Havre native bringing Vegas to town

Tickets are going fast for the Vegas Variety Show coming to Havre Aug. 10, produced by Havre native William Hulett and his wife Angelina Puzanova, both former Cirque du Soleil performers.

The show will be hosted by world-renowned magician Charlie Frye, who will have his own act featuring comedy and juggling.

Hulett said he's a good friend of his with top-tier magic skills and Puzanova described Frye as an old-school magician with years and years of experience entertaining audiences at the Tropicana Las Vegas.

She said another performer Anna Stankus is a former rhythmic gymnast and Cirque du Soleil performer, as well, who will be doing her own hula hoop show.

She said it would also include Roman Tomanov, another Cirque du Soleil veteran, who she said is among the most impressive performers she's ever known.

"I've been in the circus all my life," she said. "I think he's one of the best strap performers that I've ever seen and he's a dear friend."

Hulett said these were just a few of the performers whom people will see if they come to the show.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Montana Actors' Theatre website at https://mtactors.com/tickets, but more than half of them are already gone.

Hulett said the tour stops in four cities and all have been selling well, but "Havre has just kicked everybody's butt."

Puzanova said those who don't catch it in Havre may still have a chance to see it in Great Falls.

The tour will be starting in Butte Aug. 7 at the Motherlode Theater, and continue Aug. 8 in the Helena Civic Center, at the Havre High School Auditorium Aug. 10, and Great Falls Aug 12 at the Mansfield Center for the Preforming Arts.

Hulett said Havre High School has the only auditorium with sufficient facilities in the area, but said it has the best lighting of all four tour venues.

"As producers it will be a little bit of an experience for us because we're going right into a venue that's never had that kind of show, but we'll figure it out," he said. "It's going to be fun."

Puzanova originated the idea to do a show around Montana and her husband agreed that it would be a good idea, given the situation with the pandemic and Hulett's connection to the area.

They said because of the pandemic shows like the ones they produce in Las Vegas just couldn't be done, and while things are slowly opening back up and demand is high, they figured it was an opportunity to bring their performers' talents to Montana for a tour.

Hulett said people he knows in Havre have always supported his work, with many of his friends coming to Las Vegas to support his work, which he wants to thank them for.

"I think it's a great opportunity to bring a show to the people who come down to Vegas and have supported me," he said.

He said he thought this was a way to bring the show to them, though some have given him a hard time regarding the scheduling.

"All my friends are farmers and it's harvest so they've been ribbing me, they've been like, 'August, really Willy!?,'" he said laughing. "... That was funny getting all the feedback from farmer friends who are like, 'You seriously making us shut down the combines now!?'"

History

Hulett and Puzanova have been married for 10 years and both have long histories as performers.

Hulett was born in Havre, where he excelled at wrestling before graduating and moving to Los Angeles where he did some acting work.

He said he mostly did commercials until one day when he did one for a casino in Las Vegas and one of the people he met there suggested he move down there if he was interested in becoming an entertainer.

"The rest is kind of history," he said.

Hulett would become an entertainer at the Excalibur Tournament of Kings Show and eventually successfully auditioned for Cirque du Soleil in 2006, after winning Fear Factor in 2004.

Puzanova has been a circus performer for virtually her entire life, as a third-generation performer who began doing aerial acrobatics with her father at age 11.

She said her act traveled the world for years earning a fair few awards before Cirque du Soleil found her in Paris, where they offered her a job.

"Cirque du Soleil takes a lot of your time; you basically don't have a life, depending on your director," she said. "... But they pay well, they take care of you, they give you full insurance, they are a really amazing company. I'm very grateful to them."

Puzanova, along with her business partner Jenny Arata, another former award-wining acrobat, eventually retired from performance to become producers. She said her husband is part of the producing business as well, and the company, Show Talent Productions, has been going strong for about five years.