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A CurtainUp Review
Slava's Snowshow
| Slava's Snowshow Reprised for the Holidays
This return engagement of this family friendly show is just in time for
the holidays. The Helen Hayes (240 W. 44th St.) gives Slava's Snowshow its Broadway credential though the theater is about the same size as its previous home, the Union Square where it ran a record breaking 1,004 performances in 2007. Though the show has apparently been gussied up with fresh props, better lighting and additional clowns, our original review posted below still applies.
From 11/17/08; opening 12/07/08; closing 1/04/08. Performance Schedule: Tuesday @ 7pm, Wednesday - Friday @ 8pm, Saturday @ 4pm & 8pm, Sunday @ 2pm & 6pm Running Time: 90 minutes, including one intermission. |
Slava Pushing the Ball
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This beautiful show is full of spectacle that encompasses Beckettian images of isolation and despair with images of play and lightheartedness. The show's sense of the absurdity of a life where the ground--political and otherwise--is constantly shifting under your feet, reflects the East European influence (much of Slava's troupe hails from Russia).
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Talking is minimal, and a total lack of any narrative thread. Yet, there is a slow build to a real climax that has Slava heading into the maelstrom. This finale blankets the theater in a blizzard of snow and fog to the thundering chords of "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana. The effect is almost blinding. Right on the heels of this stormy coup de theatre there are several minutes of silliness with huge helium-filled balls lobbed into the audience, to be batted around like beach balls at a Jimmy Buffett concert.
A word of advice for anyone who's leery of contact with foreign objects or with clowns, plan to sit as far back as possible. Even then you may not be able to completely avoid getting covered in snow, in cobwebs . . .and in water. The20-minute intermission indeed provides much clowning around with the performers climbing on the seats, investigating clothing and purses and initiating a rain shower. Kids will love this as well as the show overall which is simple enough for the young ones and stimulating enough for the older ones. Slava's Snowshow is easily the most enjoyable show I've seen since Avenue Q. Don't miss it!
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SLAVA'S SNOWSHOW Created and staged by Slava Polunin With Slava Polunin, Ivan Polunin, Elena Ushakova, Onofrio Colucci, Robert Saralp, Yury Musatov, Fyodor Makarov, Aelita Loukhaeva, Alexandre Frish, Stanislav Varkki, Derek Scott, Nikolai Terentiev, and Boris Hybner Lighting Design by Oleg Iline Sound Design by Rastyam Dubinnikov Running time: Ninety minutes with one twenty minute intermission Union Square Theatre, 100 East 17th Street; 212-307-4100 Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 and 8 pm, Sundays at 2 and 5:30 pm. Tickets $59.90 to $64.90. Closed January 14, 2007 after a 2-year run and a total performance count of 1,004. Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on September 7th performance The show returned to the Helen Hayes theater on Broadway for the 2008 holiday season. |
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
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Our Review
Mendes at the Donmar
Our Review
At This Theater
Leonard Maltin's 2003 Movie and Video Guide
Ridiculous!The Theatrical Life & Times of Charles Ludlam
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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