Sandy Weber has uploaded this clip of the Rastellis entree from the Mary Hart hosted television show GREAT CIRCUSES OF THE WORLD. It purports to be from Stockholm Sweden in 1978 but it was shot for a special on circus clowns a few years earlier than that.
nice act.
ReplyDeletevery old school but nice.
did you know it took 3 yes 3 hours between performances to rearange the exploding piano.
but what I wonder about:
why is there a white face clown.
ok he is beautifull dressed.
but he doesnt perform much.
other european white faces like fransesco caroli or yann rossi
wreally take the lead in the whole act.
the moderate the act and they direct the action.
but ( i believe in this clip it is antonio poletto) this white face just stands there and laughs sometimes.
strange.
Toni Polette ended up as little more than the prop man. He was the one who re-assembled the piano.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
I remember The Rastellis very well, they were my favourite act ever since I saw them for the first time - in pantomime of all things, at The Palace theatre in Manchester, England in the 60s. They appeared as a speciality act in at least two stage pantomimes with Jimmy Clitheroe (nostalgic English people will remember him!!). And yes, Tony the white face clown, really only dressed the act - his several costume changes in the pantomime actually drew applause!
ReplyDeleteI remember The Rastellis well, having seen them for the first time in pantomime (of all things) at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England during the 60s. They did at least two stage pantomimes with Jimmy Clitheroe (nostalgic English people will remember him) and several ice pantomimes too. They performed as a speciality act. And yes, Tony did tend to just dress the act, but I recall his several costume changes in the pantomime drew applause.
ReplyDelete