Circus Oz: From the Ground Up
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley
Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA
8:00 PM, Friday, February 15, 2013

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We walk in at about 7:50 PM to find a couple of the musicians – ?Ania Reynolds? and Carl Polke – performing in the lobby, much to the amusement of the gathered crowd. A minute or two to listen, then it's on and down to our seats in front. A bunch of OZzies are onstage doing random tricks – balancing a tape-measure tape? Hey, I could do that – and it's not even dangerous to try at home! Ghenoa is selling programs from a peanut-vendor style get-up, while others are wandering about in the theatre, interacting with the audience. Jeremy pulls an audience member up on stage for a card trick, but like most of his magic, the trick fails miserably.

Eventually, the lights go down, and after a brief warning about the evils of acrobat-addling flash photography and ringing cell phones, the curtain rises to reveal Ania, suspended from the ceiling at the world's largest piano. It's not just a grand, it's stupendous. It's a veritable stretch limo of a piano – at least 20' long. I am heartily amused! Ania plays a pompous classical riff as the piano is ever-so-slowly lowered towards the stage, coming to a halt about 10 or 12' high. With a flash of light, the rest of the band kicks in with a WHAM! and the drapery drops from the “piano” revealing it to be a giant I-beam. Huh-ho! The joke's on me! And thus we segue to the initial construction segment of the show, as the “piano” is deconstructed and the performers begin spinning acrobatically about the stage while striking the set for the first act. Bravo! A fine way to start things off!!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

• Chad Albinger: rigger, performer;
• Hazel Bock: juggler;
• Jeremy Davies: magician, performer;
• Ghenoa Gela: emcee;
• Kai Johnson-Peady: acrobat;
• Flip Kammerer: Fantasia, acrobatics, roller-blading, performer;
• Bec Matthews: drums, percussion;
• Stevee Mills: acrobatics;
• Carl Polke: guitar, saxophone, other instruments, music director;
• Ania Reynolds: keyboards, other instruments;
• Luke Taylor: performer;
• Mason West: Rola Bola;
• Shane Witt: acrobatics, performer;
• Dale Woodbridge: acrobatics, performer.

All in all, a fine evening's entertainment. I'm sure I'll be back in the audience next time the OZzies are out on tour!

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2013 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2013 event list! ☸ On to the next event!