By Olivea Oldham
The Moscow Circus brought the world premiere of its sensational show, "A Winter's Tale," to a sold-out Athens audience last November. WOUB-TV documented the experiences of the cast and crew as they adapted the show to allow it to be performed on the stage of the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on the Ohio University campus. For the first time in its 150-year history, the Moscow Circus performed on a proscenium stage, rather than in an arena.
WOUB-TV will host the first showing of "The Moscow Circus: A Winter's Tale" at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, May 18, at 7 p.m. Viewers throughout southeastern Ohio can tune in for the broadcast premiere of "A Winter's Tale" on WOUB-TV on Thursday, May 29, at 9 p.m.
"A Winter's Tale" blends the art of circus with theater presentation to form an exciting production featuring folk musicians, traditional folk dancers, human puppets, gymnasts, contortionists and clowns. This wonderful spectacle is based on a centuries-old Russian fable and conveys the rich history of Russian culture. The show's producer, Sasha Vosk, is an Emmy award-winning producer and former Moscow Circus performer.
Overall, the show was a complete success, but the cast and crew did encounter a few challenges along the way. All of the performers' costumes for the second act were lost during the trip from Moscow to New York City. Organizers of the performance had to call in extra help to design and sew an entire new set of costumes. In addition, because most of the performers did not speak English, Ohio University students specializing in Russian acted as interpreters during the week leading up to the performance.
Gretchen Stephens, director of Public Occasions for Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, said the greatest benefit of the Moscow Circus' visit to Athens was "The fact that 2,000 children from southeastern Ohio were able to attend and see a circus."
Hocking Valley Bank sponsored transportation for students from all over southeastern Ohio to have the ability to attend a special daytime performance of the show. The Circus' clowns and their stunt dog also visited fifth graders at Chauncey Elementary near Athens.
"The Circus exposed the children to another culture and helped teach them the importance of the arts," Stephens added.
For more information, contact Olivea Oldham at (740) 593-4944 or Olivea_Oldham@woub.pbs.org.
Olivea Oldham is the public information coordinator for the Telecommunications Center.
