BY LAURA BIEMMI, TRENDS EDITOR
A young woman sits alone on stage. A party hat adorns her head, yet there is no party in sight. It’s her birthday, and her party guests haven’t turned up.
To pass the time and cheer herself up, she puts on a record of Mozart’s music, only for the composer himself to burst into the room and accompany her in an exuberant display of acrobatics and slapstick through music and circus.
And so forms the basic premise for Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus. It’s an hour-long show hosted by Brisbane’s Circa Contemporary Circus, and one that reaches out to young music fans in the making.
Circa itself has been ambitiously described as “one of the great Australian success stories in the arts” (Sydney Morning Herald). Regarded as one of the nation’s foremost pioneers in contemporary circus, Circa pushes the boundaries of circus as an artform.
Having performed in more than 40 countries, and at countless venues and festivals across the world, Circa has created widely acclaimed shows such as Humans, the poignant exploration of the human body; and Circa’s Peepshow, which literally turns cabaret on its head.
Leading the company is artistic director and CEO Yaron Lifchitz, six-time Helpmann Award-winner, and recipient of the 2016 Australia Council Award for Theatre. With extensive experience in circus, theatre, and opera, Yaron’s vision for Mozart’s acrobatic adventures seeks to bring the composer’s playful boisterousness centre stage.
“Mozart had this great energy,” Yaron explains.
“He was a prankster, he loved puns; he loved playing darts and making bum jokes. He wasn’t stuck up or pretentious at all.
“I was looking to make a show that was smaller, more intimate, and a lot of fun, so I thought, ‘let’s send Mozart to the circus, and let’s recapture some of his charm and energy, his cheekiness and humour. Let’s put that on stage and tell a story that’s a whole bunch of fun’.”
Indeed, puns and jokes do sound like fun – and it starts to hint at the way Circa’s show is making this music exciting for different audiences. By embracing the fun-loving side of such a ubiquitous figure in the Classical canon, Yaron hopes to reconfigure the way we hear Mozart’s music.
“I love the music of Mozart, but it strikes me that a lot of his music is played in a boring, old-fashioned way,” Yaron admits.
“It’s as if you hear classical rather than music, and I wondered how this music somehow ends up in a stuffy concert hall with people in tuxedos staring down their noses at you.
“I wanted to unlock the music’s inner spirit; its energy and vibrancy.”
So, how do you unlock the inner spirit of Mozart’s music? After all, performers across the globe have been attempting to do so for centuries.
The obvious answer, in this instance, may be to set Mozart’s compositions to a high-energy, hilarious circus show. But for Circa, Mozart’s music itself had to be reworked. As Yaron explains, “all the music in the show is of course written by Mozart. Quincy Grant re-scored 360 pages of Mozart’s music, and then recorded the arrangements with an eight-piece ensemble specifically for this production”.
“Then, we have the recorded soundtrack alongside a live accordion player who’s onstage with the Birthday Girl and Mozart himself.”
Circus aside, from a musician’s perspective, this show certainly sounds like a fun one.
“There are some wonderful musical moments in the show. There’s a very fine instrumental version of Voi che sapete from The Marriage of Figaro, and a fantastic version of the overture from Figaro, too.
“It’s really nice to hear a small-scale chamber ensemble in the recordings. It doesn’t sound old-fashioned. It sounds like great music, which is what it is.”
Such spirit has clearly resonated with audiences and critics alike. The Herald Sun described the show as “divinely engrossing and intelligently devised”. Theatreview praised the ”wondrous circus skills and magical illusions…set to the exceptional music of Mozart”, while ArtsHub encouraged audiences to “indulge your inner child and treat yourself to this wondrous show”.
Any arts practitioner would surely be thrilled to receive such widespread critical acclaim. But when it comes down to it, for Yaron, the very best reviews are from the kids in attendance.
“One of my favourite things about this show is the number of parents that tell me that their kids get in the car and demand they play Mozart on the way home,” Yaron beams.
“I like to think of the show almost as chocolate-coated brussells sprouts: the show is so much fun that kids listen to – and enjoy – an hour of Mozart without realising.”
All of this is not to say that Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus is strictly for children. As Yaron tells us, “we have found that this show just works for everyone”.
“It’s got great music, it’s got fantastic, skilful performers; and the story is funny, accessible, and only goes for about an hour.
“It’s got such great energy. It’s just a show that works!”
It appears that Mozart and circus are a winning combination that go hand-in-hand (or foot-in-hand, if the specifics of acrobatics are applicable here). And while that sounds out-there enough to satisfy audiences, to Yaron, this collision of artforms in music and circus taps into something deeper.
“What I find is that both artforms require great virtuosity, and a mixture of formal precision and artistic interpretation.
“I also think that both circus and music are just great ways of communicating things that don’t necessarily have words, and maybe aren’t always completely obvious, but nevertheless are very deep and human experiences.”
When asked if he has a favourite moment of the show, Yaron remains tight-lipped (“no spoilers!” he laughs). But for us, he pinpoints what he loves about the show.
“The main thing that happens is that two very talented circus artists perform a range of skilful acrobatics, and they do so with physical and musical precision, with a lot of feeling and a lot of humour.
“I think that communicates a lot to the audience!”
See Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre, West HQ, 28 December 2019 to 4 January 2020. You’ll then get to see it at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre from 7-18 January 2020.
Images supplied.
