The glamorous life
They say the show must go on, but what happens when it can’t?
For Sal Salangsang, 52, a performer in Cirque du Soleil-style shows throughout the world, the coronavirus outbreak has meant playing to a packed house of two at his parent’s ranch in Northeast Texas. Even that audience is getting restless.
“I’ll work on something, comedy or singing or music and try it out,” he says. “I’ll do magic and ask them to pick a card, and they’ll be, ‘Oh, my gosh. Do you know ‘CSI’ is on?’”
At least the chickens appreciate him. Every morning, he gets up at 5 a.m., has coffee and lets them run free.
The San Antonio native should be at a casino resort in Reno, emceeing his latest show, “Circus 1903.” Instead, he’s feeding the hogs, putting out hay and alfalfa, and cutting and stacking firewood. Some days, he’ll pack a lunch and his script and go out to do some fishing. Hi-ho, the glamorous life.
On March 13, Salangsang had his bags packed for Nevada when he got the news: The show is closed. Within a few days he was at the ranch and that’s where he has stayed.
He keeps up with the news and has his own network of foreign correspondents, friends from all over who text him with recent developments, from the cherry blossom festivals going ahead in Japan to lock downs in Moscow.
Wherever they are, fellow performers are trying to stay safe. They worry about their loved ones and what the future holds once crisis abates.
Salangsang has some experience. As part of “EFX,” a show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, he was playing the comedic sidekick to singer Rick Springfield during the first performances after Sept. 11.
“There we are, in this big $80 million production, they just started the show again and that’s what we thought backstage: how are they going to react to comedy? How are they going to react to music and the songs?”
They took it one day at a time, taking their cues from the crowds.
“You’ll get that vibe from the audience and go with that,” he says. “You try and make it the best you can.”
When crowds will be ready to be entertained again is unknown. He’s hoping that Broadway, which is scheduled to reopen in June, will set the pace. Meantime, his bags remain packed. He’s ready to get the call, hop in the shower and go.
The chickens might miss him, but the show will go on.