The Anderson Valley Variety Show is always full of surprises. The most surprising act I remember involved a man named Rudy Knoop cooking soy beans on a Coleman stove live onstage. He had an assistant with long red pigtails under a big farmer John hat (think Pippi Longstocking) and a Dachshund who was supposed to eat the cooked beans to prove how delicious they were. Unfortunately the beans having just been cooked were hot and so although the dog ate the beans he immediately spit them out much to the delight of the audience. None of us were expecting a demo of soybean cookery as an act of entertainment; this was way before the food channel. Rudy’s purpose was to remind us that by his estimate soy has four times the protein of red meat and therefore we should leave the beef alone. This message was probably not well received by the cattle ranchers in the audience.
Show Impresario Captain Rainbow remembers an act called “Dangerous Stick Man.” Stick Man could twirl a stick just like a majorette twirls a baton and could do all kinds of tricks. He came to the tech rehearsal complete with a stylin’ flashy costume and did a great job. The night of the show he was nowhere to be seen. Someone from the crew who knew where he lived was dispatched from the Grange to dig him up. They found him fretting with severe stage fright, but got him into his costume and back to the Grange in the nick of time. He pulled off his performance without a hitch, a triumphant moment for all.
I remember when two beautiful young maidens of about the same age performed different acts in the same year. Olivia Allen with her classic clear high notes and Rachel Juster with her soulful vocals, both lifted our hearts.
As a performer with my puppets over several years I can say that my favorite part of the Variety Show for sure was the scene in the dressing room. The girls from Willits filling their flaming poi balls with gasoline or lighter fluid before going on to twirl them. Angela Dewitt in a beautiful evening dress with her hair sticking out in hot rollers, Jonesy poking her head in looking to get the next act on the stage, Buck in his hedgehog transformation suit, rumpled suitcases exploding with costumes and make-up, my puppet characters hanging upside down on my performance suspenders waiting for my hands to bring them to life. Unforgettable.
I asked Rainbow for his fondest memory of the show over all the years. At first he hemmed and hawed unable to choose. Then he told me there were three but as I prepared to write down all three he suddenly said, “No, no, no, this was the one…” In the early years the show was very down home. The first year 1992 they were christening the new Grange Hall and not only that, earning the money to pay the construction bills. The hall was packed to the gills. Many of the kids sat on the floor in front of the stage and as the night rolled on they slowly began to creep forward actually climbing onto the stage to watch up close and personal. Everyone seemed magnetized by the magic of the moment. As MC Rainbow remembers standing on the stage with one eye on the audience and one on the performers and crew and thinking, “We are really all one thing, just a big family enjoying ourselves together.” This treasured memory really sums up the reason for the longevity of show. It’s our time to all come like one big family and enjoy ourselves together.
In the earliest days Bill and Gail Meyer, Rainbow and the late Tom Smith sort of oversaw things. Very involved also were the Magic Company with Professor Dubious (Henry Hill), Lady Rainbow, Doug Read, also, Jonesy, Mark Pitner, Justin Laqua. Over the years there have been many MCs and MC assistants; a partial list includes Kevin Jones, Angela Dewitt, Patty Liddy, Keevan Labowitz, Buck, Charlotte Triplett, Nancy Gowan and Russell Meyer. Tim Glidewell and Mark Weaver have videotaped the shows and there are videos of 25 years of shows. Dennis Hudson, former lighting director for the SF Ballet, brought a whole new level to the look of the show with his professional expertise. Also for lighting there was Jimmy Ellison on the Spot and Erik Frye too. There is a “Brain Trust” that gets together in January of each year to start the planning. Some of the Brain Trust includes Bill and Gail Meyer, Justin Laquay, Cobb, Abeja, Keevan Labowitz, Yvonne and Chay and Brett.
A central principle of the show is a strong sense of place, an idea that Rainbow has pretty much pinned his life on. When quizzed about what a “Dream Act” might look like Captain Rainbow reminded me that W.C. Fields said never to get on stage with animals or children. The Variety Show takes the exact opposite tack saying, “Bring them on!” Costumes, sets, set changes, color, mayhem, animals, kids, and most of all having fun, all are desirable attributes. So if you have an act about four minutes long and you can commit to an hour of tech rehearsal on May 5th or 6th and show up to perform on May 12th or 13th you too can become part of the grand tradition. Remember it’s not a “Talent Show” it is a “Variety Show” so no real talent is required, just a willingness to share a good time with your neighbors.
Call Captain Rainbow at (707) 472-9189 or Abeja at (707) 621-3822 to sign up. It will be a real adventure and you’ll be very glad you did.
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