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  What do you get when you combine a farting performer, a sex-crazed theatre director, and a bunch of scantily-clad can-can dancers? Not only a story that's true to life, but one that's actually quite compelling."  The songs boast clever (at times highly suggestive) lyrics, with bouncy melodies and excellent choreography, while the acting on the stage provides a great case for the argument that this needs to be adapted into a feature film."  It's 90 minutes of cynical songs, bright staging, and resonant performances almost ready for prime time." 
 
 It’s smart, funny, full of beautiful sexy chorus girls who can really sing and dance, and sparkly clever lyrics. The choreography by Richard Move innovates on classic Can Can moves, and the women in the chorus are adept, agile and beautiful. It is too entertaining not to have a long run at a New York theater." 
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DON’T LET THIS WIND INSTRUMENT PASS YOU BY
By FRANK SCHECK
The title of the show is “The Fartiste.”
There will now be a brief pause; the review will resume after you’ve stopped tittering.
All right then. You may be surprised to learn that this is the strange but true story of the famous flatulist, or professional farter, Joseph Pujol (1857-1945), who for years was the most popular entertainer in France. Billed as “Le Pétomane,” he was the star attraction at the Moulin Rouge, where the boldface names in his audience included Sigmund Freud. Make of that what you will.
Starring Kevin Kraft as Pujol, “The Fartiste” -- by librettist Charlie Schulman and composer Michael Roberts -- won for best musical at the 2006 Fringe Festival. Now off-Broadway at Sofia’s Downstairs, you can choose a dining option in the form of a French buffet.
The show depicts Pujol’s rise to fame, in which he performed musical selections and imitations of various sounds by moving air in and out of his body at will. But that’s not enough for the ambitious performer, who says that his goal is “to make art an essential part of the word fart” and who struggles to complete his classical music magnum opus, “Concerto for Wind.”
Happily for those in the audience, Kraft merely mimes his exertions, accompanied by sound effects from the versatile Steven Scott. Also terrific is veteran character actor Nick Wyman as a wisecracking emcee.
The show manages to be both raucously funny and surprisingly touching, dignifying its subject even while providing no small degree of explosive humor. The tuneful score includes such witty numbers as “It’s Only Music,” which advises us that “It’s only music/Who cares where it comes from/It’s only music/Be it lute or drum or bum.”
Not surprisingly, considering the setting, there are plenty of energetic cancan numbers danced by sexy, leggy chorines.
Diminutive artist Toulouse-Lautrec (Herndon Lackey) also makes a brief but memorable appearance.
There’s nothing in this show that’s inappropriate for kids, but be warned: They’ll probably want to try this at home.
Off-Broadway's THE FARTISTE Will Blow You Away
What do you get when you combine a farting performer, a sex-crazed theatre director, and a bunch of scantily-clad can-can dancers? Not only a story that's true to life, but one that's actually quite compelling.
You'll be blown away by The Fartiste, a smart and ambitious musical about a farting Moulin Rouge performer in the 1890's ("not the 1990's MC Hammer days," as Nick Wyman's hilarious "Aristide" puts it). With outstanding book by Charlie Schulman and brilliant music and lyrics by Michael Roberts, this 2006 NYC International Fringe Festival Award-Winning outrageous new musical not only manages to successfully put the word "art" back into "fart," but it does so in an unusually poignant way.
This is a true story of Joseph Pujol, who, at a young age, discovered his strange talent of holding water in his anus while submerged at sea, then projecting it out at will with great force. Later, he ripened his talent by expelling odorless air, and included various sounds, impressions, vocals, and musical instruments. Although a baker by trade at the age of 13, Pujol took his "musical anus" to the Moulin Rouge where Charles Ziedler (played wittingly by Herndon Lackey) immediately hired him to headline the theatre, shouting, "I've hired plenty of assholes who can sing, but this will be my first singing asshole!"
Success was imminent as Pujol entertained guests by his amazing impressions, audience sing-alongs and candle blow-outs. Eventually, when Pujol decides to broaden his art and write an orchestral opus (Concerto for Wind), his act flops and he eventually retires back to the bakery business, where his wife says assuringly, "The audience may be fickle about your derriere, but they will always buy baguettes."
As daring and ingenious as the script is, the cast remains the anchor of talent to which creativity can truly rise. Kevin Kraft as "Joseph Pujol" plays a convincing, lovable, and relatable average man with a remarkable talent. His naivety of life, passion for his art, and loyalty to his family lends itself to an extremely likable character who "masters an art form for which there were no masters."
Analisa Leaming ("Elizabeth Pujol"/"Mome Fromage") is wonderful as the devoted wife of Joseph Pujol. She is poised, has a beautiful soprano, and always remains by her husband's side, realizing that the man she loves "works in a crouching position."
Lindsay Roginski plays the sexy Moulin Rouge performer with amazing stage presence and impeccable vocals. Her solo, "More," showcases both her vocal talent as well as her sultry style. Rachel Kopf, as Pujol's mother, demonstrates her tender, expressive tone in the delicate, self-discovering ballad, "Being You."
The standout of the show, Nick Wyman, is brilliant in his portrayal of the sex-crazed "Aristide Bruant." A real theatre veteran, Wyman's confidence and charisma carry the show's theme and move it along proportionately. His duet with Herndon Lackey, "We Live for Art," is a hilarious highlight, showcasing both the artistic as well as sexy nature of show business.
The mastermind behind the musical vocals and sound effects is Steven Scott, whose genius is evident from the very first blow. He continues to captivate the audience with his amazing vocal talents.
The Fartiste manages to add depth to what could have easily been a show fraught with cliches and double-entendres. With its compelling story, amazing talent, and catchy songs, you will not be disappointed in this fresh, delightful musical which proves that flatulence is more than just passing gas...it's about "magical gas."
Side note: With some of the lyrics and dancing a little risque, I wouldn't recommend it for the very young audience.
Powerfully built and played in all aspects, Charles Schulman and Michael Roberts's new musical, set at the Moulin Rouge in the 1890s, is almost ready for prime time. Based on the true story of Joseph "Le Pétomane" Pujol, a uniquely talented French baker who longed to create an "orchestral opus for the ass," it's 90 minutes of cynical songs, bright staging, and resonant performances from characters who might easily have descended into cliché. Jim Corti and Lyn Philistine hit just the right tone as an impresario and his fading star; Kevin Kraft is the man who wants to put the "art" back into "fart."
The Fartiste may indicate that the list of subjects for backstage musicals is thinning out— or that it's endless. Joseph Pujol, "for seven years the most popular entertainer in France," was a performer at the Moulin Rouge; his act was to do impressions (e.g., a bride on her wedding night) and music by farting. John Gould Rubin's polished production celebrates Pujol as a struggling, misunderstood artist who gets no respect: he's the butt of jokes and double entendres. "I want complete control of my material," says Kevin Kraft's Pujol, a combination of pride, pluck and naïveté. Responds Charles Zidler (Jim Corti), the hard-nosed manager of the Moulin Rouge: "And you do. Otherwise what a mess you'd make. …"
The host for the excursion to 1890s Paris is the red-scarfed Aristide Bruant, played as a booming-voiced libertine by the likable Nick Wyman. The ravishing, varied score by Michael Roberts, performed by a seven-piece ensemble, is a pleasure to listen to. As it stands, this is an ambitious and amusing musical.
In Paris in the 1890′s there was a popular music hall performer called "Le Petomaine" who played tunes by passing gas. He was a huge star for about a decade.
THE FARTISTE, book by Charles Schulman, songs by Michael Roberts, a fanciful, fun-filled look at his life, is a full-blown comic musical with a Broadway cast. It's smart, funny, full of beautiful sexy chorus girls who can really sing and dance, and sparkly clever lyrics. The choreography by Richard Move innovates on classic Can Can moves, and the women in the chorus are adept, agile and beautiful. They singup a storm. The men, Nick Wyman, Mark Baker, Kevin Kraft, and the amazing Steven Scott, who makes all the sounds vocally into a mike, are top level performers.
Jokes have a contemporary flavor, and the show is always in good taste (or scent). Jim Corti does a Gene Kelly-type dance number that, for me, lifts the show even higher into a Broadway-level show.
I saw it at the Fringe, but this show, directed with great comic flair by John Gould Rubin and costumed perfectly by Melinda C. Basaca, is too entertaining not to have a long run at a New York theater.
