#spring showcase

     Big cities rely on their entertainment.  It's what keeps people like you and I coming back.  Downtown, Boston is doing it right.  You show up to walk around the city for a day trip or whatever and you’ll be entertained without ever walking into a store.  You can easily trade twenty dollars for five different street performances and a memory or two.  There’s every act you can think of and probably many that you wouldn’t imagine in a million years.  Some will have you wondering why they’re still playing on the streets with their talents and others will leave you trying to figure out how they do what they do.  If there’s one place in Boston you could call the breeding ground for street theatre, it would be the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  Many successful performers mention Faneuil Hall to be their claim to fame and the main reason their names got out and stayed out. 

     Peter Faneuil built the Hall as a gift to the city and over time its been transcended into an unparalleled meeting place for not only Bostonians, but also the world outside of New England.  Faneuil's been know as “the Cradle of Liberty” for encouraging independence from Britain and now its become the home of independent street performers.  What better place to take your hidden talents than to the birth place of freedom and independence.  Seven days a week hundreds of performers make themselves at home in the areas surrounding Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, looking to make a couple bucks off “free” entertainment.  One weekend throughout the spring season stands out from the others, though, and that’s the Spring Theater Showcase. 

      STS13 or Spring Theater Showcase 2013, brings the best names in the business together on one stage for eight hours of non-stop streets acts, two days in a row.  The weekend of April 13-14th, Street performers will set up shop around Faneuil Hall and do their thing from 11am-7pm.  The line-up has enormous depth year in and year out, staking to become a household name for east coast street theater showcases.  This year Faneuil invited acts ranging from a contortionist to a crazy talented pogo guy, with whole bunch of talent thrown in the middle.

     Faneuil Hall placed a video on their website so visitors had a chance to get to know the performers before hand.  Of the many big names, some headliners are AlKazam( Contortionist), The Real McCoy (Comedy group) and Kilted Colin with his unicycle, bagpipe and juggling skills.  One of the performers who always brings me back for more is Wacky Chad whose got a whole bunch of acts up his sleeve but is mainly known for his extreme pogo stick talent.  The guy moves as swiftly with a pogo stick as the average person can with their own two feet.  This weekend is a very rare opportunity to see all of this street talent in one place and for free. 

    Viewers aren’t required to leave tips or feel like they have to empty their pockets to support the performers.  How you reflect their entertainment is completely up to you and the showcase is just an opportunity to bring entertainers together in a place where it’s easy for attendee’s to get their fair dosage of raw talent.  

     Faneuil Hall has a world renowned street theater program that has captivated audiences year after year.  By bringing the most popular acts together for this two-day event, passers-by are guaranteed to catch a glimpse of something they have never seen before or hear something they would love to hear again.  For a place that was once home to thousands of merchants struggling to make a living in the costal city, it’s not much different hundreds of years later.  This event is a perfect example of what Boston is all about.  By bringing all of these talents together, Faneuil Hall and the city of Boston is providing these performers with the gift of doing what they live for in front of thousands of captivated people.  

     Another awesome thing about the area surrounding the Hall and Market is that you don’t just have to be entertained by the acts, but you can take a break to stroll up and down the pedestrian cobblestone walkways, grab a bite to eat in the world famous Quincy Market, get yourself some new clothes or wander to the water and explore the rich history of downtown Boston.  You can guarantee I’ll be down there getting my fair share of bacon-wrapped scallops and street theater.  You could even take some time out and approach a performer.  

     Faneuil Hall's all about having a good time so if you show up for this showcase make sure you take advantage of all that’s being offered.  Treat yourself and spend a little more than you should.  Maybe make a performer’s day and leave a little appreciation in their hat.  Spring’s all about new life and accepting the ability to be outside again, so make a day out of it and appreciate what Downtown Boston has to offer.