Cirque Bon Bon is coming to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival this month. Clarke McFarlane, aka Mario, Queen of the Circus, is the host and chatted to us about all things Cirque Bon Bon, Queen and the circus.
Your character in Cirque Bon Bon is Mario de Queen of Circus. And that’s a reference to the group Queen?
Yes, that’s right. I love the group Queen and I love rock. I learnt English with Freddy Mercury and I am in love with his music. I am a huge fan.
You learnt English from him? What’s your first language?
In Mario’s life? His first language is English with a Spanish accent. It’s a little joke.
What do you like about Freddie Mercury and Queen? Why do you love them so much?
Because the music, it is at the same time, strong and also soft and also he brings to on the music something theatrical. All the different styles in the albums and the music. And he does a lot of performances with passion, with humour, with powerful things and also with lighter things.
How long have you been in Australia? Are you Australian?
I’m an American. McClark is American. I’ve lived here eleven years. But Mario is not American.
And what brought you to Australia? And what made you stay?
I fell in love with an Australian girl, I did a lot of tours in Australia in the 2000s. I used to come here all the time for the summer. Time goes by, I fell in love…
And it’s far from everything. So if you’re in love with someone in Australia, you have to stay!
I’m lucky to have found a life here, it’s really special.
What is your favourite Queen song, yours or Mario’s?
It changes. “Tie your mother down” at the moment… I’m rediscovering the other songs. And for the acts in the show, I do something with “Another one bites the dust“.
Ah yes, I saw that on YouTube – a juggling act.
That’s it. Three ball juggling.
How was the character of Mario born?
He comes from the United Royal Union of People’s Republic of Where They Live.
And what inspired you to create this character?
Basically he was a man who does the MC. He brings the artists on stage, he’s the guy who is the Master of the Ceremony. And my first thing I was part of a duo. We have characters that are part of the duo and we added Mario to do something between the acts.
The duo actually got divorced, and then I built a solo show for Mario but the primary thing he does is what he does in Cirque Bon Bon basically is the M.C.
But you still do some juggling acts?
Yes, it’s with the act and a solo show. I’ve done variety shows –
La Soirée et La Clique?
Those shows didn’t have an MC. I made a little story that exists throughout the show because I come back [on stage] here and there, not necessarily to announce “And now coming on stage…” or something like that. I made up a little story that always came back and that’s the same, the same role then started from there. I am not normally an MC but normally artists do one or two numbers but I come back with a little thread…
Can you tell us a bit about the Cirque Bon Bon show and what the Adelaide Cabaret Festival audience can expect from this show?
There are the great artists of the world, here in Australia, of the circus. Here in Australia, we have the leading circus artists in the world. Because, I think it’s the last 15-20 years, there are small circus schools being created all over Australia. And then they start the kids very young. And now, here in Brisbane, with Circa and also at NICA in Melbourne, there are the environments, which are creating the great circus artists of the world, here in Australia, and the shows that they make here, end up touring around the world.
Cirque Bon Bon was created in Australia during a time when no one could tour.
So during COVID?
Our first show was at the Noosa live festival during a time of year when I’m not [usually] in Australia. I’ve been touring during the European summer and the same with the other artists. Maybe on cruise ships or in other shows around the world, so? And it represents a wink – we say we’re French but all the artists are Australian and were here and had the ability to do the show because we were stuck in Australia.
Stuck in Australia, of course, on the other side of the world.
The difference between this show and other cabarets and variety shows is that we have class. Really, it’s of a different class. With a lot of variety shows, there are acts to shock or that are a bit disgusting. But our sensibility is class and we use dance for that between the shows, there are dancers who perform incredible and beautiful movements, and also the projections, the video and all that, they work together to make a very classy show. It’s very connected, it makes sense in itself, it’s not just one thing and now another thing, it’s probably the classiest show I’ve ever done in my life…
How is it different from La Soirée and La Clique?
In La Soirée and La Clique there is more humour with the body and there is always a bit of burlesque, shock and other things. There’s less of that, but more high-end, high skill, classy techniques. But it’s so entertaining. Time flies by. It’s incredibly entertaining!
Comment un spectacle de variétés de cirque comme le Cirque Bon Bon s’intègre-t-il dans un festival de cabaret ? Est-ce qu’il y a de la musique chanté dedans.
I think that cabaret, at its core is the personalities of the singers and the music. Even if we don’t sing, with music we show our personalities and I think that’s the same thing. It’s not a play or a monologue or talking. It’s definitely with music and it’s the interpretation of the personalities coming forward and I think there’s a lot of similarities and the night time vibe of cabaret shows. The feel in the audience is similar to variety shows.
I haven’t really thought about it but I’ve always felt things like that fit together. La clique and la soirée always had a singer. They had to have in every show a singer, but this one not, but because of that reason, that’s part of that whole genre..
According to your bio, you perform numbers in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese. Are you fluent in all of these languages and how do you manage that?
Yes I speak Portuguese, but I learned my acts word for word in the other languages, for festivals in countries like that. I worked a lot in Spain, and in Italian maybe five or six shows, but a lot in Germany. I talked a lot of German in my shows but I’m not fluent in it.
Because I was thinking it’s quite incredible to speak six languages!
Mario pretends!
You perform juggling. How long have you been juggling?
For many, many years. I started to do a little juggling when I was ten years old.
And how many things can you juggle at once?
Only 5.
Still!
I learned at a young age that no one in the audience cares about quantity. They just want to be entertained.
I watched some videos of your juggling acts on YouTube. I was really impressed because things moved so fast! It looked like they were actually hanging on invisible wires.
The level of juggling with children today, it’s crazy, it’s incredible. It’s a different world from when I was a kid.
And where did you take circus classes?
I never did a circus course. I learned everything I knew on the street. Right after university I was in Europe, I travelled to Europe to do the street shows. And that’s it.
But you learned juggling at the age of ten, right?
Yes, when I was ten, just with tennis balls at home. I learned through my brother with some of his friends, who were doing a bit of juggling,
And how did you decide to run away and join the circus?
After 20 years of sitting around doing studies. I was sitting for 20 years during my years with the most energy I had. I said “OK, I’m done with that, I have to run and I was staying standing up and I’m going to do something with my body and I loved performing because it uses my whole body. Body and mind.
Coming back to Cirque Bon Bon, why should people come to see the show at Adelaide Cabaret Festival?
For the entertainment, for the sexy, incredible skill and the beauty of the show. Something that people told me after the powerhouse show in Brisbane that we did last year that they felt really uplifted by it, by the spirit of it. When you watch something high skill and things that were made to be beautiful it lifts your spirit.
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We thank Clarke McFarlane aka Mario, Queen of the Circus, for this interview and can’t wait to see Cirque Bon Bon at Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
KEY INFO FOR CIRQUE BON BON
WHAT: Cirque Bon Bon, a variety show at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
WHEN: Every night from 15 to 19 June:
- Wed, 15 June 2022, 7.30pm
- Thu, 16 June 2022, 7.30pm
- Fri, 17 June 2022, 6.15pm
- Fri, 17 June 2022, 9:15pm
- Sat, 18 June 2022, 6.15pm
- Sat, 18 June 2022, 9.15pm
- Sun, 19 June 2022, 3.30pm
- Sun, 19 June 2022, 6.30pm
WHERE: Space Theatre
HOW: Buy your tickets to Cirque Bon Bon through this link: https://www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au/events/cirque-bon-bon/
COST: Ticket prices are as follows:
- Premium: Adults $89.00
- A Reserve: Adults $79.00
- Under 30s: $30
MORE ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL CONTENT
- Check out more Adelaide Cabaret Festival shows with French links here.
- Also read our interview with Leo Gene Peters, Artistic Director of New Zealand theatre company A Slightly Isolated Dog, who is presenting his show Don Juan at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
