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‘Bang Bang’ takes aim at The Playhouse Downtown

New Castle, Pa., native Ingrid Ullrich traveled the world performing on cruise ships and with renowned organizations such as Cirque du Soleil.

Those opportunities stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and then she suffered a hip injury while teaching dance.

"I sadly, unfortunately, couldn't go back to the high-caliber productions that I did for a living," Ullrich said.

Instead, she decided to create "Bang Bang: The Ultimate Variety Show," which makes its first appearance in Youngstown on Saturday at The Playhouse Downtown.

"I was a guest entertainer for cruise ships, so I was like, 'Let me actually sit down and create a variety show,''' she said. "It's just top-notch entertainment from head to toe, which is kind of where I got the (title) 'Bang Bang.' because it starts with a bang and ends with a bang."

Ullrich relies on a rotating cast of characters, a mix of local talent from the New Castle area and specialty acts based regionally.

The Youngstown date features Ullrich, vocalist, dancer and producer; Jewell Ullrich, vocalist; Vaughn Hudspath, master of ceremonies; Tycen Gardner, dancer; Judah Boyd, dancer; and Jennifer Milgram, dancer

Featured artists include Julia Rabbit, an aerial artist from Cleveland: Dan Wasdahl, a juggler from Cleveland; and Ayton Barrett & Erica Henrichsen, a duo that performs partner acrobatics, hand-to-hand balancing and Icarian-style acrobatics.

"There's tons of dancing, vocal numbers," she said. "There's comedy. My master of ceremonies is very, very funny, and he just customizes (the show) based off of the audience in front of him and just goes with it ... The juggler, he's like 70 years old and he's fabulous. He does a signature glass bowl act where he balances all these glass bowls. The cast are very colorful, dynamic and so different. If you don't personally like one person, you're gonna like the (next) one."

Ullrich still is able to dance; she just knows what moves she needs to avoid so as not to aggravate the hip injury. But that's only one part that comes with being the producer of "Bang Bang."

"I do all the costumes," she said. "I work with the sound. I'm now getting into the technical aspects of it. It's an eye-opening experience for me, because when I would perform for these huge production shows, there's a team. There's somebody that is in charge of vocals, the vocal director. There's somebody that's a choreographer. There's somebody that's the producer, the director, the tech (director). I actually didn't realize what I was getting into until things started happening -- 'Oh shoot! I need this. Oh, I need to do this.' So it's a lot. It's very gratifying in the end, but it certainly is a lot of work."

Ullrich originally wanted to do "Bang Bang" at the Youngstown Playhouse's main stage, but the dates available there didn't coincide with the availability of her performers. However, The Playhouse Downtown's schedule did work for her cast, and after touring the space, Ullrich said it was perfect for the initial appearance of the variety show.

The goal is to keep taking it to new markets within a couple hours of New Castle and to attract larger audiences when it returns to those cities.

"I'm just trying to keep it going and flowing and provide entertainment that really is special that you don't really get to see here."

If you go …

WHAT: "Bang Bang: The Ultimate Variety Show"

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: The Playhouse Downtown, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $28 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.