Cirque Du Soleil's Banana Shpeel Slips Up in Chicago

Banana Shpeel is the latest in the Cirque Du Soleil franchise. This writer had the opportunity to see the dress rehearsal production on the November 18, the day before it opened to the public for seven weeks in Chicago.

Banana Shpeel is advertised as a new twist on Vaudeville, but this critic could not find anything fresh in this production. I admit that I went in with high expectation because Cirque Du Soleil has had a history of interesting and exotic twists in their productions. The Beatles LOVE, is an excellent example, unfortunately, this new venture does not live up to the Cirque Du Soleil quality one has come to expect.

It begins with Schmelky's Auditions, which uses the old theater trick of having actors in the audience. It was funny, but not new. It introduces three "Clowns" that are featured throughout the production. The comedians that play these roles are probably the best part of the show, along with the "Entertainer" Schmelky. Although the material they have is as old as Vaudeville itself, their efforts are worth mentioning because without them the show would be a complete waste of money. The three clowns are portrayed by Patrick Valette, Gordon White and Claudio Carneiro.

Patrick Valette plays the physical humor of the show as best he can getting laughs from jokes as old as his great grandparents, Gordon White, as the world oldest mime, steals the show with his slapstick. He is a bright spot in the production whenever he comes onto the stage. The final clown Claudio Carneiro is excellent at sly physical humor and his smarmy character brings a certain irreverent charm to the show that it definitely needs. I must say the acting and dancing throughout the show were excellent considering the lack luster material they were given to perform.

It was the writing and choreography of the show that lacked the quality other Cirque Du Soleil productions and caused the problems inherent in this production. There was no Vaudeville twist and, at times, I felt uncomfortable during the show. I disliked the tired sexual dysfunction jokes, the racial stereotypes, the sly jabs at homosexuals, and the fat jokes.

It was as if the producers of this show felt that by using the term Vaudeville they could include the stereotype prejudices of the early 20th century. Men who dress up in women's clothes is a tired stereotypical joke and it was old when Milton Burle did it on his 1950s TV show. To see it in the 21st century is just archaic.

The final bright spot in this production is Remo Airaldi, who plays Schmelky, his character is the only thing that keeps the shambles of a plot together as watchers are dragged from one skit, or dance production to another until the production ends not with a bang but a whimper. You can tell he is working his heart out to keep this shadow of a plot together.

The intertwined juggling, dance and acrobatics were also tired and not fresh. I felt as if they just threw in some of the signature Cirque Du Soleil acts to call it a Cirque production. The dancers were nice but again the productions were stale. Tap dancing was well executed and the Wiggan dance team did an excellent job with the material they has to work with, but the producers needed to review some tapes of such great tap dancers as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. in order to see how it truly done right.

I cannot say I enjoyed Banana Shpeel. The physical humor and jokes were old as the Chicago Theater where the production is playing. I believe that when writer of this show, David Shiner, wrote this production he wrote it for an audience who had never seen the Three Stooges or Marx Brothers.

Those in the crowd younger than 30 seemed to see these old skits as funny and fresh, but even my seven-year-old daughter started getting bored by the end of the show. The problem with Banana Shpeel is that anyone who is familiar with the great comedians of Vaudeville will see more than just a shade of their signature skits in this production. Unfortunately, that is not a new twist to Vaudeville.