BWW Interviews: The Circus Performers of PIPPIN, Part 2 - Viktoria Grimmy

The Diane Paulus interpretation of Pippin relies upon the idea of circus, of people who do extraordinary things as a matter of course. In order to bring her vision to life, she asked Gypsy Snider, circus visionary of Montreal's 7 Fingers, to assist in creating her traveling circus troupe.

One of the performers Snider contacted was Viktoria Grimmy, fifth-generation circus performer and international circus festival competitor, who's also already tried her hand at Hollywood. Now one of the performers bringing circus to life in Pippin, the Monte Carlo bronze medalist spoke to us prior to a preview performance about bringing her circus experience to the Broadway stage.

BWW: You're a fifth-generation performer. Can you tell us a little about your family?

VG: My family and I now have the Grimmy Family Circus. We began in circus generations ago because our family worked with horses. So they began doing trick riding, English riding, and working with animals. That led to other acts, acrobatics and the rest. My father had animal acts, but also acrobatic ones. My parents met in the circus in Russia; my mother was a gymnast. She preferred artistic work to performing gymnastics for points, so she trained with a circus.

BWW: What was it like for you to grow up in the circus?

VG: Oh, boy! It was really phenomenal. I have two sisters, Gina and Maria. Our family ran from Russia because we were Jewish, and my father had wanted to leave for many years. When we came to the States, we did many different things - corporate shows, casinos, and we joined Ringling Brothers for a few years. We toured 255 cities with Ringling alone.

I was fifteen when I competed in my first international competition in Italy. The international competitions bring in European tour requests.

In 2009 I joined the Britney Spears tour and we were on the road for eleven months. We saw every continent.

BWW: You've worked in a number of different circuses, from Ringling Brothers to Cirque de Soleil. How does the United States approach to circus differ from the European?

VG: They are very, very different. In the 1970's, the theatrical, modern circus like Cirque de Soleil was developed. Now, that's not so much European as just different. But the European approach is still different than the American one.

Ringling and the like are family friendly, but they have also become watered-down shows for children. I feel strongly about this. You need a budget to fund performance and training, not to find more jewels for costumes and to do animations. Once they had beautiful performance spectacles. They had the three rings - all of these amazing performances going on at once. You don't find this any more here.

Europeans stress the beauty of ballet, music, and the like. Circus is still treasured in these countries. It's much more detailed and nuanced - there's love there for the art form. I could talk about this endlessly.

BWW: You've had some prior theatre and film experience. Can you tell us about that?

VG: I'd lived in New York my whole life, and after the Britney Spears tour I moved to LA for a few years. I arrived on Friday and I had a show on Sunday at the Comedy Store. One of the guys I invited choreographed a music video for Beyonce and he asked me to meet someone for an interview - and I got a job in the movie BURLESQUE. It's one of the great experiences I've had, working with Alan Cumming. And I did commercials. Chevy, Yogi Tea, GLEE.

BWW: What made you decide to do Pippin?

VG: That's a great question. I'd been touring in Europe for over a year with a German variety show, and I'd been trying to contact Gypsy Snider about 7 Fingers. I'd been interested in their work for a good ten years. When Pippin was being developed, she contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in doing the show. As I got more information about the show and talked to Gypsy, it was clear that every circus performer couldn't do this show. And the idea of Bob Fosse, and Paulus directing - it was kind of a done deal for me.

BWW: Did you know the show in any way before you came on board?

VG: I didn't, really. I know who Ben Vereen was, I knew a lot of the music, but it was new to me as a show at the table read in Cambridge. There was so much that came up from that - it's much more than just another show for many people involved,

BWW: Is the circus where your heart is?

VG: This will always be where my heart is. It's like a religion for me. It's my foundation. I'm so thankful for my circus upbringing.

BWW: You're both an aerialist and a contortionist - which do you prefer? Or are they so different that you can't make the choice?

VG: My heart loves aerial for competing, but contortion is fun, and I have a hula hoop act as well. All three of these are on my resume - I was a circus monkey as a kid. And I can juggle fire and knives, too! I enjoy all of them.

BWW: Is it back to the circus after Pippin or are you looking for new stage work?

VG: I actually haven't performed in a proper circus for many years. The way the economy works now there aren't enough people to fund what I want to do in a proper circus. But my boyfriend is a performer and has a one-man show - we've wanted to collaborate and to tour once we can.

I really want to extend my gratitude to Gypsy Snider. She's made this possible for me. This has just been a phenomenal adventure for me, and she's been absolutely amazing.

Photo Credit: A.R.T.