The Bric-a-Brac Vintage Vagabond Varity Show
The Bric-a-Brac Vintage Vagabond Varity Show
By Rocky Hopson
Silver Venue, Orlando International Theater Fringe Festival, Orlando, FL</strong>
I don’t know if it’s the wheezy accordion or the semi-practiced French accents, but this charming act makes you feel like you’re in the street scenes from “Children of Paradise” or “The Chambermaid’s Diary.” They sing slightly out of tune folk songs featuring white-faced Stephan LeCoq (Chris Gibson) and Tabarin (Rob Houle) on guitar and accordion as Isabella Belle (Cami Alys Yankwitt) and Bridgette (Kate Arpka Houle) flirt and accompany on electric Ukulele and Bass. The Big French Bear (La Grand Ourse Francais, or Chris McInteyre) visits for a rousing number or two while Drummer Saint-Sans (Augustin Frederic) pounds out rhythm on a drum kit fashioned out of a small tree.
The singing delights, the story telling is sweet and compelling, but it’s the Punch and Judy Show that should fill the seats. Mr. Punch is deadly with a spoon, and no only does he take out his shrewish wife, but most of the rest of his puppet town falls to his blow. Papier-mâché corpses pile up like the last act of Titus Andronicus until he makes a deal with the devil. Normally this is a bad idea, but soon Satan’s head is batted out into the first row, showing that sheer violence and force of will CAN overcome pure evil. Bric-a-Brac looks old fashioned and sounds like a vacuum tube Philco radio, but they look and feel better than our relation with France ever did.
This show is presented as part of the 17th Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival. Information on times, tickets, and venue location my be found at http://OrlandoFringe.org/
