True artistic discoveries—relatively secret revelations that unfold before one's eyes—are few and far between, even for those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time watching and thinking about theater and film. But every once in a while a group like Suspended Cirque, an under-the-radar band of aerial performers, all heart but no budget, comes along to remind us of art's very purpose. The young company's latest show, Speak Easy, like their first three, had a blink-or-you'll-miss-it run over at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. Some high-flying patron needs to give this troupe a permanent home or artistic residency before the bloated Cirque du Soleil scoops them up.

Speak Easy takes place in 1947 on the last night of the fictitious Speak Easy Jazz Club—a smart use of the Galapagos space itself, the only bar in NYC to boast a 1,600-square-foot lake along with its stage. While the attention to glamorous makeup and costumes, and gravity-defying choreography on often homemade ropes and trapezes remains a constant (some of the equipment is hand-built since no designer crafts exactly what they need), the show differs from prior productions in its use of a singer (Victoria Lecta Cave) and live jazz band, and an on-the-ground storyline in lieu of aerial vignettes. The tiny troupe, made up of Michelle Dortignac, Angela Jones, Kristin Olness, Joshua Dean, and Ben Franklin, now take on actual roles with Mr. Franklin playing Speak Easy owner Jack Jameson Jr., a gracious host still nursing a wounded heart broken by Ms. Lecta Cave's Vicky Lee, who left him for the USO. Continue Reading »