ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad

Magic Circle Mime to visit Cleveland Orchestra one last time

by

by Jarrett Hoffman

“Mimes go silent” doesn’t sound like news exactly, but that’s the case with Magic Circle Mime this year.

The company is built around collaborating with orchestras, so their shows actually contain plenty of sound, if not speech. And by the end of 2022, they’ll call it quits, having completed 43 years of touring.

“We’ve had a great run, and we’re superbly happy that we get to do this kind of ‘goodbye tour,’ particularly in places like Cleveland,” Douglas MacIntyre said during a recent interview. MacIntyre co-founded Magic Circle with Maggie Petersen, and that creative partnership remains the foundation of the company.

On Sunday, March 13 at 3:00 pm at Mandel Hall, the mime duo will join conductor Vinay Parameswaran and The Cleveland Orchestra in “The Listener,” a family program that introduces audiences ages 6+ to the workings of an orchestra and the art of listening. Humor, drama, and dance are all part of the show, as are musical selections by Britten, Bernstein, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Mozart, and John Williams, representing genres such as orchestra, opera, ballet, and film. Tickets are available here.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: a conversation with Vinay Parameswaran

by

by Jarrett Hoffman

My first opportunity to talk to Vinay Parameswaran came in the form of a phone call last week, but I already had an impression of what his players in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra think of him. In November, violinist Célina Béthoux told me how she had gifted him an origami conductor.

“Last season, some of the seniors gave me thank-you notes, which was also really nice,” Parameswaran told me. “But origami was a new one for me.”

Of course, there are other, more official signs that his tenure has been well received. In February, halfway through his second year, The Cleveland Orchestra extended his contract as Assistant Conductor and COYO Music Director through 2020-2021.

Heading into his latest performance with the younger orchestra on Friday, May 10 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall — with music by Bartók, Bruch, and Shostakovich — Parameswaran said he continues to enjoy what he does. “One of the best parts of my job is working with COYO every weekend.” [Read more…]

A mime speaks: getting to know Magic Circle Mime Co. before they perform with Cleveland Orchestra

by

by Jarrett Hoffman

In the music business, we’ve all heard and rolled our eyes at music jokes. Mime jokes might be the breath of fresh air we need.

“I can tell you my favorite one,” Douglas MacIntyre, co-founder of Magic Circle Mime Co., said over the phone. “It was a cartoon in The New Yorker — a drawing of a very high-end suite in a high-rise looking out over Central Park. Right in the center of it is a mime sitting in an imaginary chair. And it just says, ‘Executive Mime.’”

Maybe that kind of thing is common mime banter that makes them roll their eyes (very theatrically, of course). But here’s something that should be fresh for all the mimes, musicians, and fans on either side: mime + orchestra.

That’s what Magic Circle and The Cleveland Orchestra have in store this Friday, February 8 at 7:30 pm at Severance Hall. Vinay Parameswaran will lead the Orchestra in a Family Concert titled “The Mozart Experience,” which brings together the visual theater of Magic Circle with excerpts from Eine kleine Nachtmusik, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, the “Jupiter” Symphony, and other famous works by Mozart.

[Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us