boy opened in two hundred theaters across the country, including the Strand in Times Square, and soon became a big box office success. Following that, Arbuckle and Keaton made, I believe, two other films in the same building—A Reckless Romeo and Rough House, the first of which no longer survives as far as I know. The company then moved to the Biograph Studio on East 175th Street where Coney Island, His Wedding Night, and a couple of others films were made before it relocated to Long Beach, California in October 1917.

Roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes long, these shorts, which can be seen on YouTube, are still very funny. Along with Arbuckle and Keaton, they feature Al St. John, Arbuckle’s second banana (and nephew), a gangly, loose-limbed acrobat dressed like a scarecrow who played country bumpkins and various kinds of villains. Beyond the slapstick and roughhouse typical of the times, the number of thoroughly original and brilliant comic ideas found in these shorts is staggering. (See, for instance, the marvelous clip on YouTube of the boys eating spaghetti in the 1918 film The Cook.) Keaton once said that making funny pictures is like assembling a watch; you have to be sober or it won’t tick. He also said afterward that everything he knew about film comedy he learned from Fatty Arbuckle, who by the time they met had already been in some twenty films.

Jim in Times Square

Part of Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle's 48th Street movie studio, now a parking garage

I know a bit about the subject because years ago, I read everything I could find on Buster Keaton, and collected his movies and those of other silent movie comedians. Still, if my son had not lived for a time on First Avenue and 48th Street and I had not started parking my car at the 20th Century PARKING GARAGE, which turned out to have been part of the old Comique Film studio, I would not have made the connection.

Just recently I took a look at a documentary on Keaton made years ago, which to my shock placed Arbuckle’s studio in California, though it did not move there till the fall of 1917. Regardless, I was astonished that the building that held the studio run by Joseph Schenk was still there. It would be interesting to find out its history and that of the neighborhood over the decades. I love the idea that the garage was just three blocks from the United Nations and that over the years many world leaders and high diplomatic officials must have ridden past it in their bullet-proof limousines, throwing a casual glance at the entrance through which, almost a century earlier, Fatty, Keaton, and St. John went, if they were not already in the studio whacking each other over the heads with pillows, making feathers fly out of windows.

A few days ago, I took a stroll during the lunch hour past nail salons, stores selling cell phones, and pizza joints to take another look at the building, thinking the only familiar establishments in the neighborhood that the members of the Comique Film Corporation would still recognize are the Irish pub and the funeral parlor. The garage was still there, but to my surprise and horror I discovered that the wing of the old warehouse that contained the studio had recently been torn down and the government of Singapore was raising some kind of building in its place.


December 7, 2012, 12:18 p.m.

BILL IRWIN & DAVID SHINER: Old Hats

Bill Irwin and David Shiner Collaborate With Tina Landau and Nellie McKay for Old Hats World Premiere at Signature

By Kenneth Jones
06 Dec 2012

Bill Irwin
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Old Hats is the name of the new work by clowning Tony Award winners Bill Irwin and David Shiner, who will appear in the show's world premiere by Signature Theatre Company starting in February 2013. Tina Landau directs the work, with music by retro-pop star Nellie McKay, who is also featured in the production.

Irwin, the renowned clown, is an alumni playwright from Signature's past. This presentation is part of the Off-Broadway's continuing effort to showcase work by alumni, in its Legacy Program.

Performance of Old Hats begin Feb. 12 toward a March 4 opening on The Irene Diamond Stage within the Pershing Square Signature Center on West 42nd Street.

According to Signature, "2003-04 Playwright-in-Residence Bill Irwin reunites with fellow clown David Shiner for a new work combining their inimitable magic, slapstick, and hilarity. Using music, technology, and movement, plus other tricks up their sleeves, Irwin and Shiner create another wild and remarkable outing of theatre for a new generation of audiences. Signature is proud to present this dynamic duo's first collaboration since the smash Broadway hit Fool Moon."

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Tina Landau directed Off-Broadway's Civil War Christmas, Floyd Collins, Dream True, In the Red and Brown Water, Iphigenia 2.0, Wig Out, Mary Rose, Saturn Returns, Orestes, Trojan Women; La Jolla Playhouse's Beauty, Cloud Tectonics and Marisol; Actors Theatre of Louisville's 1969; Broadway's Superior Donuts and Bells Are Ringing; and many other productions.

  The design team includes G.W. Mercier (scenic and costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), John Gromada (sound design), and Wendall K. Harrington (projection design). David H. Lurie is the production stage manager.

Production support for Old Hats is provided by the Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation and the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater.

All tickets for the initial run of the production (to March 31) are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. Tickets go on sale Jan. 8, 2013.

The Pershing Square Signature Center is located at 480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues.

For tickets and information, visit signaturetheatre.org.

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Bill Irwin is a Tony Award winner for playing George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? His many Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional stage productions include The Goat or Who is Sylvia, opposite Sally Field; Waiting For Godot with Nathan Lane, for which Irwin was nominated in 2009 for a Drama Desk Award; The Tempest opposite Patrick Stewart; Texts for Nothing; Largely New York; The Regard of Flight; Garden of Earthly Delights; Accidental Death of an Anarchist; and the Tony Award-winning Fool Moon, which he created with David Shiner. He was Playwright in Residence for the 2003 Signature Theatre season. He was Mr. Noodle on "Sesame Street."

David Shiner made his American debut starring in the renowned Canadian Cirque du Soleil and toured North America in Cirque's Nouvelle Experience from 1990 through the spring of 1991. American-born David began his career on the streets of Boulder, CO. In 1981, he moved to Europe and honed his craft on the streets of Paris, Rome, Florence, London and Munich. He then began performing in Europe's most prestigious circuses, including starring in the German National Circus' Ronacalli and the Swiss National Circus' Knie. Between circus engagements, Shiner and partner Rene Bazinet toured Europe in a two-man show. In 1993, 1995 and 1998, Shiner starred with Bill Irwin and The Red Clay Ramblers in Fool Moon (Tony Award for Unique Theatrical Experience), touring the show throughout the U.S. and Europe. He also starred on Broadway as The Cat in the Hat in Seussical The Musical. Shiner's home base is Munich.

OKIDOK