'Mamma Mia Magic' Aldo
Colombini
MAMMA MIA MAGIC The only
thing we all had in common was the fact that we
all arrived into the Detroit airport and that
we are involved in magic. And even our arrivals
were different! We were almost all flown in on
different airlines and at different times! Who
are we? The seven magicians of the INTERNATIONAL
FESTIVAL OF MAGIC. A David Belenzon production
that was directed by Max Mavin; the list of performers
were Aldo Colombini, Billy McComb Jade, Goldfinger
and Dove, Peter Pit, Christopher Hart and Nicholas
Night with Kinga. Also traveling along with the
performers was our production and stage manager
To Tobias Beckwith, our lighting director Anthony
(Tony Bear) Ruksys, our bus driver Jolly and yours
truly (Andy Colombini) who was put in charge of
merchandising and ordering pizza for the bus.
Our first date was Saturday, February 17th at
the Macomb Center (no relation to you know who)
in a suburb of Detroit.
When we arrived it was
snowing and freezing cold. Don't forget that all
of us are Californians with thin blood for this
kind of weather. But this was our first performance
and we were excited, so we saved the complaining
for later. It was a long, long, long (did I say
long)? day of rehearsals with everyone just beginning
to learn to work together. Lunch breaks and dinner
breaks were forgotten, the lights managed to get
lit, the stage got marked, the director directed
and believe it or not, the show started on time.
It was absolutely wonderful and the performers
played to a very responsive sell-out crowd. After
the final bow in which all the performers returned
to the stage, they filed out to the lobby at each
venue to greet their fans and sign autographs.
I was selling posters, pictures, magic tricks
and kits in the lobby next to the autograph table
and what a treat it was to be able to watch the
faces of the fans (especially the kids) who could
not believe they were able to meet and talk with
these famous magicians whom many had only read.
There was a four day break after the first show.
Some of us returned to California and some of
us stayed around in the East, but either way,
we met our tour bus at the airport in Baltimore,
Maryland and drove to the next venue, the Strand-Capitol
Performing Arts Center in York, Pennsylvania.
There were nine dates in all with the tour ending
on Sunday, March 3rd at the Lehman Center for
the Performing Arts in the Bronx, New York (What
an experience for me to wake up on the bus after
driving all night, look out the window and see
12 foot fences around topped with barbed wire!
Peter Pitt said that for just a moment, he thought
we were in a concentration camp!)
There is no way I could
adequately put into words what it was like traveling
on a tour bus with all of us. First of all, the
bus slept 12. Now when most people hear the word
sleep, they think of a bed. Probably all I need
to tell you is that my husband called the bunks
sleeping coffins. They were stacked three high,
the bottom bunk being at floor level so you had
to crawl on your hands and knees and sort of roll
into it. The middle was OK but you needed to be
a monkey to climb up into the top ones so we made
the youngest and most agile of the group sleep
up on top. At one point I heard Christopher Hart
say that with the bus rocking and turning corners,
he couldn't sleep because he had to hold on for
dear life or he would roll out of his bunk onto
the floor!
We had nights when we
could not sleep because the bus was rocking and
rumbling. We had some hotels with no restaurants
so after working 6-7 hours there was nothing to
eat. We had performances on the weekends at University
campuses where the restaurants were closed. We
had nights when we had to be on the bus immediately
after packing up the show for a five or six hour
ride to our next city and there was no food on
the bus, but we also had some great times, great
shows and yes, some very nice dinners in wonderful
little towns. Except for the audience (which I
think was too old to hear the acts) the response
was positive and tremendous. Many of the venues
were sold out and some of the houses held 1,000
to 1,200 spectators. We had pizza parties on the
bus, sometime to go antique shopping and a couple
of days off in Portsmouth, N.H., where we found
a great lobster restaurant and had dinner. All
***** we made new friends and deepened old friendships.
We told jokes, complained and shared safety pins
and make-up. We had microphones that didn't work,
lights that didn't always light, good backstage
crews and some that couldn't read or write.
All in all, we got along
well and if there was a misunderstanding or two,
we worked it out. We had a bit of snow in the
beginning and a two-day storm at the end, but
mostly we were lucky with unseasonably warm weather.
Aldo was emcee for the first half which opened
with Christopher Hart. Billy McComb followed and
then Goldfinger and Dove did the second half of
their act bringing Aldo out onto the stage on
one of their props to announce the intermission.
The second half was emceed by Billy McComb and
starred Jade, Aldo and then Nicholas Night and
Kinga closed the show. All the acts were spectacular
and wonderfully entertaining. Well just remembering
this trip makes me tired. It took me a week to
recuperate and I didn't even perform. Of course
I did set up the concession stand, sell and then
pack it all up again. And, I'm getting old as
well so I guess I have reason to be tired. But
if Aldo is asked to do it again and they want
me to help out and handle the merchandising again,
my answer would be, "Yeah".
Now over to Aldo: Aldo
speaking now. What can I add? This was my first
tour of this sort in the States. It is very, very,
very, different from any Italian one; mainly because
it worked! Beside the reverse vampire experience
(going into the coffin at midnight and making
our appearance at the rise of the sun), to me
this tour was a wonderful (though tiring) experience.
Above all I had the opportunity to meet and know
people and make new friends (the best magic trick
ever created!) I think it was an interesting mix
of people (a real mixed salad) put together by
David and Max along with a lot of dressing (including
some pepper, if you know what I mean!) You may
think, WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? There is no need
to think in capitol letters but, yes. Andie and
I will be ready. Coffin......wait for me ......Count
Aldo Draculini is coming. I love working in theaters.
The theater is like my home. Until I find an apartment!
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