newjerseynewsroom.com

Jersey clown Barry Lubin's Grandma lends extra laughs to the one-ring festivities

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Bello Nock is back — and the Big Apple Circus has got him! In fact, the Big Apple Circus' 32nd annual edition now on view under its bright blue tent in Damrosch Park appropriately is titled "Bello Is Back!"

As well it should be. A happy-go-lucky cartoon figure, the shock-headed Nock gets comically involved in several of the acts on display, electrifying the crowd with his daredevil feats done for fun.

Nock's first appearance with the Big Apple in nine seasons is a cheerful triumph of athletic comedy — and the rest of the show spun around his genial presence packs plenty of entertainment designed for the youngest of circus-goers and their folks.

Co-creators Michael Christensen and Steve Smith deftly toe the traditional Big Apple artistic line by keeping their one-ring show bright, simple and fast, its doings propelled by upbeat music dazzlingly rendered by conductor and trumpet player Rob Slowik and his eight-member band.

Three lovely horses gallop around as a rider stands atop their backs in a misty evocation of Roman-style riding ... from China, the Long Twins contort themselves into incredibly tight squeezes ... the Aniskin Troupe from Russia swiftly bounce through a trampoline act and later reappear for a classic flying trapeze display ... all rescued from animal shelters, dancing poodles and run-around mutts make for lively canine antics ... the cute Curatola Brothers from Italy neatly muscle their way through some strong-arm acrobatics ... oh, there's plenty of variety in this brisk two-hour attraction.

Hard-core Big Apple fans will be pleased to know that New Jersey native and Garwood resident Barry Lubin once again sports Grandma's red housedress and gray curls. Always a droll clown with a feisty edge, Grandma nabs some solid laughs — especially so with a boogie bit as a Spice Girl: Old Spice — but otherwise graciously defers this year's spotlight to Nock.

Of course, Nock radiates such mega-watt energy on his own that he's a circus unto himself.

A bungee-cord sequence zooming from the top of the tent to the sawdust below and up again is super-hero stuff, but Nock's first-act closer is truly spectacular. It's called the "Wheel of Wonder" and involves two human-size squirrel wheels linked by a metal arm. As the wheels independently spin, the entire gizmo rotates vertically. So somehow Nock clowns his way on to this contraption and soon he's merrily turning somersaults and skipping rope on the outside of a wheel as it dizzily revolves upwards. Done sans any kind of safety device, either, and generating gasps as much as laughs from viewers. In his guise as a good-natured lumpkin, Nock makes such dangerously funny business appear deceptively easy.

One of the nicest things about the Big Apple Circus is that all of this wonder happens in fairly intimate surroundings with no seat located further than 50 feet back from the ring. Germ-conscious grown-ups will note that a number of hand-sanitizing dispensers are situated conveniently about the lobby. Anybody hesitating to take the kids into crowded environs this flu season is advised that the Big Apple Circus is well worth the risk. They're really Nock-ing themselves out for you — and splendidly so.

The Big Apple Circus' "Bello Is Back!" continues through Jan. 18 in Damrosch Park, 62nd St. between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves., New York. Call (888) 541-3750 or visit www.bigapplecircus.org.