“Charlie Chaplin” coming to Harrisonburg on July 3

Harrisonburg – Dan Kamin’s coming to town, and that means Charlie Chaplin’s coming, too. On Friday, July 3, Kamin will present “Funny Bones – The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin,” a two-hour excursion into Chaplin’s enchanted comic world. Kamin knows what he’s talking about… He trained Robert Downey, Jr. for his Oscar-nominated performance in “Chaplin” and has written two books about the comedian.

The program includes a classic Chaplin short, “The Pawnshop,” with live musical accompaniment to take the audience back to the glory days of silent movies, when all the comedy was visual and all the music was live. The program also includes uproarious demonstrations of physical comedy by Dan and plenty of audience participation. “Dan’s insights are amazing,” says Downey. You can see for yourself at Court Square Theatre in Harrisonburg at 7:30 p.m. The show will cap the Arts Council of the Valley’s 2009 premiere First Fridays Downtown, a celebration of the arts, culture and the city of Harrisonburg.

The next day Kamin will stroll the Valley 4th Celebration as “The Amazing Mr. Slomo.” He’ll be impossible to miss, because he’ll be moving at a fraction of the speed of normal life, periodically stopping to dazzle onlookers with world class sleight-of-hand magic.

Kamin’s performances in Harrisonburg are made possible by the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, which is presenting him July 24 in “Charlie Chaplin at the Symphony.” Kamin will join the Fairfax Symphony and guest conductor Grant Cooper for an uproarious evening of comedy and music for the whole family that begins at 8 p.m.
In the first half of the Festival show in Orkney Springs, a classical concert goes horribly wrong when Kamin shows up as The Classical Clown, an annoying mime who’d rather conduct than do mime. The result is a titanic struggle for control between the mime and the maestro, set to the symphonic sounds of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Grieg and others. Even the usually deadpan musicians get into the act. In Act Two, Kamin breaks his mimetic silence to introduce two timeless Chaplin comedies, “Easy Street” and “The Immigrant,” accompanied by outstanding new symphonic scores by Cooper.

In addition to his work on the movie “Chaplin,” Kamin also created Johnny Depp’s comedy routines in “Benny and Joon.” Asked about his movie work, Kamin says, “Classic movies inspired me, and I came full circle by adding classic visual comedy to modern films. I taught Johnny Depp how to roll the coin around his fingers the way he does at the end of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ But does he call? Never.”

In addition to working with Depp and Downey, Kamin played the wooden Indian who came to life in the cult classic “Creepshow 2″ and created Martian movement for Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks!” His “Comedy Concertos,” which blend comedy with classical music, have become popular with symphonies around the world, including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Singapore, Shanghai and Malaysia. In addition to “Charlie Chaplin at the Symphony” his works for orchestra include “The Haunted Orchestra,” “The Lost Elephant” and “The Horrible History of Music.”

Kamin is also the author of “Charlie Chaplin’s One-Man Show,” which reveals the secrets of Chaplin’s comic art. Hailed as a breakthrough work, the book boasted a preface by another Chaplin fan, Marcel Marceau. Dan’s new book, “The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion,” updates his earlier book and features an account of how he trained Downey for his Oscar-nominated performance.

For tickets and information on “Funny Bones” and “Charlie Chaplin at the Symphony call (800) 459-3396. or go to www.musicfest.org. For more information about the Arts Council of the Valley’s First Fridays Downtown programs, call the ACV office at (540) 801-8779