Smirkus Aid to benefit Mainers headed for Circus Smirkus

FREEPORT – Smirkus Aid, an evening of juggling, physical comedy and clowning, set for 7 p.m., Saturday, May 16, will benefit talented Maine teens Jared Mongeau, Shane Miclon and Aaron DeWitt, who are on their way to Circus Smirkus, the award-winning nonprofit traveling youth circus.
Smirkus Aid entertainers include Michael Trautman, physical comedian, clown, and host of The Big Time Vaudeville Show in Portland (www.michaeltrautman.com); Michael Miclon, physical comedian, juggler, and owner of the Oddfellow Theater in Buckfield (www.oddfellow.com); Fritz Grobe, five-time international juggling champion and known around the world as one-half of the “Diet Coke & Mentos” team (www.eepybird.com), as well as Jared, Shane and Aaron.
The event will take place at Merriconeag Waldorf School, 57 Desert Road, in Freeport.
The talented young performers – the next generation of Maine’s creative economy – survived a competitive audition process last January and they were selected to join The 2009 Big Top Tour: Smirkus Ever After, which will begin its seven-week tour in June.
Circus Smirkus (www.smirkus.org), is a nonprofit organization based in Vermont, with a troupe of 25 to 30 teenager performers from across the nation and coaches with worldwide acclaim. After a three-week training period, these talented teens will put on a spirited two-hour show that receives national media coverage every summer for its imagination, enthusiasm, and professional quality.
However, bringing smiles and jaw-dropping awe to the faces of children and families across New England isn’t free. Each selected performer has to pay almost $5000 in tuition. Revenue from Smirkus Aid will help the Maine teens defray the costs involved in joining this year’s Big Top Tour.
The Big Top Tour cast will travel throughout New England and help raise money for other nonprofit organizations by performing in 70 Smirkus Ever After shows for over 50,000 people this summer. Merriconeag Waldorf School will host Circus Smirkus in Maine this summer on Aug. 3 and 4 in Freeport. The troupers will also perform for, and visit with, children at The Barbara Bush Medical Center and one of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camps for seriously ill children.
This will be Mongeau’s second year on tour with Circus Smirkus. Shane Miclon, the son of Michael Miclon, will demonstrate that juggling skills truly “run in the family.” And Aaron DeWitt, his extraordinary juggling partner, looks forward to touring with Circus Smirkus for the first time this summer.