In The Center Ring with David Catlin and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi – Episode 27

Gary and Roscoe have Spring Fever, and it isn’t even Spring! Full Lyrics They’re frisky and spinning daydreams as we begin our second year of Booth One podcasts with two special guests this week. Firstly, on a sad note, erstwhile BFF of Gary’s, Carly Fiorina (formerly Carlton S.), has laid her primary campaign to rest. After getting around 4 votes in New Hampshire, it was time to give up the ghost. Fortunately, someone found the perfect burial vault for her campaign …..an old HP copier!Now on to the heart of our episode – we welcome David Catlin Full profile, co-founder of the Lookingglass Theatre Info and Tickets in Chicago; and welcome back Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi read bio, whose interview on Episode 12 is a listener favorite! Sylvia is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Actors Gymnasium get more info here in Evanston, IL, a marvelous training center for circus and theatrical arts, and has had an amazing career as a world-class circus performer. Sylvia with her son Griffin and David with his daughter Emerson! David and Sylvia are appearing together in a new show at the Actors Gymnasium called Marnie & Phil: A Circus Love Story Info and Tickets, written and directed by Chris Mathews of The House Theatre of Chicago read more. Marnie & Phil tells the story of a young aerialist and an aspiring clown as they seek to make their mark in the big time circus world. Their love-lorn tale unfolds through thrilling circus acts, clown routines, acrobatics, gorgeous music and moving dialogue. With a deft touch, writer/director Mathews reveals all the splendor, humor, pathos and sacrifice that being a successful circus performer entails, while subtly illuminating important aspects of the human condition. This show has Heart with a capital H! David and Sylvia tell how they met in 1993 and the various projects they have collaborated on through the years. We learn about their inspirations, the sources of their passion for performing, and how Marnie & Phil reflects their individual lives. Roscoe talks about his fascination with the Silks routines and wonders if one is ever too old to learn… Stunning to behold We discuss a sequence in the show where 20 young performers encircle the stage on Unicycles and why the audience finds the sequence so emotionally moving. Sylvia and David tell us about how they have borrowed from the great performers, teachers and instructors over the years to create their own unique aesthetic and techniques. Roscoe proposes that one can’t learn to be funny by watching Shecky Greene on TV! See Shecky on YouTube Huge congratulations are in order for Lookingglass Theatre, who this week received a monetary award of $1,000,000 from the MacArthur Foundation, one of 14 Chicago area theatres to be so honored by the “2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions”.