Circus Center’s ‘The Secret Garden’ t Dance>>

by Mark William Norby

Do you remember the joy you felt as a child when the circus came to town? Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus used to roll into town by train from 1927 to the early 1990’s, an extraordinary caravan that carried a wide variety of animals, acrobatic performers, circus staff and strangely, the Freak Show that from the early 1880s was the most popular component of The Greatest Show on Earth.

Fortunately the circus has evolved and San Francisco’s Circus Center, which opened in 1984, focuses on the acrobatic arts – like Cirque du Soleil –with none of the exploitative practices of abusing animals, and certainly no freak shows.

San Francisco Circus Center’s upcoming productions of “The Secret Garden” will feature the San Francisco Youth Circus. It promises to appeal to children as well as adults where you can immerse yourself in the world of “The Secret Garden,” with aerialist birds, acrobatic plants, juggling and jump-roping children, and storytelling that will move you to laughter and tears. The timely story explores loss, grief, the healing power of nature, play, and community. It’s based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s book by the same name, and adapted and directed by Felicity Hesed.

Circus Center’s gay acrobatic designer Evan Tomlinson Weintraub, who has been with Circus Center since he was twelve years old, was asked in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter what it was like growing up gay and training in the circus; what his life was like so deeply involved in the constantly evolving presentation of wonder, talent, and magic.

Evan began training at Circus Center in 2005. He trained with the San Francisco Youth Circus through 2010. He returned to Circus Center in 2021 after a career in Montreal’s National Circus

School and has been with Circus Center ever since. He described how the circus has always had a history directly linked to ideas of the supernatural, exotic, and the queer.

Mark William Norby: What are the most magical aspects of the circus?

Evan Tomlinson Weintraub: As an acrobatic designer and director, my challenge is to communicate the story of “The Secret Garden,” where Mary and Colin go in and out of Lily’s locked secret garden to regrow plants and bring Craven’s Manor back to life.

For our production, we transform words into movement and invite the audience to see and feel a garden come to life, complete with blossoming flowers and growing vines entirely created through acrobatics. To achieve this, my acrobats spent many hours exploring what it means to inhabit plant life, imitating the way plants grow and recreating forms and shapes of different plants using only our bodies, presenting a garden as an acrobatic movement.

Has the circus supported your growth as a gay man after working with Circus Center for so many years?

Circus Center was and is the place where I found my calling. They have been the community that has consistently supported me throughout my circus career and I am excited to come back to my forever circus. When I did finally realize I was gay, I had little trouble expressing myself. It wasn’t my defining characteristic, but another important facet of my personality that I could bring into the circus world. Circus Center is a place that instilled in me values that made being my true self, and supporting others’ authentic selves, second nature.

Is there something inherently gay about the circus?

High-flying acts presented sanctuaries for people looking for liberation and self-discovery, inviting those who felt like outsiders to choose a different kind of family. Modern circuses still maintain the reputation of being safe havens for the marginalized and misunderstood.

The best circuses are a melting pot of expression, including fashion, music, theater, drag, dance, and acrobatics. There is nothing that is impossible in the circus, making it a magnet for queer people looking to find their voice and confidence among friends and allies. Finding queer people in the circus is like finding family.

What is the most mind-blowing moment you’ve had in your circus life?

Eventually I found myself bowing for the first time at the Chicago Theater with Cirque du Soleil’s performance of “‘Twas the Night Before” with a huge group of friends at my side. I couldn’t help but tear up. With “The Secret Garden,” I have learned that as you build community, you also have to rely on it because then the show explodes. t

‘The Secret Garden’ at the Children’s Creativity Center, every weekend June 17 through July 9, 11am & 2pm. 221 4th St. $20-$40. www.circuscenter.org

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Gina Yashere is a busy woman. The popular comedian, an out lesbian, is currently playing a supporting role in the hit CBS sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola,” a show she co-created, co-writes, and is now the show runner for. In addition to all that, Yashere also enjoys a career as a stand-up comic, playing to sold-out houses wherever she performs. On Saturday June 17, Yashere returns to San Francisco with her new show, “The Woman King of Comedy.” San Francisco is where she recorded her live show, “Laughing to America,” more than a decade ago.

In a recent chat with the Bay Area Reporter, Yashere revealed that “Bob Hearts Abishola” has been renewed for a fifth season. She was pleased to report that the show has done well in the ratings.

“I take less sleep per night,” she said. “From the moment I get on set

I don’t stop. If I’m not in the writer’s room, if I’m not running around producing the other actors, then I’m also in costume acting. It’s pretty nonstop, but I’m loving every minute. I’ve learned a lot these last few years.”

Yashere added that she loves the acting, because it’s a character that she’s been working on for twenty years. She’d been waiting to bring that character to television. But she also loves the writing aspect of it in that she’s bringing authentic stories to primetime television.

“I think we’re kind of breaking boundaries here,” she said.

Coastal comedy

Yashere has been keeping busy elsewhere. She has hosted the NAACP Image Awards and is now touring with her stand-up show. Her favorite places to perform are New York and San Francisco.

“Those audiences tend to be more well-traveled,” she said. “Which means I can talk about a wider range of subjects and not have to explain so much. It’s just a much more fun place to play. And when they come out to see comedy, they’re coming out to see comedy. Where in Los Angeles half the audience wants to be in movies or TV themselves, so they’re keeping one eye on you and one eye watching to see whoever else is in the room. I never have that problem in New York or San Francisco.”

Her new show chronicles her journey from being born in London to immigrant parents to dreaming of coming to America. Before she broke into comedy she worked as an electrical engineer. She’ll talk about finally making it in America as a comedian and the struggles that ensued, and how she finally succeeded and got a TV show. She assured us that there was a lot of hilarity along the way.

“My last job was building and repairing elevators,” she said. “I worked for a company called Otis, which is

by David-Elijah Nahmod

The word ‘abbale’ is the Hebrew word for father. It’s a word that means a lot to dancer-choreographer Andrew Pearson. His show, titled “Abbale,” will be performing at the ODC Theater June 15-18. Pearson describes the show as a dancetheater memoir piece that intersects his relationship with his older boyfriend and their relationships with their fathers.

Pearson has always been a dancer. He has home video footage of himself performing for his parents at the tender ages of two and three, although it wasn’t until later that he realized that dance was something he could study. In middle school he told his parents that he didn’t want to do sports anymore. They insisted that he find something that could keep him active.

“I had just met this boy who was taking break dancing lessons,” Pearson recalled in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “He suggested that I try hip hop classes. My only real exposure to dance at the time was music videos. This was around the time that Britney Spears was coming onto the scene, so that’s the kind of dance I wanted to do. It’s the kind of dance that was cool for boys.”

Dance remained a part of Pearson’s life. He was a dance major at UC Irvine, then worked with LA Contemporary Dance Company while in his twenties. He has since done a great deal of theater work, appearing in musicals, opera, and in avant-garde theater. He spoke of being in a show called “Young Caesar.”

“We staged a big gay orgy at the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage with projections of penises flying by,” Pearson said. “I got to portray the physical embodiment of Caesar, like an extension of the singer who played him. I’ve also done a number of museum installations. I got to work with French visual artist Julien the biggest elevator company in the world. I was the first female engineer in England in their hundred-year history.”

But the job wasn’t always fun. There was misogyny and racism on a daily basis, but she stuck with it for four years just to prove that she could do it and to open doors for women and for other Black people.

Yashere is quite open about her lesbianism.

“It’s extremely important to be an out performer,” she said. “It took me a long time to get to that point where I was comfortable enough to come out, because being a Black woman in this industry I already had two strikes against me. So I kind of took my time coming out because I didn’t want to be boxed in any further.”

But she now feels that being unapologetically who she is helps young people who are facing issues and living in parts of the country where they’re not as accepted as they would be in New York and San Francisco.

“And I also feel that being completely myself has made my comedy a lot better because I’m not hiding anything about myself,” she said. “I’m completely free to say whatever I want however I want to say it.”

Yashere has a simple message for those on the fence about attending her show in San Francisco.

“If you speak English, you like a good laugh and you like interesting subject matter, there is no reason not to give my show a go,” she said. “A lot of people come to my show never having heard of me and 99 percent of them become lifelong fans. The other one percent are just racist! My show is the place to be!t www.socialhallsf.com www.ginayashere.com

Gina Yashere, June 17, 7pm at Social Hall, 1270 Sutter St. $27 and up.

Previeux when he was in residence in Los Angeles, which led to a number of international engagements.”

Pearson is excited to bring “Abbale” to San Francisco. It’s a show he’s already done in Los Angeles to great acclaim. Audiences will get to know a great deal about Pearson and Asaf, his boyfriend. He and Asaf had very different childhoods. Pearson is American, while Asaf was born and raised in Israel to a quadriplegic father. But despite the differences in their upbringings, both men have an enormous amount of love and gratitude towards their fathers.

Daddy issues

“Being in an intergenerational relationship, I wanted to create something that poked at our ideas around daddy issues,” he said. “To kind of complicate and destigmatize older men dating younger men, or younger men pursuing older men. I also wanted to depict gay sons and their fathers in a more positive light than we typically see in art and media. Also, both Asaf and I wanted to create love letters to our fathers.”

Asaf was very involved in creating the show. He provided his own stories and memories, and in a way he helped to choreograph some of the sections about him and his dad.

“I’d ask, ‘What’s a good gesture for Tel Aviv or Passover,’” Pearson explained. “He’d think about it and then do a move and I’d put it in. He’s not a dancer but he is a storyteller. He works in film and television. So he also created all the video work in the show.”