Kung fu monks a hit

After months of anticipation, the Bedell Performance Hall hosted its first touring company Wednesday night. And judging by the audience reaction, the Shaolin Warriors were a hit.

One performer leaped across the stage while others crouched during the performance of the Shaolin Warriors on Wednesday at the River Campus. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Without saying a word, the touring group of 21 Shaolin Buddhist monks captivated the Cape Girardeau audience with two hours packed full of seemingly superhuman feats of strength, endurance, flexibility and body control in the Shaolin kung fu tradition. At the end of those two hours, they received a standing ovation for their efforts.

The Bedell -- a first-of-its-kind performing arts facility in Cape Girardeau -- hadn't even been quiet for 24 hours when more than 900 people began filing in for the venue's first touring show Wednesday night. The majority of them weren't season ticket holders, but had purchased tickets specifically for this show, said box office manager Ellen Farrow.

On Tuesday night, the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus' premiere performing arts venue was busy hosting the University Percussion Ensemble. Tonight it will host the university's jazz bands.

A stage crew worked overnight to get the Bedell ready for Wednesday's performance -- the first shot the River Campus had at proving itself as a venue for touring acts as well as a university performing art hall.

By the time Wednesday morning came, the Bedell was ready for the Shaolin Warriors' crew to begin loading in. That is the work the audience didn't see.

"From the audience perspective, it's just another show at the Bedell," said Robert Cerchio, assistant director of the Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts and the man tasked with making sure shows at the Bedell run smoothly.

The work paid off.

A capacity crowd began filing in starting about an hour before the 7:30 p.m. show time, anxious to see the first installment of the Bedell's highly touted touring series.

Their reasons for coming were varied.

Two performers moved in unison at the start of the Shaolin Warriors performance on Wednesday. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

For Marla Ives, the show was just something to do on a night she'd normally sit at home. Her boyfriend, Craig Began, works at the Bedell and had tickets, so she brought co-worker Richard Yanis.

"I was just going to sit at home on Halloween," said the 25-year-old Ives. "I'm too old to trick-or-treat, and young enough that I don't have kids yet to take them out."

But Ives said she was excited about the new cultural experience the Bedell would offer -- a place to host touring shows like the Shaolin Warriors that in the past wouldn't have even considered coming to Cape Girardeau.

For Yanis, the show was a chance to get his fix of the Chinese culture that fascinates him. He got more than he expected, as he was one of several audience members pulled out of the crowd by the monks to participate in the action.

"I'm too old for this," said the 50-year-old Yanis as he walked toward the stage. But of the several audience members taken through the kung fu motions by the monks, he was possibly the most proficient.

The Shaolin Warriors endeared themselves to the audience with the comic relief of seeing them coach clumsy audience members through their highly disciplined moves. But they awed the crowd with their actions.

Their mission, as identified by company manager Zhan Yucheng, is to educate audiences on the Shaolin culture and history, and to go beyond the tricks and stunts seen in kung fu films.

During the two-hour show, the monks flew around stage, seeming to defy gravity. Even the two young monks, who appeared to be under 10 years old, performed actions that adult audience members couldn't imagine doing themselves.

They moved with lightning speed. They broke iron bars over their heads. At one point a monk laid across three sharp swords as others placed a miniature bed of spikes on his stomach. Another monk laid on top of him, while the others placed a stone slab on top of his stomach and broke it with a sledgehammer.

All the while the audience audibly muttered its fascination with phrases like "wow," "no way" and "amazing."

Yanis, the Chinese culture buff, summed up the whole experience after the standing ovation, after the house lights came back, in just a few words:

"That was great."

The next installment of the Bedell's touring series takes place Saturday, when the American Indian Dance Theatre performs.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182