DYNAMIC DUO TEAMS UP IN RENO

By Louis Penico

It's not often that one has the opportunity to see two great jugglers perform on the same stage, but in February the combined talents of Hilton Hotel's Razzle Dazzle regular, Dick Franco, and Anthony Gatto, recent winner of a Gold Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cir­que de Demain in Paris, packed the Hilton Opera House full for two special matinee shows.

How all of this came about is quite interesting, with the usual amount of luck involved. Originally, Franco was contracted to appear at the Reno Hilton from the opening on December 28, 1982, until February 20, 1983, when he was was to take a a 16-week leave to tour in Australia with the Edgley International Circus. The Edgley Circus is formed only once every four years following a world-wide talent search, the idea being to put together the very best variety talent the world has to offer and present it in all the major cities of Australia.

After a few weeks at the Hilton, however, Franco had proved a great success and the ideal act for the Razzle Dazzle ice spectacular. Hilton management extended an unlimited option to him, an offer he couldn't refuse. The only way he could accept the offer, however, was if a suitable substitute could be found for the Australian tour. The top names in show business were brought up, but the only name that aroused the interest of the Australian director was that of Anthony Gatto.

They agreed to the substitution on one condition. Since they had never seen young Anthony, and because he had done only one real show as a professional, it was stipulated that he must spend the two weeks prior to the tour in preparatory rehearsals with Franco.

A daily rehearsal session was set up at the Hilton to prepare Anthony for the 14-plus shows per week he would face in Australia. Music had to be written, costumes and prop stands fashioned.

Anthony arrived in Reno on February 9 and immediately began rehearsals. On the second day, Hilton managers saw him, and were so im­pressed that they asked him to appear on stage with Franco for the upcoming Sunday matinee.

A last-minute publicity campaign started, and by noon on Saturday the show was completely sold out.

Franco arranged a routine whereby at the close of his normal act, he would make a one. minute introduction explaining the difficulties of juggling, some of Anthony's background, and display the Gold Medal Anthony won at Paris Festival. The routine which followed went like this:

Anthony did his complete five ball routine, followed by balancing six-foot robot head pole on his head and tossing balls into it. Balls rolled out of the robot's mouth and Anthony caught them in pockets at the waist of his coat. Anthony then did a three club routine, and three club and one ball routine.

Anthony and Franco then passed seven clubs, finishing with Anthony catching all seven. The pair then each did six rings facing each other and finished by pulling five over their heads and flipping up and catching the sixth also on their heads. Anthony closed the act solo juggling five clubs.

The pair had planned for him to miss the five club juggle on the first attempt and let the clubs fall on top of him. Anthony complied, but he also unintentionally missed on his second attempt. The pressure was on for the third try.

Gatto got them up the third time, and after a few throws Franco called for him to "pack 'em in." But Anthony ignored the call and continued the cascade as he turned to the front, went down on one knee and back up. He then finished with clean catches.

Anthony, billed as a 'Special Featured Attraction,' received a standing ovation both at the end of his appearance with Franco and when they both took Franco's bow at the end of the entire show. Reviews stated that "Anthony demolished the audience with his incredible juggling skills."

Franco said that Anthony was a confident professional performer under the extreme pressure of the situation, and felt confident that the youngster's stage presence would grow with experience.

That Sunday, all the local press was in attendance, as well as film crews for PM Magazine and Strider productions, producers of the upcoming film, Juggling.

The following week was hectic for both Franco and Anthony, as all practice sessions were monitored by video crews who took up a great deal of time with special shots and interviews.

Unable to hold all five clubs at once, Anthony begins that part of his routine this way.

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