Word: clowns
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Essentially, the problem is the choreography. It is almost as much mime as ballet. The story is a complicated slap stick tale about a flirtatious town clown, his enemies and his inamorata (complete with mistaken identities, a fake death and an implausibly happy ending) that defies compression as well as credibility. Massine's scenario is too highly stylized to allow for many low jinks; the result is commedia dell'arte without any comedy, Punch-and-Judy minus the punch. The occasional moments of raffish humor are all provided by quick-legged Gary Chryst, 24, who leaps, whirls, jigs...
...Strickler never quite rises to the challenge. Willie's desperateness is vital to the play, but Strickler, who has a fine moment as he climbs up toward Winnie at the end, mugs the character rather than really acting him. Willie is also costumed terribly, looking more like Bozo the Clown than a human being worthy of serious consideration...
Some of the skits are lamer: a kiddie show where the clown host reads the little ones porn, or a windy send-up of a typical series called "The Dealers," which has to do with the abortively comic exploits of a couple of hard-luck traffickers in grass. But overall the movie maintains high energy. There is one scene of true inspiration. At the end of the 6 o'clock news, the anchor man signs off and sits staring, smile firmly fixed, waiting for the fadeout and credits. Nothing happens. Soon the smile begins to stiffen at the edges...
...rocking along in giant ski-boot clogs, fill in the "yeh, yeh, yeh's." Jobriath gestures. The movements are familiar: mouth in a circle, eyes wide, the elbows cocked, the wrists limpid, the fingers splayed. The music rises in scintillating shimmers. Jobriath leaps backstage, and returns as a "Space Clown." Pink ruffled mask coyly over his eyes, pink satin G-string in place, Jobriath mimes juggling. He pirouettes gracefully. "You're a space clown. When you cry, you bring the sky down." The guitars, augmented with a tape of exorcizing giggles, vibrate, and Jobriath stands transfixed--eyes staring...
...short pieces in Beyond Words, a sketch called "A Street Clown," is a tour de force of technical skill in which Martin displays his mastery of traditional forms. He juggles, walks a tightrope--or at least makes it easy to believe that's what he's doing up there on that bare stage. In one truly amazing sequence, as if to show off, he completely alters his expression a dozen times with a passing flash of his hand...