FriendBurst Blog

As our ocean scientists will tell us, dolphins, smarter perhaps than any animal that walks on dry land, use sound to “see” around them and find what they need to live and navigate their oh so different world.  Like the sonar of our submarines, the echoes of their voices illuminate their world as richly as do our eyes.

And to a boy whose eyes do  not work, this language of the dolphins let him SEE at last.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I present to you, for the first time on the dry land of his ancestors…DOLPHIN BOY!!!

:::DOLPHIN BOY (Joko) emerges from stage left with a blindfold  (see-through) over his eyes and a one-piece swimsuit.  A dolphin is printed on the blind fold and the suit.:::

SKEEEEEAAYAYAARRRAAAK!!!! (dolphin noise)

:::DOLPHIN BOY crosses to stage right, swerving back and forth between a slalom course of chairs and  other obstacles::::

SKEEEEEAAYAYAARRRAAAK!!!!  (dolphin noise)

:::DOLPHIN BOY crosses to stage left, repeating slalom course:::

BARKER:  He cannot see the chairs in his path, ladies and gentlemen, he can only picture them in his mind from the sounds he’s making!!

:::Ball gets tossed onstage from stage left.  DOLPHIN BOY screeches one more time, intercepts ball and bounces it, soccer style, on head, screeching the whole time:::

FADE TO BLACK.

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What the heck was that?

Well, I am auditioning this Thursday for a role in a new play, entitled “Sideshow”.  It’s experimental theatre and the script isn’t entirely written yet.

Inspired by the tradition of the old-fashioned circus sideshow, this original dance-theater work features characters whose physical abnormalities bestow them with special powers. Rather than disabilities, they have super-abilities. The Bearded Lady is a contortionist who displays the remarkable magnetic powers of her mysterious beard. The Hunchback has super-human strength but dreams of being a beautiful tightrope walker. A girl with jaundice has the ability to imagine things that then come true. (Craggy trees grow love notes. Swimming pools become giant bowls of green Jello. Fish can fly. Sea sirens are real. . .) Supported by a chorus of sideshow performers singing haunting Appalachian ballads, “Sideshow” is whimsical with somber undertones and a tingling strangeness. Blending dance, theater, and elements of puppetry, it toes the line between being magical and haunting, simple and fantastical.

I’m auditioning for the chorus, and I needed to write my own audition piece.  Here’s what they’re looking for:

These performers will be singing unaccompanied Appalachian ballads and will be used in a variety of small roles throughout the show. We’ll be looking for people who can sing in this style and ideally also have circus-related skills (juggling! hula hooping!) or play a musical instrument. For the audition, please sing us a song and show us your special talent

Now, the song part I got down.  I’ll be performing “Man of Constant Sorrow” on ukulele.  I’m pleased with how my rehearsing is coming along with that… but juggling?  Hula hooping?  Umm… I have to think of something else.

Hence, DOLPHIN BOY was born.

I have  second talent idea I’m going to be sharing, but I’ll wait until Thursday to reveal that.  It’s even more outrageous and ridiculous than this Dolphin Boy thingie…

Wish me broken legs.