Cirque L'Amour

Cirque L'Amour @ the Bossanova!

Join us for a romantic dinner & circus show tailor made for couples on Valentine's Day weekend. Each ticket is good for a guaranteed seat at one of our tables or booths in the main ballroom, a four-course gourmet meal. Our show is an adaptation of Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus" with corporal mime Tommy Twimble portraying the hapless Tramp as he stumbles in and out of love and stardom. A live musical score from vintage jazz sextet The Stolen Sweets and their telepathic 3-part vocal harmonies backs up astounding performances from AWOL Dance Collective, Kazum, Reed McClintock, Night Flight, and Leapin' Louie Lichtenstein and more.

The Bossanova Ballroom & Supper Club - 722 E Burnside Portland, OR

Tickets: $76-$122

21 & Over

Seating at 6pm

We've been practicing for this show pretty hard, much like we did for the White Album Christmas Show. We had quite a blowout at a dress rehearsal before the show. I ain't gonna dredge that back up here & now but I went into Friday the 13th's Valentine show pretty stressed. But things with Gaelen were really good and that helped a lot, plus at practice the night before we'd talked through the rehearsal-crash. So by the time it was time to get in costume & makeup, I was mostly bored and reading a book. Edenborn; Alex loaned it to me. Excellent read.

My esteem's risen for the boy.

There was pretty much zero stress for makeup & costume. I hung out in the drywalled, ice-house-style unfinished basement that aspires to be the Bossanova's Greenroom. I like it, but most find it too frigid & severe. That's 'cause it is, I suppose.

I still like it.

Friday night's show was exciting. It was a pretty darn good show. There were a few wobbles here and there. Alex's foot had to touch down briefly, once, speedy-quick, on the turning crabstack. But that ain't too shabby for our first performance of Lion Tamer with 50% new cast. Miranda & I nailed our levers all 3 nights, which was excellent. And the final pose gets as much or more appreciation than Zac's much-more-difficult handstand on arched backs. I can't believe that the Lion Tamer turned out so well. Aw, here's me & Zac as Lions. It still feels really goofy in practice. Alex watched video clips of lions. Dumb brown-nosing practicer. Catering to the audience's petty whim. "Look how that cute sexy tattooed one looks like a real lion!"

So, I'm gonna be watching Discovery Channel when I can, and practicing in front of the mirror when nobody else is around. Except Gaelen. I'll pounce on her. And she never reads my blog, so she won't know I'm gonna.

The Lion Tamer went splendiferously except that on Saturday night we dropped it. Miranda said it felt like she slipped off our knees. That's lame, but it's better than just dropping it 'cause we suck. :) On Sunday night we chalked our knees. Plus we drilled it before the show once. I like doing that.

The number we perform to is Comes Love, by the Stolen Sweets. Noah was the guest singer; he did a bang-up job. Even on Sunday night when his voice was gone and he was drunk as hell. Love that guy. His greeting to all dudes at the after-party was a pretty convincingly earnest knee to the groin. Alex & I both dodged & blocked. He's got years of kung-fu training. I have 5 kids. Children have the most amazing knack for short-range nearly-impossible-to-predict high-powered unintentional jabs to the gonads.

Comes Love went flawlessly. There are a few tense tricks; nothing as scary as the triple-based extension or as hit-and-miss as a cupie. Also nothing as spectacular as a basket toss (even if it is just a toe-touch). Heh... I just emailed Kazum and asked if we can practice at Naydenov's. We should be throwing at least back tucks & front pikes in basket tosses.

I wanna see footage of Comes Love. We double-base extend Scarlett on stilts and I'm really curious to see how that looks. Plus we did two awesome adagio toss-catches, and I'd love to see those in full regalia.

It's kinda weird; I don't ever get to see the full effect of how neat a Kazum show might be, 'cause I'm always in 'em now. I used to watch them a lot but now I've crossed the sidelines into the limelight.

Ooh, performing for Rush would kick arse.

I got to hang out with the other performers a fair bit at this show. Leapin' Louie is way cool but I get the feeling he misreads me somehow. He only ever sees FunScott, though, so why wouldn't he? The Bellini Twins are really amazing and inspiring. Russ is an incredible dancer! After Friday night's show there was a swing dance activity and he & Susan tore it up like nothing I've ever seen. There was a lot of incredible dancing there. Daniel & Karen dance together with extraordinary grace and beauty. On Sunday night Russ was doing a weird parody of graceful dancing with Noah, who wasn't able to be his loud & raucous self and instead had to be quiet & raucous.

The AWOL girls were, as expected, extraordinary. One of their ranks, young Paulina, was the star of the show and the belle of the ball. Alex cares nothing for the fact that she's 12 or so. (Maybe like 18, but for sure not legal to drink yet.) He's a cradle robber pedophile who's going to a special level of hell. She picked up dancing & stunting with amazing flair, and she & Russ really stole the show. I got to speak a few sentences here & there with the other AWOL ladies but they surely see me as Creepy Old Dude and I've no reason to disabuse them of that notion. I feel self-conscious already when Emily or Io or Uli or Miranda are all excited to see me. At least, I do when other people are making the WTF face, heh.

Makeup was Robert, oft with his love Rene. I got to talk with Rene for a bit, and she's a really neat lady. She's an empath and an astrologer. I'd love to talk with her about such things and gorge my fascination.

I spent quite a bit of really quality time with Robert on the porch of Emily's Amazing Afterparty in the Hizz'ouse. He's a cool dude. I can't wait to hang out with him a bit at the Alice in Wonderland show in April. Ugh, Miranda might not be able to do that one, which would be such a tragedy.

Naia did costumes and IMO she did 'em pretty damn well. I hung out with her a bit on Monday with Alex while Gaelen slept. I love Naia.

Andy was Stage Manager and he did a fine job of it. Sophia was his beautiful sidekick. She wears a tail, apparently 24-7. It's pretty cool. 'Specially all things considered. She's adorable: innocent in a way but fierce as a wildcat at the same time. Young, though... a little too old for me to convince myself she's 12, but borderline. She & Gaelen have a thing. Pretty hot. But also a bit scary. I'll cope somehow.

The Stolen Sweets are incredible. The 3 vocalist ladies sing like bells. Jason Wells is Jason Wells; 'nuff said. That guy emits music from his pores. The chellist, Keith, seems a really cool guy. Emily recommended him strongly, which carries much weight. The whole group was incredible, and the ladies were breathtaking. Alex set his sights on Laura, who led him on quite entreatingly until her ex showed up and re-engaged her to Alex's chagrin. I myself was delighted, of course. :) I traded a few words with Erin and Jen, which is tough for me to do when a lady's gorgeous. I just smiled retardedly around Laura, sticking to my SOP. Luckily, this plays well into the Creepy Old Guy thing. Always a good thing. *sigh*

There were no accidents, no drops (other than the crab stack and one drop ain't too shabby) and no major crises. The show went remarkably smoothly and it was a real delight. Noah's hoarse voice combined on Sunday night with his intoxication due to drinks from the sound booth, and the resulting ambiance was gritty, funny and as entertaining as a firecracker in a chicken's arse used to be to a colder-hearted crowd. Closing night was incredible. The numbers were vibrant, the crowd was hopped up on ambiance, and the whole place just lit up all night long. Thunderous applause, amazing feats, terrifying lions... it was a night to remember.

To celebrate, we pounded our minds with alcohol and wanton debauchery. It was as bad as I've ever seen it get. I've not heard and smelt such things in years, either. At one point, an audience member who'd stayed late asked me, "Do all Wanderlust last shows degerate into drunken orgies?" I didn't have to recall too many incidents before nodding happily. But then I had to go pull Emily out of the manpile Tobi had instigated on herself.

It was a wonderful show with a ridiculously loud finish. I don't know if I'll be quite so engaged at the next one but I hope it's all this one was and more. It better be, 'cause it'll be Alex's last. *sigh*

I love Kazum. I love running off at night to join the circus. I love Gaelen, and I love Alex, and I love Uli, and I love Miranda, and I love Russ. I love Scarlett and Naia and I like everybody else lots and lots. I can't believe I get to do this, and that I get to do it with such excellent and amazing folk. I hope that the audience gets a fraction of the excitement that we feel in performing. What an amazing experience this is!

Back to crunching numbers. :) It helps keep me sane. Some people live the party-life 24-7. I can't even imagine. I can't wait to see my kids in an hour.

My Mom

I was raised by a single mom. She happens to be the best mother in the world, and my sister concurs. We're pretty sure we're unbiased. Mom's simply an angel.

Mom stayed married to dad until I was 15 and my sister was 10. Dad cheated on mom constantly with a never-ending stream of women. He gave her lots of STDs. In some ways he was a great man, but morally he was a snake. Mom dealt with this for her children; she wanted us to grow up as a family. And, we did.

Dad lived & worked in the city, 2 hours away. We lived in the country and he visited us on weekends. Although mom & dad were technically married, dad was around less than the average non-custodial divorced father. So even though mom was technically married until I was 15, she raised us as a single mother all of our lives.

When mom finally divorced dad, she moved us to a college town where she worked her way through school while dealing with being a single mother to a teenage son and a pre-teen daughter. Dad never paid a penny of child support; she took care of us on her own while working part-time and being a full-time student. I cannot conceive of how she did this while retaining her sanity, but she did it. Like I said, she's the best mom in the entire world.

There are lots of accomplishments that I could list for my mom. But what I think made her great can be condensed a bit.

She put her kids first, always. She sacrificed everything she could sacrifice without losing herself - fidelity in marriage being the most amazing sacrifice that I saw. She sacrificed arguing with dad; I only ever once saw them fight. That's because both of them made it a high priority to keep their conflicts away from their kids' awareness. She sacrificed happiness gained from a romantic relationship. She sacrificed oceans of time and energy.

Mom gave up all kinds of things, but I believe they were repaid by the purest adoration kids have ever bestowed upon a mother. I think she's satisfied with what she offered up, and I know that my sister and I are more grateful than we can possibly express. Mom gave us a wonderful life that was absolutely saturated with her presence. She gave us nurturing and love even though she didn't have a source to replenish it. I have no doubt that her faith in God enabled her to draw from reserves that would have been otherwise unavailable to her.

One of the things I most love about my mom is her music. She loved to sing; she sang in every choir she could find. When she wasn't singing she whistled, or hummed. It was rare to be in mom's presence without music being present. She brightened lives around her with her music and she shaped our world.

I love my mom fiercely; almost as much as I love my kids. Very nearly every good thing about me came directly from her. She walked a terribly lonely road while putting her kids first, and I'm really happy to be eternally in her debt. The only payments I can make against that debt is to be the best dad I can be to her grandchildren.