Go and See This: Ennio at Arena Stage

Matt, J. Fred Shiffman and I went to see Ennio at Arena Stage tonight...
I have to say that at the moment, Arena Stage has the most creative shows imaginable running under their roof. Between the magical Peter and Wendy, and Ennio, I have more food for thought to deal with than the cupboards can hold.
As you may now know, I now work for Ticket place in DC. I sold 12 tickets to Peter and Wendy today, based on my manic ravings about how good it was to strangers who asked for recommendations. I sold 2 tickets to Ennio, based on my desire to see this one man cartoon factory. I am pleased to say that I stand by my recommendations, and will continue to recommend Ennio, with even more fervor.
The show is hard to describe, but it is basically this: An Italian mime and clown has created a roster of about 100 characters of which you see about 40 in one evening. These characters range anywhere from Elvis to the Singing Nun to Peggy Lee to Madonna to Brittany Spears, etc. Name a Pop Culture Icon, and they are rendered here. The trick and key here is how they are rendered. They are rendered in paper and mime.
Ennio makes all of these costumes and wigs from paper, and then impersonates them all to a tee. He lipsinks to their tunes, or lipsinks to a tune that represents the character's life.
Many times the characters switch midway through a sketch; for example Frankenstein turns into Frank Sinatra, who turns into Nancy Sinatra, who at the end of "These Boots are Made for Walkin" finds it as difficult to walk in the huge paper boots as Frankenstein did to begin with.
It is like a drag show for the paper set, but it is not just a drag show, or a mime show....it is almost a quiz and commentary of pop culture, as you rush to identify the icon in question, and see the connection of the next transformation.
This is not just tongue in cheek kitch, but social commentary as well. Observe as Madonna goes from her cone bra stage to her leather stage to naked to ripping off her skin to exhibit all that she possibly can, including her internal organs.
This is a truly word of mouth show, as it is not being hugely marketed. Trust me, I haven't heard an audience laugh and applaud like this in quite some time; go and see it. The tickets are affordable, even more so through Ticket place (while supplies last) if they don't go to Arena's website and get tickets for full price (these still aren't too badly priced).
I promise you that this paper freak show is a miracle of creativity and very much worth your dollar.
I just hope that Mr. Ennio Marchetto recycles.
I leave you with a preview...

Luv, SGS