Yesterday, Klown and I went to the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show. We didn't go for the fair, or the air show. We went to see the Zoppe Family Circus.
I have never seen their show, only bits and pieces of it in other shows, so it was great to see it whole. The show was supposed to be 45 minutes but we got 65 or more minutes of Zoppe, which was great. It was a small show, just a handful of performers, but all very talented and many doing multiple things. Before the show, Giovanni (Nino) Zoppe, several musicians, and two jugglers (Rich and Jacob) entertained the waiting crowd. There was a lot of interaction with the potential audience, getting everyone excited about the show.
I spent a few minutes talking with Rich, an older man juggling with devil sticks, as he manned the booth full of items for sale (t-shirts, Nino dolls, Nino coloring book, Sawdust, Life in the Ring DVDS, and a few odds and ends). I told him about my book project, and he suggested I talk to Zoppe's sound girl, Di, as she was brand new to circus.
The show opened with Mama and Papa, Sandra and Alberto Zoppe. Alberto is in his mid-80's and becoming frail, but he stood tall and proud in his dress suit with ruffles at the neck. Sandra is still beautiful, dressed in black velvet with plenty of rhinestones. She was a force to be reckoned with standing next to Alberto. After announcing the start of the show, they exited the tent, and the performers entered, juggling and dancing, and Nino carting in a huge trunk full of props. One by one, the performs finished their opening routines and left the tent, leaving Nino alone. He did his usual "lost my hat" gag using a little boy who was sitting in front of us. The kid was 8 or 9 and played along beautifully. His mom was taking pictures for all she was worth!
There was a German dog act with samoyeds, poodles, and one very fat little chihuahua. Tosca Zoppe, Nino's sister, performed with a tiny little horse who did small jumps and stood atop a drum in the center of the ring. Jugglers comprised of Jacob and one of the stage-hands/tent men that I recognized from Flora, along with Di, the new sound girl. Jacob was the main attraction, and was juggling what looked like spokes from a brass headboard, along with the requisite clubs and balls, up to five each.
Tosca returned to the ring to perform on her beautiful blond horse. I had seen her perform previously this year with Flora, in an act that looked stilted and uncomfortable. I knew she was better than what I saw at Flora, and I was not wrong. Atop her huge Principessa, she did several acrobatic acts with very steady feet.
Nino joined her then, with a second horse, and they performed acrobatics together atop them. Again, I had seen the more stilted and uncomfortable act at Flora, and this was so much better than what I'd seen there. I'm still trying to figure out what the difference was, why they had seemed so nervous at Flora but not on their own show. I think it may have possibly been the placement of the rigging at Flora. Much of the rigging was quite low, only 20 feet or so, and there was no way to do that act with the rigging hanging so low over their heads. With Tosca atop Nino's shoulders, and Nino atop the backs of the draft horses, they were more than 20 feet up. Tosca was completely relaxed on her brother's shoulders, and both of them looked completely comfortable.
In amongst all of the acts was Nino and his clown schtick. He appeared in the ring, in the stands, and behind the performers. On skit involved him in the stands near us, arguing with the Ringmaster about who was the boss.
It was a third of the way into the show before I realized that the Ringmaster, dressed as an old-fashioned whiteface Pagliacci clown, was Jay, Tosca Zoppe's extremely hard-working husband. Check some of my older blog entries to see what I had to say about him before. At one rehearsal for Flora, I asked him if there was anything he couldn't do. "No," he said confidently. I had no idea he ever put on makeup or performed, so that was kind of cool to see.
The final act of the show was Nino on the big swing. I've seen this act before, but it is still amazing to watch. He is so strong, and when you see him work you just don't realize it. At one point he is hanging from the giant swing by one hand as if it is no big thing. I am always amazed. He brought the crowd to cheers several times. Klown commented that Nino really knows how to bring his emotion to the audience. He gets everyone involved, and gets the emotion he wants from the crowd, whether it is a chorus of boos for the performer who snubs him, or a rousing chant of "do it" when he defies the Ringmaster to get to the big swing.
When the show is over, and Nino brings out the big trunk so all the props can be put away, there is a distinct sigh of sadness that settles over the audience. It is over. And it was a wonderful ride.
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