It was inspired by Geek Love. It’s toxic. Buy Tickets!
Act surprised if you want. My new circus music show was inspired by death and missing people. There I was scrolling through Twitter one night, and stuck between two drag queens was the post, "RIP Katherine Dunn." I gasped. One of my favorite authors was dead. I grieved for a minute then quicker than a cramp I started reading Geek Love again. By the time I finished the first chapter I wanted to write an opera, a freak show, a song cycle. Fast forward two months. I was sitting at the Great American Music Hall waiting to see a Room Full of Teeth. The lights dim, the vocal group comes out onto stage and I don’t see Caroline Shaw, a founding member of the group, an award winning composer—someone I came to meet. My mind starts digging a grave. Where is she? Did the group get hungry and eat her? Were her limbs yanked off and her body tossed in the Bay? Was she poisoned? Then it happened, my next circus music show played out before me.
Announcing, shakers… POISON CIRCUS, A Musical Tale of Transmogrify. POISON CIRCUS is the story of a small dysfunctional circus family whose relationships quickly dissolve into poisonous revenge and freak transmogrify. There’s Eubie, the former circus performer who’s trapped in a wheelchair and brimming with tyranny. Barbara, the estranged wife and ambitious newly crowned ringmaster. And Copeland, the son, the future, the runaway.
Things quickly get toxic when the circus sets off across the desert and a vengeful plot to poison the circus performers bubbles up. And so the poison flows and the mutations spring out. POISON CIRCUS was written and scored by me. It was inspired by the novel Geek Love. It’s a world premiere. It’s toxic. Get your tickets now!
POISON CIRCUS will feature vocal operatics, an organ quintet, harrowing circus acts and live human mutations. And the test subjects are ready.
Starring musicians:
Nikola Printz, Mezzo Soprano
Alex Taite, Tenor
Rob Reich, Electric Organ
Matthew Ebisuzaki, Trumpet
Tiffany Bayly, Tuba
Robert Lopez, Drums
Samson Y Hiss, Percussion
And circus performers:
Hunny Bunny, Performance artist
Renee Sedliar, Clown
This is an all ages show. Parental guidance is recommended. Doors at 7:30 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Runtime approx. 60 minutes.
Early Bird Tickets: $20 until Sept 1, 2019.
General Tickets: $25 ($30 at the door).
VIP Tickets: $50 (includes: front row seats and merch bundle).
Two shows only and then the bottle drops. Miss this and you’ll feel short a foot.
Thank you Seth Astle for designing the smoky poster and Henry Choi for the type. See you all at the show.
-Samson
