Traveling Art Circus
The Scene:
Traveling Art Circus presents: "To Kill a Roommate" and "The Misadventures of Mr. Crinklebine the Goldfish"
When: August 1 & 2, 7pm
Where: The Miramar, 2844 N. Oakland Ave., Milwaukee, WI
How Much: $10
The Traveling Art Circus has been around for a few years. Founding members Dan Grenda and Mark Edwards, both Milwaukee natives, met up by chance in San Francisco almost eight years ago and started the group, eventually returning to Milwaukee. Cesar Gamino, also a Milwaukee native, performed with them in their Milwaukee debut at the 2006 Sketch and Improv festival. Since then TAC has been writing and performing around town bringing absurdist comedy to sometimes incendiary topics both political and social.
In a recent interview with Dan, Mark and Cesar, VS asked the trio what an audience could expect at their upcoming show. Without giving too much away - they gave me this general run down:
VS: What can the herd expect when they come to your show?
TAC: "To Kill a Roommate", written by Dan Grenda, will appeal to anyone who has ever cohabitated with someone not related to you. Imagine all the worst roommate stories you've ever heard - we've written a character that is all of them. The play opens with an original song with musical stylings by Lodi Bruekhuizen, a classically trained violinist. Most of the shows all contain original musical material, although there are some adaptations of well known songs. All the actors have a strong physical presence and the humor runs from toilet jokes to thoughtful rhetoric.
"Misadventures of Mr. Crinklebine the Goldfish", written by Mark Edwards, delves into the psychological relationships people have with their pets. This short play features a woman obsessed with her goldfish Mr. Crinklebine, her friend who tries to point out this obsession, a mad taxidermist and of course, Mr. Crinklebine (played by Mark Edwards). Also featured are all original songs, again with the musical accompaniment of Mr. Bruekhuizen.
VS: How do the shows get written?
TAC: Often the idea will start out with one writer producing the bulk of the script. Other collaborators will help add to it, creating a well rounded production with many influences. Our inspiration comes from current issues in politics and long standing social issues. For example - our last show, "What the Hell is a Grimace Anyway" featured characters modeled from the Enron guys, Ronald McDonald and Grimace and Virginia Woolf.
VS: If you missed the last show; a quick run down:
TAC: Ronald and Grimace are devious criminals, with McDonalds having been discovered putting mind control additives in the milkshakes. The Enron guys, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are the axis of evil and there's a jail break.
VS: So are you guys a comedy group or a theatre group?
TAC: We're primarily theatre. We're not improv, we write and rehearse our shows. We write mostly comedy, but it’s mostly in a theatrical setting. Absurdist comedy.
VS: What is the mission of Traveling Art Circus?
TAC: We try to promote local talent, local artists, actors and musicians. In the past we've tried to feature various artists, we'd like to keep doing that.
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When not writing, producing, directing and acting in their shows, each member of the Traveling Art Circus has a day job - like most of us. Dan is a bartender for an upscale Brewer's Hill restaurant, Mark is a second grade teacher and Cesar is a practicing real estate mogul and filmmaker. Who knows, could these guys be the next Beckett, Pinter and Genet? I'm not a theatre critic, but I wouldn't have much to say if I didn't go see their show. Given Milwaukee's sometimes abysmal social events calendar for the mid-week, I think it'd be a good choice. What's more - they may be giving out DVDs of their last performance. Can you beat that?
In short - go see The Traveling Art Circus at the Miramar Theatre located at 2844 N. Oakland Avenue on August 1st and 2nd at 7:00pm! -VS
What are the Milwaukee masses flocking to this week? The VITAL Source Street Team will be covering events from kickball games and bike races to festivals and special events. Look to this blog for choice reviews of events, quotes from people on the scene and pictures of what you missed even if you were there.