Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, November 14, 2008

Stages ready for acrobatics, lasers

Lazer Vaudeville coming to venues in both Langley and Everett.

By Andrea McInnis
Herald Writer

 Part of the fun of being a performer in the Lazer Vaudeville show, Cindy Marvell said, is keeping the audience guessing. Another is bringing kids onstage and teaching them a skill.

Marvell and her two stage partners, Carter Brown (who also is her husband) and Warren Hammond, will do all of that when their Colorado-based show comes to Langley tonight and to Everett on Sunday.

Audiences will watch a 7-foot-tall, fire-breathing dragon named Alfonzo, and the fast-paced skits taking place around him on those two stages.

"We all represent several different characters, go through several costume changes, do a lot of different juggling routines and other types of skills, like a cowboy with a neon rope skit; we bounce balls off hand drums, we do club passing (a form of juggling) and indoor kite-flying," she explained.

The trio also takes turns wearing the roughly 60-pound weight of emcee character Alfonzo's costume.

"The character requires being in a hunched position, working the claws and arms from the inside," Marvell said. "The costume is made of black-light fluorescent material, and people always like to see that."

Kids often like Alfonzo "because he's a big, stuffed animal that talks to them," she noted.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts booked Lazer Vaudeville as part of its Family Series season, which aims to "help families make the arts a priority in their lives by providing high-quality, cultural and entertainment events at an affordable price, suitable for all ages," the staff said in a written statement.

The show has been at WICA twice before.

"They filled the house each time," executive director Stacie Burgua said. "They delight audiences of all ages and we especially appreciate their ability to entertain middle school-aged students."

In its 21 years of touring, the show has been on several U.S. stages, as well as venues in England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Bermuda and Saudi Arabia.

"It's been several years since we were in Everett, but it's fun to be there," she said, "because the area has a history of vaudeville, especially Seattle, like the Flying Karamazov Brothers. They were pioneers of this type of street show that went onstage."

Everett's Village Theatre booked the performance as part of its Pied Piper program, which arranges shows for groups of young schoolchildren.

"It is exciting for us to have the unique opportunity to share in the revival of this distinctly American art form," Pied Piper manager Erica Weir said. "The jazzed-up combination of traditional vaudeville juggling, acrobatics and comedy with the modern twists of black-light illusion and a high-tech laser show make for an amazing family experience."

Adults will enjoy the show, Weir said, because of the cast's high-caliber performance, and kids will be hooked on the dramatic black-light illusions, among other aspects.

Lazer Vaudeville also thrives on audience participation. Marvell used one example of a child being asked to help with a plate-spinning skit.

"There's a tradition, in new vaudeville, to pick an audience member" to help with parts of the show, she explained.

Another feature that usually gets a good response, she said, is the laser show set to music and shown on a big screen.

"It tells the story of how 'old' vaudeville became 'new,' going back to juggling in Egypt," she said, "and that gives them something to talk about afterward."
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA