David Shiner | |
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 David Shiner (Circus Roncalli 1984) | |
| Born | September 13, 1953 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, clown, playwright, theater director |
David Shiner (born September 13, 1953) is an American actor, clown, physical comedian, playwright and theater director. [1] [2]
David Shiner is an American clown and physical comedian who has worked in various fields of entertainment, including circus, theater, film, and television. He is best known for his work with Cirque du Soleil and with Bill Irwin.
Shiner was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Shiner began his career as a street mime, first in Colorado, and later moved to Paris, where he worked with the French clown, Marcel Marceau. Not long after and the German Circus Roncalli and the Swiss National Circus (Circus Knie) [3] invited Shiner to perform in the Big Top, in between he toured performing a dual act with René Bazinet. [4]
In 1990, he starred in Cirque du Soleil's production Nouvelle Expérience , as a clown and co-creator. [5]
In 1993, Shiner and Bill Irwin then created the two-man, wordless Broadway show Fool Moon , featuring music by the Red Clay Ramblers. [6] Fool Moon ran from 1993–99, including three separate runs at Broadway. The show won a special Tony for "Live Theatrical Presentation" in 1999, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and an Outer Critics Circle "Special Achievement" Award plus Shiner won a Tony Award for his performance in Fool Moon in 1993.
In 1995, he also starred in Man of the House. The production was filmed for HBO and Shiner's popularity rendered him film roles in Lorenzo's Oil and in Sam Shepard's Silent Tongue .
In 2000, Shiner originated the lead role of The Cat in the Hat in the Broadway stage musical Seussical . [7]
Later he toured Europe and Seattle with his shows David Shiner in the Round and Drop Everything. He made additional appearances on The Tonight Show, and is a guest director at the Wintergarden Theatre in Berlin and the Apollo Theatre in Düsseldorf.[ citation needed ]
In addition to his work as a performer, Shiner wrote and directed Cirque du Soleil's touring production Koozå , [2] in 2007. Using such performers as Gordon White, [2] Jason Berrent, Stephan Laundry, Michael Halvarson, Joshua Ryan Zehner and Christian Fitzherris for the original cast. Koozå is the most successful touring show of Cirque du Soleil to this day.
Shiner developed the Shiner Method [8] to mentor actors and clowns in his masterclass-ensemble-program.
In 2009, Shiner wrote and directed the Cirque du Soleil show Banana Shpeel . [9]
In 2013, Shiner co-wrote and starred in the Off-Broadway revue show Old Hats with his Fool Moon co-star Bill Irwin. [10] Musician Nellie McKay also performed in the 2013 show. [2] In 2016, Old Hats was revived in New York City with Shiner and Irwin returning and a new third performer, musician Shaina Taub, performing original songs with a band in between sketches. [11] Old Hats won the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue. [12]
He also was featured in the American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre series that was centered on clowning. [13]
Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 June 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.
Seussical is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on Horton Hears a Who!, Gertrude McFuzz, and Horton Hatches the Egg while incorporating many other stories. The musical's name is a portmanteau of "Seuss" and the word "musical". Following its Broadway debut in 2000, the show was widely panned by critics, and closed in 2001 with huge financial losses. It has spawned two US national tours and a West End production, and has become a frequent production for schools and regional theaters.
William Mills Irwin is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a number of appearances on film and television, and he won a Tony Award for his role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He also worked as a choreographer on Broadway and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 1989 for Largely New York. He is also known as Mr. Noodle on the Sesame Street segment Elmo's World, and he appeared in the Sesame Street film short Does Air Move Things?. He has regularly appeared as Dr. Peter Lindstrom on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and had a recurring role as "The Dick & Jane Killer" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. From 2017 to 2019, he appeared as Cary Loudermilk on the FX television series Legion.
Circus clowns are a sub-genre of clowns. They typically perform at circuses and are meant to amuse, entertain and make guests laugh.
Nouvelle Expérience was Cirque du Soleil's fourth touring circus show, which premiered in 1990.
Geoff Hoyle is an English performer who originated the role of Zazu in the Broadway theatre production of The Lion King. Hoyle has also performed in vaudeville shows, worked with Bill Irwin in "The Pickle Family Circus", performed with Cirque Du Soleil's Nouvelle Expérience, and performed with the Revels.
Danny Rutigliano is an American actor.
The 53rd Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS from the Gershwin Theatre on June 6, 1999. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The show did not have a formal host.
David Dimitri is an internationally acclaimed tightrope acrobat who has been praised for his unique style.
Zed was Cirque du Soleil's second resident show in Asia. It premiered on October 1, 2008, at the Cirque du Soleil Theater, Tokyo Disney Resort, in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. Inspiration for Zed was taken from the Tarot and its Arcana; the main character Zed represents the Fool of the Tarot. The show depicted Zed's journey and his role in uniting two mythical groups, the people of the earth and sky. The production closed permanently on December 31, 2011.
Koozå is a touring circus production by Cirque du Soleil which premiered in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of Nouvelle Expérience. His experience as a clown and his time with Switzerland's Circus Knie and Germany's Circus Roncalli informed his work on Koozå.
Jeff Raz is an American clown, actor, teacher, and director. He founded and served as director of the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco, California, the country's only remaining professional clown training program from 2000 to 2010. As a performer he has had leading roles with Vaudeville Nouveau, Make*A*Circus, Pickle Family Circus, and Cirque du Soleil.
Banana Shpeel was a touring stage show created by Cirque du Soleil which premiered on November 19, 2009, at the Chicago Theater. The vaudeville-based show was directed by David Shiner, who also created Koozå. The show lasted less than a year, only playing in Chicago, New York City, and Toronto. The show was cancelled in 2010, due to its poor reviews and many complications.
René Bazinet is a German-Canadian clown, mime, and stage and film actor. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, first as a performing artist touring extensively with Saltimbanco, and later as the clown act creator and acting consultant for the show as well as for Cirque du Soleil's 2011 production Zarkana. He has also starred in shows at the Berlin Wintergarten and the Circus Roncalli.
Old Hats is a 2013 comedy sketch, revue, musical and clown show written and performed by David Shiner and Bill Irwin, the show debuted in New York City. Musician Nellie McKay also performed in the 2013 show.
Anna Stankus is a circus performer who specialises in hula hoop manipulation whilst also incorporating rhythmic gymnastics and contortion in her acts. She is currently on tour with Cirque du Soleil Kooza for its North American tour. Since first beginning her career in 2007, she has gone on to perform in many productions worldwide including for Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Le Noir, Franco Dragone shows and in various variety shows in her hometown of Las Vegas.
Ron Kellum is an American producer, director, artist and choreographer known for being a Broadway veteran and the first African-American artistic director for the award-winning Cirque du Soleil. He was the artistic director for the productions of Koozå from 2015 through 2016 and Volta from 2018 through 2020.
Fool Moon is a 1993 comedy sketch and slapstick show written and performed by David Shiner and Bill Irwin. The show debuted on Broadway at the Richard Rogers Theater in 1993, and had two more Broadway runs in 1995 and 1998.
Stefan Haves is an American actor, director, comedian and clown.
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