| Sharps, Flats and Accidentals |
| The Flying Karamazov Brothers Take Music To The Limit And On The Road |
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The Flying Karamazov Brothers, the OBIE Award winning comedy/theater/juggling troupe, are currently touring the country with their latest show, "Sharps, Flats and Accidentals". The show is a Karamazov's eye view of a musical world, where juggling can be heard and music must be seen to be believed where the belly rocks with laughter while the mind reels with astonishment. Musical highlights have been carefully selected and lovingly assembled into a panoply of visual, auditory and comedic delights. "Sharps, Flats and Accidentals" expands upon a show the Karamazovs have recently performed with various symphony orchestras around the country (including the National Symphony), involving appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap and the Kennedy Center.
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The Brothers beat out intricate rhythms with balls and clubs on the heads of drums; play melodies on the keys of giant xylophones with juggled mallets; pound out Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on their very own helmet-wearing, radio-triggered, electronically sampled heads. They dance an agonizingly hilarious hip-hop ballet, play a Japanese-inspired Taiko percussion piece on carefully tuned cardboard boxes and perform Mozart's Bassoon Concerto on the baritone horn (the instrument for which Mozart would undoubtedly have composed the Concerto, had it only been invented before his demise). Included also is a version of the Karamazov's single most significant contribution to the world of juggling, the electrifying improvisational club passing called "Jazz".
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For fans of the bizarre and unexpected, there is that perennial favorite, The Gamble, where the audience brings whatever objects of whimsy, or of terror, that they think will prove unjugglable, betting a standing ovation against a pie in the face that it can't be done. The Karamazov audience often comes well prepared for this segment. At past performances, livers, computers, ice cream, Slinkys, even bread boxes have been contributed by the crowd. On one occasion a fish market owner brought a nine and a half pound (deceased) octopus. A final requirement, the Karamazovs note, is that "the champ will not juggle any live animals or anything which might stop the champ from being a live animal".
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"Sharps, Flats and Accidentals" is an irresistible mix of skill and silliness, music and mayhem, beauty and buffoonery, which, once seen, may still prove to be beyond belief.
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The Flying Karamazov Brothers got their start on the streets twenty-three years ago. Since then they have gone on to bring their unique brand of theater to prestigious venues around the worId with their highly successful productions, "Juggling and Cheap Theatrics", "Juggle & Hyde", "Club", "Theater of the Air" and "Club Sandwich.. Tours in past years have included appearances at international theater festivals in Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Bermuda and Israel.
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In 1987, for their third Broadway appearance, the Brothers starred in their adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors'' - a highly acclaimed production at New York's lincoln Center. For their fourth Broadway visit in 1994, they presented "The Flying Karamazov Brothers Do The Impossible". They also created their own version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival. They wrote and starred in a musical comedy modernization of "The Brothers Karamazov", directed by Daniel Sullivan for the Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. They even brought to life, "Le Petomane" - a French cabaret performer at the turn of the century. "Le Petomane" was directed by Robert Woodruff for the La Jolia Playhouse in California and for A Contemporary Theater in Seattle, Washington.
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The Flying Karamazov Brothers have consistently proven to be highly original and thoroughly exciting. They are truly without peer in the worId of entertainment.
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Read some "Sharps, Flats and Accidentals" Reviews
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The New York Daily News
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The Los Angeles Times
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The Los Angeles Times
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The New York Post
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Variety
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