Ottavio Gesmundo: Interview With A Multifaceted Performer

Ottavio Gesmundo is a choreographer, stunt coordinator and multifaceted performer with extensive theatre credits that include Broadway, television, cabaret and circus. Ottavio has worked with musicians including Britney Spears, has appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and he is also the co-author of the award-winning travelogue and circus memoir, The Grand Gypsy.

Hello Ottavio, thanks for talking with us at TheatreArtLife! How are you doing, and how are you coping with the pandemic at the moment?

Hello, It is my pleasure to speak with you today. I’m actually doing pretty well. My wife, Naomi, and I are back home in Las Vegas and taking full advantage of this unprecedented time off to create new material and sharpen our various skills even more.  When Naomi and I first met, we were working in a musical together and singing is a skill that we both miss performing. So, we’ve been working on adding that musical component to our performances.

I often ask our guests how they found their passion for the Arts and how they started their careers, however you have a fascinating lineage; your grandfather Ottavio Canestrelli was a renowned circus artist, and you hail from more than six generations of Italian circus performers. I’m guessing circus has always been a part of your life since you can remember? Did you always feel drawn to continue the family tradition in one way or another?

Absolutely! When I was really young my grandfather had a very popular chimpanzee act called Mr. Coco and Company and I remember wanting to be a part of the act. I must have been about four years old, and I recall riding my Big Wheel tricycle down our Las Vegas neighboured telling all the kids to call me Coco because I thought it was cool. Plus, Ottavio was too difficult for them to pronounce!

Seeing my family perform all these prodigious achievements in acrobatics just filled me with a desire for the stage as well. But my mother didn’t want me to be a circus performer and was overly protective because my father had died in an accident in the circus when I was only one year old. Regardless, I found my way into the ring and my first job was in the circus when I was 8 years old. I worked as a clown with my godfather at the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida; with my mother’s permission of course.

Then as a teenager, I began assisting my great uncle (my grandfather’s brother) with his acts of chimpanzees, camels, and horses in my aunt and uncle’s circus in Mexico City at the Astros winter quarters for Circo Atayde Hermanos.

However, I found my calling in the theatre at the age of nineteen when I discovered I had a natural ability for dance. Two years later I was performing on the Las Vegas Strip.

And returning to your grandfather, Ottavio Canestrelli, I have to ask about The Grand Gypsy that you created and co-wrote together, which is a biography of your grandfather’s incredible life. What was that experience like creating the book, and can you tell us about your relationship and how he influenced you?

My grandfather began writing his memoir in 1970 and continued to work on it, off and on, until his death in 1977. The manuscript was a large leather bound book that consisted of single typed pages with an enormous amount of photos and newspaper clippings glued throughout. It documents his remarkable journey around the world, plus, our family history and genealogy.

I didn’t start work on the project until 1999, twenty-two years after my grandfather had passed. At first, I just transferred his written text into a word document and then scanned in all the photos and newspaper clippings. It took me several more years to edit his text, place it in a chronological order, and find the right approach to present his story while keeping true to his voice.

As I researched to verify information, names, and dates, I discovered there was more fascinating and pertinent information that needed to be told so I periodically contributed additional paragraphs in between his text, as well as an introduction and epilogue.

My grandfather has been a huge inspiration. He had a very strong work ethic and documented everything with photographs, which I also try to do. His extensive travels during a time when it wasn’t easy to do has also put things into perspective for me, especially when we face a long journey to perform in places like Dubai, Macau, or Indonesia. He also infused theatrical elements such as dancing and singing into his circus productions, which I also integrate into our performances.

We also created a music video where we sing, dance and perform crossbow stunts called Pull My Trigger and we hope to announce its premiere in an online show soon. I will post updates about that on our Facebook & Instagram accounts. We will return to Leipzig, Germany to perform once again at Krystallpalast Variety for the spring & summer of 2022. In the meantime, we continue to train and await the next opportunity.