From the Chocolate Church: Partnership with Casella Waste Systems brings vaudeville and variety to Bath

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I love vaudeville. This performance tradition goes back to the 1880s often showcasing spectacle through a variety of unrelated performance styles — comedy, musical, dance, pantomime, juggling, magic and with its fair share of weirdness (when done well, in my opinion). Vaudeville is an invitation to communally experience wonder, joy and curiosity. On Nov. 8 and 9, at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath, there will be a dose of this tradition in the form of comedic performer and variety artist Jack Golden.

Jack Golden will put on vaudeville-style performances at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath on Nov. 8 and 9. Courtesy of the Chocolate Church Arts Center

Golden is a highly celebrated performer who started his performing career in 1983 after training with renowned mime master, stage director and founder of Maine’s own Celebration Barn Theatre, Tony Montanaro. He later joined the world famous Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco as the lead clown, juggling, balancing and miming his way across the U.S. Golden’s work has been widely acclaimed and he has performed on many prestigious stages, including Lincoln Center and the International Mime and Clown Festival.

Golden will be performing two different shows during his time at CCAC. First off, at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8, will be Enviroganza, an exciting and unique program that covers recycling, litter prevention and water conservation through a fast-paced blend of mime, comedy, song, circus skills and dramatic story. Thanks entirely to a generous grant from Casella Waste Systems, the CCAC will be hosting 250 K through second graders from the Dike-Newell Elementary School for a completely free performance. Golden uses the power of live performance to engage children with facts about our environmental problems and a positive model of how to solve them.

“Laughter can be a surprisingly effective teacher,” Golden told me when talking about his decades of being an environmental entertainer.

Additionally, all 250 students will be walking en masse down to CCAC led by R.B., the Recycle Better Raccoon (Casella’s mascot).

“Casella is more than a waste and recycling services provider,” said Erin Blanfield, director of municipal services. “Our mission is to create value for our customers and the communities we serve by renewing and sustaining our resources and our environment. Jack’s show is a great way to connect with and educate our community’s youngest citizens.”

Then, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, we will be presenting Jack Golden’s variety performance, You Don’t Know Jack. Golden demonstrates a wide array of techniques to tell what is an autobiographical work which will be performed in our club/cabaret space, the Annex. I always love to see virtuosic performers use vaudevillian and techniques to tell a compelling and personal story. This show has toured to great success around New England and we are excited for folks to come out to a night of solo, variety theater. You Don’t Know Jack has a run time of 55 minutes and is for ages 12 and up.

Matthew Glassman is executive and artistic director of the Chocolate Church Arts Center.

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