Welcome to our little circus! I am so happy to be apart of another Jay Torrence show in a different capacity this time! This show has been a dream to help assistant direct and I am so incredibly proud of each individual who has been working on this show to make it what it is. Everyone has put in so much work and effort into this production and it truly shows. I want to give a special thank you to the cast, crew, directors, and especially Jay for this experience. I hope you enjoy this beautiful tragedy as you laugh and cry throughout!!
-Noelani <3
All the world's a circus, we are merely elephants.
-Linny F
I am sitting here on the side stairs of the theatre watching the performance because it has been hard to get my thoughts together. I have an extremely difficult, tiring, sometimes frustrating, yet most wonderful job in the whole world! This is the third time we have had the gift of working with Jay Torrence, the second time with this show. If I repeat a show I usually wait ten years--but I broke that rule for these seniors. This is the first "normal" year we have had since the fall of 2020 and I wanted it to be extra special for them.
I know this show is not your normal high school theatre piece. You will see that at times the actors are just "actors" on stage figuring out how to tell this story. Other times, you will see the stories of performers that might have been. Other times you will hear actors addressing the audience directly with the actual events that happened. If you look at the center of the back wall you will see a sign that says HISTORICAL and flickers btw Fact or Fiction. This show was inspired by an actual trainwreck that occured in Hammond, Indiana in 1918. Since most of the 86 performers who died were not able to be identified, not much is known about the actual people. So when we see the stories of Dee dee, Bearded lady and the strong men unfold---imagination of what these characters MIGHT have been like is used. The play was written in 2005--and you will hear war references to Afghanistan made. We quickly drew connections to the conflict currently in the Ukraine. That is why the show opens with the modern "search light" and the yellow and blue flags which are Ukranian colors. You will also hear references to a flu epidemic taking the lives of 600,000 people and of course a connection to the covid pandemic was made. This made the statement of "history not repeating itself" even more impactful.
Special thanks to my wonderful team---Ron, Chris C and Chris Schnabel--I cannot thank you enough for you devotion to this program and these kids. What we do on this stage would not be a fraction of what it is withhout you. Noelani, Caitie and Linny----my friends. Thanks for your contributions and key moments that you each added to bring this all to life! It is a pleasure working with you.
To Jay--what a gift your relationship with this program has been to my students and to myself. Thank you for trusting us with your work. To be able to help share the story of these circus performers is such a gift. We hope we have made you proud.
To my family who supports my shows----love you so much! To my husband and daughter --thanks for supporting me and loving me even in the most difficult crazy times.
To my dad who was a devoted supporter to this program--this show is dedicated to you! I miss your smile, and the pride you had when you sat in that audience. I miss you every day!
Good theatre makes people think and connect, and laugh and cry and change and grow. We hope that is what you will do when leaving our theatre tonight.
Cathy Nelson
