Lazer Vaudeville show coming to Talkeetna school

TALKEETNA — Talkeetna Elementary School is going to light up April 2 as Lazer Vaudeville takes center stage for a community show.

Lazer Vaudeville is a traveling group of performers who combine high-tech laser magic with the traditional arts of vaudeville. The end result is a show that has enthralled audiences around the world.

The show brings together modern technology and old-world skills such as juggling, rope spinning and hoop rolling. It is all the brainchild of Carter Brown, who founded the group in 1987.

"Kids are used to video and film, so they really respond to this," Carter said in a press release. "Part of our mission is to introduce young audiences to the art of live performances."

In the show, Carter demonstrates the art of hoop rolling, when he rolls hoops around his body and the stage, manipulating them as if the hoops were alive.

A highlight of the show is the juggling. Cindy Marvell, the only woman ever to win the International Juggling Association's championship, teams with Jeffrey Daymont to amaze the audience by juggling unusual items such as plungers, and such dangerous items as machetes and running chain saws.

"The kind of juggling we do blows away everybody's concept of what juggling is about," Brown said.

Throughout the entire show, a 7-foot fluorescent, fire-breathing dragon named Alfonzo keeps the crowd entertained as the master of ceremonies.

A soundtrack accompanies the show, and it is as diverse as the production itself.

Like the show, it mixes some of the past with some of the future. Electronic sound is paired with Turkish guitar, Greek bouzouki, Australian didjeridu and the Irish fiddle.

The group performs more than 150 shows each year, from England to Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong.

Lazer Vaudeville also runs an Arts in Education outreach, which is designed to bring live performances into schools around the United States.

"We teach kids about the history of vaudeville in America," Daymont said. "Most of them can't imagine popular entertainment before the invention of TV and movies."

Lazer Vaudeville presents its Talkeetna show at Talkeetna Elementary School at 7 p.m. April 2.

The first 15 minutes of the show are done in black light, so late arrivers will not be admitted immediately.

Tickets for the show are available at Three Rivers Tesoro (733-2621) and Talkeetna Roadhouse (733-1351). Last-minute tickets will be available at Latitude 62 (733-2262) and at the door.

Tickets are going fast.