Monday, March 06, 2006

Rabbit Foot Minstrels #6


Canvas looks almost new, unlikely they moved every day. The general admission seats are the same as the "blues" with a circus and the reserved seats are fenced off in the center. Nice looking backdrop.

On the subject of Theatricals, Ron Morris and I are attending H.M.S. Pinafore tonight. I thought we were the only Savoyards in Sarasota County but it's not the case since we got the last two seats available. First thing I will do is check the Playbill to see who is playing "Celerity" tonight.

Posted by Buckles at 3/06/2006 06:04:00 AM

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

from Eric:

Hi Buckles,

Speaking of Gilbert & Sullivan, do you remember the nautical-themed aerial ballet on the 111th Edition of the Ringling Show? (It was the very last aerial ballet they ever did.) Much of the music was from Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, etc. It probably was inspired by Joseph Papp's 1980 production of Pirates of Penzance which starred Linda Ronstadt and some other rock stars. (For myself, I'd rather hear the D'Oyly Carte version.)

All the Best,

Eric

06 March, 2006 12:12
Buckles said...

I'm a bit confused here, I remember a "Penzance" web number with the girls dressed in abbreviated Pirate costumes but maybe 20 years earler that the date you give.
At one point the band played "Poor Wandering One" and the webs were positioned close enough so the girls could fence with electrified swords that emitted sparks as the blades touched.

06 March, 2006 13:27
Buckles said...

I was lucky enough to see the D'oyly Carte Company on an American tour about 1954. We were in Chicago for the Super Circus TV Show and the evening before I took a cab to the Blackstone Theater where I saw Pinafore for the first time, done as written and as an added bonus, "Trial by Jury" was included as the curtain raiser.

06 March, 2006 13:45
Buckles said...

I might add that this was the same theater where my dad once took an elephant to from Hall's place in the 1920's to appear as the "vanishing elephant" for the great magician Blackstone.
I have never understood the significance of the theater and the magician having the same name.

06 March, 2006 13:53
Anonymous said...

Whats a Pinafore. I remember wearing a garment with that name in my very very youth.

06 March, 2006 15:12
Buckles said...

The name of a Gilbert & Sullivan Comic Opera. The entire piece takes place aboard the H.M.S. (Her Majesty's Ship) Penafore.

06 March, 2006 15:29
Anonymous said...

I was on an H M S, so I got that part. Is there a Celerity involved in the story? I saw the Linda Ronstadt thing. I'm afraid Italian Opera is my thing. Just the music, not the plays. Have a nice evening.

06 March, 2006 15:59
Anonymous said...

Hi Buckles,

You're probably thinking of the BALLET OF THE BUCCANEERS from the 1959 show. JRN wrote a particularly bad song for it called "You May Wear a Patch on Your Eye." Part of it can be heard on a circus LP for kids called RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM AND BAILEY CIRCUS, that was released on the Cricket label and which has music from the 1959 show.

Eric

06 March, 2006 18:48
Anonymous said...

The Blackstone Theatre in Chicago was named after a local businessman Tomothy Blackstone who built the theatre and adjoining Blackstone Hotel. It opened in 1910.

I saw Harry Blackstone when he was a very old man at the Blackstone Theatre and saw the elephant trick. I wasn't payting too much attention to Harry and saw the man lead the elephant on stage in plain sight but everyone was concentrating on what Harry was doing.

07 March, 2006 10:22
Buckles said...

My dad said it was a very easy gig. He led the elephant into a large box that was situated over a trap door with a hinge.
When she was half way into the box her weight had already began to turn the floor into a ramp. He said that after she became more comfortable she wouldn't even break stride and the ramp was back in place in a matter of seconds.

07 March, 2006 11:01

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