Lazer Vaudeville, which combines high-tech laser magic with the traditional arts of vaudeville, is coming to Lake Charles as part of the McNeese State University Banners Series. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, at the Rosa Hart Theatre in the Lake Charles Civic Center. "Part of the Banners Series' mission is to provide programs that families can enjoy together ­ and Lazer Vaudeville certainly fits the bill," says Mary Richardson, director of the Banners Series. "This is the group that juggles chain saws ­ while the members are running. What could be more family friendly than that?"

Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children or students and free to McNeese students. They are available online at www.banners.org (click on the event) and at the Lake Charles Civic Center Box Office. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The first 15 minutes of the show are done completely in black light, which means that the theatre must be totally dark. This means that no one will be admitted once the performance begins. Latecomers will be admitted after the black light segment of the program is finished.

A special Friday morning performance for students is being funded by Citgo, State Farm Insurance Company, Chase, the American Press, ReCon Engineering and the Stockwell Sievert Law Firm. Schools participating are Barbe Elementary, Maplewood Middle School, St. Margaret Catholic School, Oak Park Elementary, DeQuincy Middle School, St. Johns Elementary, Brentwood Elementary, Combre/Fondel Elementary, W.W. Lewis Elementary, Vinton Middle School, Hamilton Christian Academy and Immaculate Conception Catholic School.

Lazer Vaudeville's act includes superlative juggling, black light illusion, acrobatics, zany comedy and audience participation. A cast of fantastical characters leads the audience on a journey through the imagination. A wizard creates magical illusions with laser beams, a neon cowboy kicks up a luminescent rope-spinning display and an audience member escapes from a straitjacket. The master of ceremonies is a 7-foot tall, fluorescent, fire-breathing dragon named Alfonzo.

Touring since 1987, Lazer Vaudeville fulfills Carter Brown's dream of bringing contemporary vaudeville to the American stage. Brown, who is an internationally acclaimed master of his craft, demonstrates the endangered art of hoop rolling. He is one of the few masters who can roll up to 10 hoops around a juggler's body, which seem to circle the stage as if taking on lives of their own. Some of these hoops are century-old antique wooden bicycle rims. Brown also collaborates with performers Cindy Marvell and Nicholas Flair to fly indoor kites, spin glowing staffs -- and juggle the running chainsaws.

"The kind of juggling we do blows away everybody's concept of what juggling is about," Brown says. Together the troupe creates pinwheel illusions and percussive sounds with South American bolas, bounces balls off airborne drums in a mesmerizing ensemble piece and defies the laws of probability by passing up to 10 clubs in an engaging display of buffoonery and expertise.

Lazer Vaudeville has performed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and was featured in the PBS specials "Juggling Work and Family" with Hedrick Smith and "Center Stage" at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. International tours have included theater festivals in England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Bermuda and Saudi Arabia.

Composer Jesse Manno of the University of Colorado in Boulder has created an original soundtrack that captures the show's special effects and vaudevillian spirit. The music mixes electronic sound with Turkish guitar, Macedonian tambura, Greek bouzouki, Australian didjeridu and Irish fiddle. The troupe sells this lively and lyrical recording on CD along with a performance video, available online at www.lazervaudeville.com.

Designer Maia Robbins-Zust of Berkshire Production Resources in Richmond, MA created the company's fiber-optic scenery. A floating castle lights up the stage and monument valley glows in the evanescent moonlight. Imaginative costumes by Jennifer Johanos add extra sparkle to the performance.

Lazer Vaudeville is based in Colorado at the Boulder Circus Center, which offers juggling and aerial classes. The group's arts-in-education outreach program is designed to bring live performances to students and teachers. "We focus on the history of vaudeville in America," Brown says. "Most students can't imagine popular entertainment before the invention of TV and movies."