Show producer David Saxe is on a mission to bring vintage Vegas back
When David Saxe was a little boy, he’d share in a bowl of cereal with his father every morning and watch his favorite TV show, the kitschy, simplistically imaginative Japanese sci-fi series Ultraman. Saxe was fascinated by the show’s simple production and its heroic central character, a futuristic space alien who battled all variety of otherworldly monsters and menacing figures. The only boy and youngest child in a family of three kids, David was also enamored of his father, something of a heroic figure who always made sure to spend this quality TV time with his son.
Richard Saxe poured milk from glass bottles left on the porch of the family’s Las Vegas home. The two would munch away while watching the inter-galactic spaceman spin his magic. It was a Rockwell-esque setting, if Norman Rockwell were to conceive a slice-of-Americana painting, Vegas-style. What made the scene distinctive was how Richard Saxe was actually dressed. He was not cloaked in a robe, or clad in daddy-jammies. The Saxe family’s man of the house was dressed to the nines.
“My dad would open the front door, and he’d be in his tux, and I remember the bottles of milk would be out there,” Saxe says today. “He would come home after working all night, working all of the lounges. Two, three lounges a night. He worked until sunup, every day. I thought it was the coolest thing ... That was my routine, I thought it was normal that dads came home in tuxes at 6 in the morning, looking beat after working all night.”
Richard Saxe was one of the city’s busiest musicians, a reeds player who mastered the sax (apropos, given the family surname) along with flute, oboe and clarinet. He was a band leader who assembled “relief” bands whenever such backing ensembles were needed to perform gigs for the stars of the Strip, members of the Rat Pack and the like, or provide music for the city’s earliest version of corporate events.
“He put together the band that they would hire for the All-State Insurance convention, or whatever convention was in town,” Saxe recalls. “That’s what he did, how he made a living. To me, it was totally normal. I loved it.
Cirque Works Packs - News
"When John Branca came to Michael's mother, Katherine, to talk about the show, because there were so many companies interested, she said it was a no-brainer, that Michael wanted to work with Cirque du Soleil all his life." Planning the production began
He was a band leader who assembled “relief” bands whenever such backing ensembles were needed to perform gigs for the stars of the Strip, members of the Rat Pack and the like, or provide music for the city's earliest version of corporate events.
Two biggies -- the musical "Wicked" and Cirque du Soleil's "Dralion" -- take place just days apart in February. Both are selling well, which doesn't surprise the UTEP official who booked the Cirque show at the Don Haskins Center.
Giovanni Vico serves the food up usually in the restaurant Mussel Kitchen but being out on the water was far better for work stories, he reckoned. "It's beautiful. A wobbly, wobbly boat is the best barge I ever managed," he joked.
"Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection," Shaker furniture, printed works, visual art, tools, textiles and small crafts, Portland Museum of Art. 775-6148; portlandmuseum.org. Through Feb. 5. "Focus on India," photographs by Lawrence
Cirque Mechanics heads back to The Music Hall | SeacoastOnline ...
Family-favorite Cirque Mechanics heads back to The Music Hall for two shows on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m. and at 8 p.m. The Las Vegas-based company, which has received rave reviews since it was launched by Cirque du Soleil veteran Chris Lashua in 2004, has become known for its innovative, multi-layered, and whimsical productions that explore the relationship between people and machines
"Everyone loves circuses because they make the impossible, possible," says The Music Hall's Executive Director Patricia Lynch, in a press release. "Cirque Mechanics blew our minds the last time they were here — with amazing tricks and a wonderful sense of artistry."
"Cirque Mechanics delivered such an amazing show when they were at The Music Hall a few years ago, that we invited them back," adds Deputy Director of Programming/Curator Therese LaGamma. "People of all ages can expect to be fully entertained by an evening filled with laughter and incredible acrobatic work from an award-winning ensemble of performers—including acrobats, dancers, and jugglers formerly with Cirque du Soleil, the Moscow Circus, and other world-renowned companies. It's a great way for families to brighten a winter day with some unforgettable big-time entertainment. If you saw the last show, we know you'll be back. And if you missed the last show, here's your chance."
Boom Town takes place in the small frontier mining town of Rosebud in 1865, where two ambitious saloon owners have set up shop in the hopes of cashing in on the gold rush frenzy. An unlikely discovery sets off a series of hilarious and unexpected events full of the lore, excitement, and adventure of the old west. As the circus story unfolds, there is a series of explosive events, exciting brawls, an unexpected romance, and a lucrative discovery.Inspired by early mining equipment and the spirit of adventure that brought prospectors and entrepreneurs alike out west searching for gold, Boom Town features innovative mechanical apparatus that serve both as scenery and performance props. The audience will find performers climbing up swaying telegraph poles, dancing on a swinging chandelier, flying high and fast on a revolving crane, flipping and jumping on moving ore carts, and balancing on whiskey jugs. "Cirque Mechanics' fantastic nouveau cirque-cum-Western Boom Town packs a full circus experience, " said a review in nytheatre.