‘Vaudeville’ at the McKinney
(Alyssa Hunter)
Five big acts came to the McKinney stage on Saturday night to perform in the Vaudeville show. There was music, magic, comedy, song and dance.
Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys opened the show. Janet stood tall with a gentle smile. Her sweet voice took the crowd directly back to the days of Vaudeville.
There were three parlor boys, dressed in old time hats and vests, each accompanied by their own instrument. One played piano, the other played the bass, while the third played the guitar, as well as being an exceptional whistler.
They enchanted the audience with songs from the Great Depression. Songs that were warm comforting and lively. Janet and her Parlor boys performed Bye Bye Blues, a popular song from the 1930s, as well as other popular songs from that same era.
The seniors in the audience, sang along with Janet as she danced sassy with swank, taking the entire audience back into the jazz era.
“Janet Klein was very animated, my goodness she moved so much, I thoroughly enjoyed the her act,” said Mary Hogan, a Saddleback College McKinney Theatre ticket subscriber.
The second act consisted of Bruce Block and his Fascinating Feats. Bruce juggled bingo balls with his mouth. He also escaped a straight jacket that was fastened by an audience member, while dancing to the song Y.M.C.A. His performance amused the audience.
The third act by Bobby Barron and Billy Revel put the audience back into a jazzy musical era. Revel began playing his piano while Barron sang. Barron also broke out into a tap dance duet with a female dancer.
Barron and Revel performed “Don’t Let it Bother You” and “Blue Skies” also very famous songs from the Vaudeville era.
“We have been doing the Vaudeville shows on and off for the last eight years, I enjoy it Billy and I are good together,” Bobby Barron said.
Both songs Barron showed off his tap dance skills.
“Ive been dancing since I was eight,” Barron said.
The fourth act, Michael Greiner, played the glass harmonica. He dressed as a server for a restaurant. He swiveled his fingers on the rim of numerous wine glass. The result sounded like a solo violinist.
Greiner had his daughter accompany him on stage to give him a hand with his glass harmonica. Together they played a crystal clear melody of Amazing Grace. Then solo, Greiner did a popular melody from the stone age: The Flintstones.
He then thanked the audience and the producer of the show Chuck Burnes for making the Vaudeville show possible. In response, the audience gave a great applaud for both the amazing performance and for the producer.
The Masters of Transformagic was the final act. Stoil and Ekaterina dressed in bright vibrant colors and played circus music in the background. Stoil was amazing at transforming Ekaterina into outrageous different costumes before the audiences eyes.
Stoil could also turn fake flowers into a hanker-chiefs. Although, his most useful trick was doubling, tripling and quadrupling big bottles of liquor. The crowd applauded politely although it seem as if they were ready for an intermission.
After the intermission the crowd piled back into the theatre to watch a screen show.
The screen show consisted of four short flicks. Buster Keaton in The Playhouse (1921), Popeye Cartoon (1934), selected short subjects, and a Hollywood Newsreel.
The films were located by the Saddleback Fine Arts and Media Technology Public Information Officer, Nina Welch.
The short flicks made the audience laugh and set the mood back to the Vaudeville era.
Following the vintage clips, the audience was given a chance to meet the artists in the show. At the meet the Artists Reception both the audience and the artists ate cake and drank punch together.