By Jack Marsh, Artistic Director
Our new show, The Case of the Missing Bellhop, is going to be extremely fun. There is a lot to be excited about, starting with the intriguing premise . . .
The show is a mystery set in the Balding Hotel, where dignitaries from around the world congregate to rest their heads, enjoy the impeccable service, and plan out the machinations of the world. When the Balding’s beloved bellhop (played by Circus Flora fan-favorite clown Adam Kuchler) goes missing, the world-famous Detective Gordon takes on the case and must piece together the clues and sift through the suspects to discover whodunnit. Once she starts digging, though, she realizes the extent of the evil afoot in the Balding.
We’ve got some incredible circus acts lined up:
Roxane Gilliand is a young phenom on the Swinging Trapeze — seeing her act makes me inspired and nervous, in equal measures. Speaking of nervous, Jeison Dominguez will be performing the Wheel of Destiny, an apparatus never-before-seen in the Circus Flora tent. You’ll be right next to the action while he risks life and limb on a giant wheel that revolves high into the apex of the Big Top. The Flying Wallendas combine stately grace on the High Wire with their own brand of daredevil-ism, creating complex pyramids thirty feet off the ground (without a net!).
YoYo, Circus Flora’s intrepid narrator, will steer the action while we try and piece together the clues. Detective Gordon, played by clown-actress-singer-rollerskater-and-everything-else-under-the-sun Amy G, will leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of all the commotion at the Balding. The St. Louis Arches from Circus Harmony will check in at the Balding as well, piling into one hotel room and reminding me of college when I would share a hotel room with way too many people to save on costs. (Except my college buddies were way worse at acrobatics than the brilliant Arches.)
The Alanian Riders will excite and mesmerize you with their fast-paced acrobatics on, off, under, and around their galloping horses. And Cousin Grumpy will amaze you and make you laugh with his closest friends and collaborators: trained pigs. You heard that right, but I’ll say it again. Trained pigs.
Felix di Pasquale, Marine Crest, and Tyler Clemmen do some acrobatics on the Trampoline Wall that will defy gravity. It will be as if gravity gave them a 11pm curfew on a Saturday night but they don’t want to go home because they’re having such a great time at Susie’s party and all their friends are there, including their big crush, and it’s not like they’re drinking, they’re just talking and playing Settlers of Catan, so why should they have to go home so early, so they stay out past 11.
And perhaps the most important performers in the Circus Flora show is you, the audience! With seats so close to these amazing performers, you’ll feel like you are part of the action. And watch out, you might be! In this mystery, you never know what will happen . . .