Quick Change! I didn't even know it was a 'thing' until a couple of years ago watching a performance at Circus World Museum. The couple I saw were Olga and Vladimir Smirnov and....ok, let's not get ahead of ourselves. What is quick change? Maybe start there first.
Quick change is a performance style in which a performer changes attire quickly (within seconds) from one cosutme to another costume in front of the audience.
Leopoldo Fregoli (1867-1937) was thought to be the greatest, most versatile quick-change artist of his day. He was famous for his extraordinary ability in impersonations and his quickness in exchanging roles - so much so that while he was performing in London in the 1890s unkind rumors spread that there was more than one Fregoli! GASP! He quashed the rumors by inviting journalists and doubters backstage to see him at work. Fregoli had no secrets. He even went to see imitators (he inspired) and offered advice about how to improve their performances!
Fregoli would exit stage left as a street musician and appear almost immediately stage right as a woman. Pretty cool. He gave private performances for royalty and aristocrats while inspiring a host of imitators.
Italian actor and performer Arturo Brachetti started his career in Paris in 1979. Guinness World Records lists him as the fasted and most prolific in the world. His last one man show has been seen by more than TWO MILLION people worldwide. The changing of his tailcoat from black to white live and close to the audience was a method invented by him and considered his artistic signature. In 2000 he was awarded the Moliere Award, the highest accolade in French theatre, for "The Man with 1000 Faces", where he performed 80 different characters in a two hour show. Crazy!
As mentioned, the first and only time (so far) I have seen this type of act in person was at Circus World Museum. My friend Jen and I saw the show multiple times that season and never could figure it out! The performers were Olga and Vladimir Smirnov and they were fun and adorable. While not the CW performance, I did find videos of them online.
Now. For this blog's grand finale! Check this OUT! Since I heard stories of this Faberge egg performance, I thought to find it for you. WOW, it does not disappoint. Amazing! Look at the detail. Look at the style! Look at the costumes! Simply perfection.
Please enjoy this performance from the 2019 International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo.
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