by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
What: The Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co.
Where: The Florida Theatre, 128 East Forsyth Street Downtown Jacksonville
When: Saturday February 16th at 7:30 pm
“When somebody sitting on a plane [asks me] ‘What do you do for a living?’ I say ‘Well, I do animation.’”
Fred Garbo’s animation isn’t the kind you and I are familiar with. Instead of making sketches come to life from pencil to paper, Garbo makes gigantic inflatable props move, shake and dance in engaging and clever ways. EU caught up with Fred Garbo earlier this week, who took a break from hiking up a snow-covered mountain (really) to talk with us about his upcoming performance at the Florida Theatre.
Garbo grew up with a love for gymnastics, the theater and the Marx Brothers. Those three influences converged when he met and apprenticed with Tony Montanaro, renowned mime and founder of the Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris, Maine. After years of studying with Montanaro, Garbo landed a number of cool gigs including a part on Sesame Street as Barkley the Dog and a two year stint in the hit Broadway musical Barnum. After a while, Garbo was something of a rolling stone.
“As a vaudevillian you end up going where the work is and you end up flying every week… and just taking your theater to the people all around the country or around the world,” he said.
One of the problems Garbo encountered as a traveling entertainer was taking his large wooden set with him from city to city. A solution dawned on him when he met George York, a hot air balloon artist.
“[The] problems that I was having touring were just solved simply by saying ‘Wow, if I made this thing out of nylon and inflated it, it would still serve the same purpose,’” Garbo explained. “The fact that it was inflatable meant that the airlines couldn’t break it and it packed up as small as a sleeping bag.”
From there, Garbo took the idea of inflatable props to the next level by creating his massive alter ego Fred Zeplin, the inflatable man, a guy whose bulk can’t keep him from doing front handsprings or getting down to the sounds of the Blues Brothers. Of course, the loveable lug needed a sweetheart so Brazilian ballerina Daielma Santos joined the show. The duo has been sharing their larger-than-life creation with audiences around the world for over 18 years and they’ve loved every minute of it.
“Every weekend we get to show something we invented to an audience that maybe has never seen us before,” Garbo said. “Somehow you bring all these people together to forget about all their troubles and what’s going on in their lives and see something brand new and unique. So it’s a kick for us. I never get tired of doing it.”
So, what can you expect to see when you file into the Florida Theatre this Saturday? Fred’s keeping most of it to himself.
“It’s hard to describe with words because there’s 17 different pieces, most of them have animation and surprises inside them, something that you wouldn’t expect, so you don’t want to really say what the expectation is because it’s very magical that way,” he said.
What’s sure is that Garbo’s show transcends age and language and appeals to people from all walks of life.
“There’s no target audience,” Garbo said. “We’ve never performed it for anything but people. Because it’s colorful and such, often you would think ‘Oh, this is great for my children,’ but we’ve played the whole circuit… with people 65 years and older and all around Japan for adults and with MOMIX, the dance company. It’s a piece that’s visual, it’s accepted by everybody.”
The Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co. comes to the Florida Theatre this Saturday at 7:30 pm. Tickets range in price from $15 to $20. To purchase tickets call the box office at (904) 355-2787 or visit floridatheatre.com. To learn more about the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co. visit fredgarbo.com.
Article Published in the 2-14-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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