Interview: MUMMENSCHANZ Founder Floriana Frassetto Discusses Upcoming Tour Stop at NYU Skirball Center

Created in 1972, MUMMENSCHANZ is renowned theatrical troupe that has toured around the world. They are famous for the sketches that are performed without music or words, using inventive forms of art to tell stories. MUMMENSCHANZ enjoyed a three-year run on Broadway from 1977-1980. The troupe is returning to New York City during their US tour from November 20th-30th at NYU's Skirball Center for the Arts. The tour will feature some of the troupe's most popular sketches from their four decades of performances, as well as a world premiere sketch created specifically for New York audiences.

One of the troupe's three co-founders Floriana Frassetto, who has been performing with the troupe since its founding, took the time out of her busy touring schedule to chat with BroadwayWorld about the upcoming New York engagement and the history of MUMMENSCHANZ. Read the full interview below!

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You were one of three original founders for MUMMENSCHANZ, and you've been performing with the troupe since its inception. Can you tell me a little bit about your original inspiration to create this troupe?

Well, our original inspiration was to perform wherever we could perform...in the streets, warehouses, banks...wherever we would find a job. And we would perform with what we had learned in school. We would perform different vignettes, like toilet paper masks with toilet paper rolls. We would perform the slinky with the balloons, and the slinky would play with people throwing back and forth the balloons, and they would transform themselves in this kind of rivalry between an ugly one and a better-looking one. We would get a compensation, and with that compensation, we survived. We were going forth with our work, inventing with whatever materials we would find, either in a clean garbage situation or in a recycle center or in the thrift shop. We wanted to convey these vignettes which were poetic and ironic and critical. And we wanted to tell the story of evolution...the story of the difficulty of communication between man and woman, or two men, misunderstandings, love, hate, competition, whatever. And we didn't think we would get by the year, until we came to this country, and we had an enormous success, and that's when the hard work started. Not only with the touring situation, but also with the refinement and improvement. And that's where we're still at - we're still improving and still refining, but enjoying the world of audience. Enjoying that child that is within us. It's a fantastic situation. It's really a great honor to be able to create this intimacy between us and the audience and this experience for a couple of hours. Each one of you guys can interpret it a different way.

Tell me about your current tour.

This is the best of the forty years of our creation. You will see the evolution of our work...from the facial masks to the smaller shapes, in which we are interpreting the different animals and shapes and creatures to a bigger situation of inflatables, that was created in the 80s, to the year 2000 in which we would hold objects in our hands and make them into shapes. And in New York during this time, we will be presenting several old sketches that we choreographed and one totally new one.

Can you tell me a little bit about the new sketch?

The new one has an internal name. We don't have titles. We usually make a drawing. We use pieces of fabric and blue light, so you don't see the bodies. And they transform themselves into different creatures. And it's witty, it's poetic, and you'll tell me the rest! We haven't presented it in front of an audience...we've just presented it in front of friends, and they adored it. So it's difficult for me to say more. It's the Mummenschanz come alive again.

Is it nerve wracking to perform brand new sketches for an audience?

Nothing is nerve wracking! What is nerve wracking is to wait for food in a restaurant, or get the wrong pillow in a hotel room - that's nerve wracking! [laughs] Anything in performance, including the work and rehearsals, is wonderful.

Several members of your current company joined MUMMENSCHANZ rather recently. What is it like working with new faces?

Of course, they're all people that I knew and worked with before. It's fantastic to work with new people because you get new input. Of course, Mummenschanz is a show with one hundred details. So it's wonderful that my new colleagues bring in new details. It's great energy and it's wonderful to be together.

How do the MUMMENSCHANZ tours compare with the three-year run the production had on Broadway?

Broadway was incredible. New York is like a melting pot of different cultures. So you have people from all over the world, who might not like each other so much in the streets. But then they're sitting down in the theatre and enjoying and bringing out the child within them, so it's fantastic. We tour in the rest of the world as well, and every country has a different reason in humor. So it's really extraordinary. But what's extraordinary also is that every audience is a little bit different. So even at Skirball every performance will be different from the next one. That makes it kind of a new dimension for us each time.

How does performing in New York compare with other stops you've made or will make in the US?

Well, I don't think there's any other city like New York, to tell you the truth. But every city is extraordinary. In California, for example, they're fantastic. They're laid back, they chill out, and they have a great time. It's been extraordinary. I don't know how to compare them to New York, but I could answer this question after the first two or three performances in New York. But Americans as a whole are very special because they're very visual, and they're very quick to respond visually. And they have a sense of humor, and they are very free in letting out the child within them, so they respond immediately.

What has been one of the most memorable tour stops for you?

Well of course, the opening on Broadway was memorable. Performing in Tehran was memorable. Performing in East Berlin when there was still the Wall was memorable. But I tell you, every night, every day, every performance - even when we do school performances - is memorable. When you reach out to that intimacy and creativity in the audience and they let you know about it, it's fantastic.

Do you do school performances often?

Sometimes. We do a shorter version, about an hour. But the students love it, and sometimes they send us drawings, so it's very rewarding.

What has it been like for you watching this show change and grow over time since its creation in 1972?

Well you know, when the three founders were performing together, of course it was different. It was our baby...it was our creation. Now I'm performing with my three colleagues, who are extraordinary, and who are giving it as much love as we did, but in a different way because they're interpreting it. But I don't see a difference. I think the quality is there, and we're giving a lot of energy to the audience and it has a lot of poetic potential.

What makes MUMMENSCHANZ relevant, especially for young audiences today who are growing up in the digital age?

I think what is very interesting is that younger audiences feel the emotional appeal of the show and really appreciate it. They like the abstract shapes, which are still very contemporary and very modern. No one has ever told me that they missed having music or moving lights or more technology. So I believe that we might touch a side of human nature which is simplicity, and that everyone is ready for a couple hours of simplicity. We're using the stage as a platform to come close to you guys. I'm always astonished by how young people feel very close to our work and never complain about less technology.

What do you hope audiences will take away from this tour, and particularly, your stop in New York?

I hope they will have a fabulous evening of enjoyment and chill out from their problems. [laughs] And I hope they will join the world of playfulness and imagination. I'm really looking forward to come back to New York. My heart is already beating very strong, and I wish you could hear it.

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Mummenschanz returns to the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place) for 12 performances only November 20 - 30. Performances are November 20 at 7PM, November 21 at 7PM, November 22 at 3PM and 7PM, November 23 at 3PM, November 24 at 7PM, November 25 at 7PM, November 28 at 3PM and 7PM, November 29 at 3PM and 7PM, and November 30 at 3PM. Tickets for Mummenschanz range from $49-$85 and are on sale at www.MummenschanzNY.com or at 888-611-8183.