Who is this Woman?
A performer & spectacle-maker from the North, I have made my home in Staunton, VA. As the Directrix and Grand PooBah Extraordinaire of Spectacle & Mirth, I produce such absurdity as The Teacup Cabaret, The Marvelous Mechanical Music Maiden, The Pulp Raconteur, The Shenandoah Fringe Festival, and founded a collaborative performance venue known as, The Kettle. With roots firmly in street theater and bellydance I have branched out to Shakespeare, voice acting, costuming voodoo, all while playing instruments very poorly. This vaudevillian loves to sing too loud, stand very still, and wear grand hats.
I teach workshops on street theater, narrative performance, and vaudeville.
Testimonials:
“Carmel Clavin is an extraordinary EmCee whose total commitment to her stage character transports audiences. She has an epic singing voice and is charming, cutting, witty and evocative of another era. She keeps the trains moving on time, and raises the bar backstage in terms of Theatre professionalism.” - Future of Tradition
“When we planned Bloom this year, we really wanted it to be something special. We were struggling with how to carry the theme of Life, Death and Rebirth throughout the show. That's when Carmel came in and saved the evening. Her creativity and passion created a cohesion, a story, a beauty in our event that I don't think we could have pulled off otherwise. She made the night exactly what we had dreamt of." - Satarah
“Carmel Clavin commits and delivers every time and in every arena, from nuanced performance and polished event production to insightful instruction and civic arts leadership. Having worked with her in many iterations in the past five years, I remain inspired by her creative and logistical breadth and depth. My staff is instantly at ease when they know that Carmel has a hand in our work.”- Madame Onca
“Today's time was informative and delightful. Thank you! I'm feeling slightly less intimidated and more encouraged. May your hats be bountiful and your drunks minimal.”- Bearcat Betty
“Carmel's workshops are invaluable to the dancer who is looking to up their performance game. She has intimate knowledge of both theater and dance and along with her ability to communicate complicated concepts clearly, she guides attendees through exercises that pull more out of them then they ever thought possible. As a troupe director who strives to get the most out of my dancers, Carmel's workshop opened my dancers' eyes to performance as a stage art and not just a series of perfected techniques.” -Sera Sahara of Browncoat Bellydance