Sin City, the Vaudeville Years (FringeTIX)
UNLV College of Fine Arts @ Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre
4:00pm, Fri 16 Mar 2007
Wandering into the Nexus for the first time this year, there’s a clutch of vested men tinkering around on a number of marimba (marimbas? marimbae? marimbarama? Who knows? And, more to the point, how can I be sure it was a marimba instead of a xylophone? Amazingly educational, this stuff) and a drummer playing gently jazzy tunes. A lone showgirl dancer comes on-stage and prances about a bit – nothing extravagant, just a pre-show stretch and jig. There’s a fair whack of people in – more than I would’ve expected, given the (relative) slating this received in the press. I chat with the guy handling the visual parts of the show; he’s controlling it all from his iPod. I reckon that’s really neat.
The doors close, the band kicks into a playful version of “When The Saints Go Marching In”, accompanied by a bit of slapstick from the band members. It’s their moment in the spotlight, as they’re pretty transparent for the rest of the performance. We’re then introduced to The Vaudeville Twins – a petite white woman and a less-petite black man – and are privy to multiple iterations of their lame jokes and lamer magic as their Vaudeville show travels across the USA… as their tour drags on, the enthusiasm and delivery deteriorates in quite an amusing manner. The closing Overture highlights this – the leg kicks get lower and lower, the choreography droops – fantastic :)
There’s a bit more singing, but that typically only highlighted some technical issues – the singers’ mikes were pretty crunchy, and one mike kept dropping out. But the show finishes with a sufficiently rousing rendition of “Viva! Las Vegas”; lovely costumes and general professionalism also stick in the memory.
I’m not saying that this is anywhere near the best shows of the Fringe – but, with its tongue firmly in cheek, Sin City was still and enjoyable hour. I smiled, I giggled, I clapped and cheered. Was it worth $20? Maybe – overall, though, I guess I was just stoked that the University of Nevada(!) would decide to send a troupe of nigh-on twenty to Australia for such a short season. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.