Circus will float to Monaca riverfront on a handmade raft to provide free entertainment

MONACA ― You can enjoy a floating circus Aug. 19 in the borough.

Flotsam River Circus, a troupe of performance artists, musicians and puppeteers, will arrive by handmade raft to Monaca's Riverfront Park, as part of their almost 1,000-mile, six-state tour from Pittsburgh to Paducah, Ky.

Flotsam's whimsical performance will begin at 6 p.m. Family-friendly but aimed at everybody, the show lasts a little over an hour, with the boat parked right along the riverfront. Audience members are encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs. The performance is free to attend, but donations are appreciated to help support this ambitious project.

"It's been a dream of mine to assemble a boat and journey the whole way down a long American river, being part of something magical," Jason Webley, the accordion-toting captain of the Flotsam boat, said. "The Ohio River is probably the best in all North America for what we're doing, because we're going through different regions and a bunch of major metro areas and unique towns that are more river-facing than the Mississippi. And these towns have integrated nice parks that serve as a good backdrop for what we're doing."

The Flotsam crew includes international performance artists, including aerialist-acrobat and self-described “giantham” Sadye Osterloh, illusionist and mime artist Matthew “Poki” McCorkle, punk-rock circus pioneer Tanya Gagne, balance artist Amber Lian Gibson and puppeteer Kalan Sherrard. Percussionist and composer Sari Breznau serves as musical director, with Malayali-American fiddler Miriam Oommen filling out the band.Flotsam’s inaugural voyage in 2019 took them down Oregon's Willamette River to Portland. Subsequent tripsincluded Seattle’s waterways in 2021 and the Sacramento River into San Francisco Bay in 2022. Last summer, thecrew navigated its first major river, entertaining thousands of audience members along the upper Mississippi from Minneapolis to St. Louis.

A Facebook page group for Mississippi River fans posted Flotsam's travel photos that drew numerous comments, many predicting the boat would sink.

"Half said, 'They're going to die; clearly they don't know the Mississippi is a tough river,'" Webley said.

But the crew and its raft − essentially a pontoon boat with a five-piece removable deck − stood up strong, and now will travel the Ohio River, with Monaca the first scheduled post-Pittsburgh stop. Flotsam will be at Pittsburgh's Point State on Aug. 16, then Aug. 17-18 at the city's South Shore Riverfront Park (all showtimes 6 p.m.)

The tour also includes visits to East Liverpool, Steubenville, Wheeling, Parkersburg, Huntington, Cincinnati, Louisville, Owensboro, Evansville, and more than a dozen other smaller towns. Full schedule at rivercircus .com.

Flotsam looks to book shows in cities with 10,000-plus population, "and Beaver, Rochester, Monaca collectively hit the mark," Webley said in a phone interview.

Webley did on-the-ground scouting of the county, and initially considered Beaver, but said Beaver borough and Beaver County officials steered him toward Monaca with its riverfront park access.

"It feels like the right first stop coming out of Pittsburgh," Webley said.

Flotsam calls itself a circus "because it helps capture a sense of what we're doing with this project," Webley said.

There are no clowns, but a number of the performers have circus backgrounds, "so in that sense, we are a circus."

Flotsam gets a bit theatrical.

"The performers remain in certain characters throughout, but that said, we're a very loose theatric piece," Webley said.

He hopes spectators come away thinking Flotsam is more than just some variety show, "but that it all feels connected for those characters and their interactions."

There's not a lot of dialogue or elaborate set changes.

"There are a couple little spots where people can hide but for the most part we're stuck on a boat in plain sight of the audience. No hiding behind a curtain," Webley said.

"It can get a little weird and kind of sloppy, but I'm hoping in a charming, inviting way. We're not Cirque du Soleil, but there's a certain magic to seeing what we do."

The boat purposely looks like it could have been built in another century to fit a certain aesthetic.

Followed by a land vehicle throughout its river journey, some Flotsam members sleep on the boat, others seek lodging from new or old friends along the way, or else motels.

"If you live anywhere along our route and are interested in helping, we would love to hear from you," Flotsam's website says. "Please contact us at: info@rivercircus.com ."

Barge workers and commercial boat crews along rivers certainly notice the floating circus as it drifts past.

"We're the most interesting thing out there," Webley said. "We get quite a bit of attention, and occasionally disparaging looks."

Though for Webley, who as a youngster devoured Mark Twain's river-rafting tale "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," it's a dream come true.

He moved into a houseboat on the Snohomish River in Washington State more than 20 years ago.

A decade ago, he pushed aside his career as a singer-accordionist-recording artist whose collaborations included songs with Amanda Palmer from the well-known punk-cabaret band Dresden Dolls.

Flotsam performers are "paid modestly," Webley said. "I lose a little bit of money."

Shows are free, but donations are certainly welcome.

"We're completely supported by donations and my bank account, so we accept donations after the show," he said. "That's what keeps this crazy thing afloat."

In its first year, Flotsam was a "total guerilla" operation, showing up in river towns without prearrangements "and hoping nobody shut us down. There was a certain magic to that," Webley said. "Now we get permission from most towns, with St. Louis a noticeable exception last year. We never got ahold of the right people there."

Visit Beaver County, the county's tourism and recreation department, has publicized the Aug. 19 Monaca show, so word is out locally.

Though Webley said it's still kind of cool when spectators lining the shore wonder "should this even be happening here? This ramshackle, vagabond thing?"

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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Circus will float to Monaca riverfront on a handmade raft to provide free entertainment