Cirque du Soleil -- What a rich, rich experience..

Originally Posted By ssWEDguy

I went to see Cirque du Soleil this weekend. What a rich, rich experience. You cannot express enough to someone else how much it is worth the trip and cost. Go!

What I notice the most is the total use of the theater space. There's something going on in every location, not just the main act down center. You can get lost just watching all of what's going on around you, let alone the most excellent feature acts.

And most all of the performers are involved multiple times, for the entire production. Not just during their featured performance.

The experience is so rich that it invites and justifies repeat visits. Kind of like what the classic Disney attractions do. They are so rich that repeat visits have you discovering more of what is there and just didn't notice before.

Marvelous.

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

Wow - glad you had a great time. We were going to go, but my Mother in Law made life too difficult, so we passed in favour of more park time. Man, I knew we should have stayed at WDW for that additional 4 days.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

I agree. Cirque is spectacular. We don't see it every year because of the cost, but we try to see it at least every 2-3 years.

Folks who are making their Hoop De Doo reservations for the 17th time should really consider going to Cirque instead. Yes, it is more expensive. But it is SO worth it!!

Unlike the Vegas Cirque shows, the WDW show is just as enjoyable for kids as it is for parents.

We had tickets for Cirque last February but for the first time in their history (so they claimed) they had to cancel a show due to technical problems. For some reason they had lost all power to their various staging devices. Bummer.

 

Originally Posted By TDLFAN

Yes, Cirque is definitely a rich experience, especially for the rich. Lucky for us AP and residents, we get discounts every so often.. Teehee!

And difficult mother in law has got to go!

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

I have never seen a Cirque show that I haven't loved. They are all amazing in their own rights.

Can't wait to see the new Beatles-inspired Love in Vegas next month!

 

Originally Posted By leemac

<<I have never seen a Cirque show that I haven't loved.>>

Avoid Corteo like the plague if you want to keep up that average. It stinks to high heaven despite constant tweaking.

LOVE is very cool indeed. I think I'll be back in Vegas in January too. Have you seen KA Spirit?

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

^^Nope. I want to see KA too. It always seems to be dark when I'm there/can go.

I also think Mystere, which I like a lot (have seen it three times) is on its way out since it's the oldest show still running and they are advertising $60 tix ... which by Vegas standards is downright cheap.

 

Originally Posted By leemac

^^ My understanding is that the replacement show for TI is due after they finish the TDR show.

KA is awesome. A very different experience. Many people find the staging to be a gimmick but I've never seen anything like it before. Plus it is nice to see an entirely new show rather than just a few new sequences and older Cirque stuff blended in. It is probably my favourite Cirque soundtrack too (although O is still special and the LOVE album is incredible but I'm a huge Beatles fan).

 

Originally Posted By kennect

To me the Ka soundtrack is the most beautiful thing Cirque has ever done music wise...I just wish Corteo was more appealing...It opens here day after tomorrow and it sounds really miserable by Cirque standards....A neighbor of mine is working it and I can't wait to see what she has to say in relation to attendance and audience reaction...She saw it a couple of months ago and hated it....La Nouba at WDW is a good show, I will see it any time I can...

 

Originally Posted By TDLFAN

KA is definitely in my plans for my next trip to Vegas. It came highly recommended by close friends. Can't wait.

 

Originally Posted By fkurucz

>>Yes, Cirque is definitely a rich experience, especially for the rich. <<

True. While a wonderful experience, Cirque is not for the faint of wallet.

We saw it in Denver. It was in a tent, which in my opinion detracted from the experience.

 

Originally Posted By kennect

What show was it you saw in Denver? I actually prefer the touring shows to the permanent ones...I think their ticket prices are on par as to what one would pay for any live entertainment...But I also have to admit that not all of their touring shows compare equally to each other...They all seem to have such different themes and execution of style...The newest show that I mentioned above doesn't interest me at all after seeing the DVD and hearing all of the negative responses about it...It sort of saddens me that I will finally break my record of missing one of their touring shows but I just can't come to the thought it is worth it just to keep my record going...As far as being in a tent they have done some really incredible things with the last three or four touring shows in terms what can be created in a tent, then torn down and moved to another location...For me, Alegria has to be the most beautiful touring show they have done to date...Sorry to hear the tent was a turn off for you...

 

Originally Posted By fkurucz

^^Varekai

 

Originally Posted By avromark

If you really want to be immersed in Cirque De Soliel you could just go to Circus school in Montreal.

<a href="http://www.enc.qc.ca/index.asp" target="_blank">http://www.enc.qc.ca/index.asp</a>

 

Originally Posted By Boo

We really enjoyed seeing La Nouba in 2000, having seats far enough forward so that the strong guy who flys on a rope trailing miles of red wispy fabric behind him flew right over us... that was so cool.

Afterwards, we were walking out to our car at the same time one of the musicians was leaving, and I noticed his gig bag, and complemented him on the live music, which was just so tight with the visual cues. He was friendly and talkative, which was very sweet given that it's a job they do every night. But he didn't seem tired of it... in fact, he was as sweet and wonderful as a really good Disney cast member can be.

He said they'd been nervous that night, as some Barnum and Bailey reps were in the audience, checking out how CdS did things. In fact, the acrobats had missed a throw, so they'd redone it. I'd noticed, and had been all the more impressed by how they handled the retake (still with tight live music exact on the redo measures) and allowed themselves to get it right, for the benefit of the performers and the audience, without losing any of the entertainment value.

 

Originally Posted By kennect

Boo, I have yet to see a mistake happen in the La Nouba show...It is always interesting to see how they handle them when they do happen...When I have seen them happen in the touring shows they seem to handle them flawlessly until the intended move is achieved...They are definitely pro's at what they do....

 

Originally Posted By ssWEDguy

>> I have yet to see a mistake happen in the La Nouba show <<

I did notice them miss a catch at my show last week. But the re-do was flawless. I particularly noticed how the music kept flow and didn't miss a beat, even during the re-do. I'm thinking that in other live performance situations that I've seen a re-do would have been much more obvious.

The Chinese spindle toss girls -- don't ever miss anything. They are magical.

 

Originally Posted By kennect

Completely off topic but something that shows how serious Cirque is about their shows....

I mentioned above that my neighbor always works the touring Cirque shows when they hit town here...Well Corteo opened Friday night....The local hired help had their traing day on Wednesday...Liz told me they were told to report at two in the afternoon and plan to stay late....She wondered what that meant...Well what that meant was after they did the basic training spiel(which seems to be a lot) according to her about fifty of the local hires were treated to a full performance of Corteo...That I thought was neat on behalf of Cirque....But what even seemed even more nifty was the idea that during the socalled training session for Corteo the ushers were told how to deal with the "little gal" floating over the audience...Apparently not every audience gets into the act and they are pushing the fact that if the crowd isn't into it then the ushers have to step in and send her back to the mainstage...None of that would make sense unless you have seen or know something about the show...Anyway Liz found it great fun to bounce around this gal floating in midair....I wish I could have been there that would have been priceless to experience....

 

Originally Posted By kpwdwfan

All of the Cirque shows I've seen thus far have been excellent. I've seen two travelling shows, one in Las Vegas and La Nouba which is my favorite by far. Unfortunatley, its a small fortune to take a family of four to La Nouba. I highly reccommend La Nouba if you get a chance and can afford it.

 

Originally Posted By SuperDry

<<< I did notice them miss a catch at my show last week. But the re-do was flawless. I particularly noticed how the music kept flow and didn't miss a beat, even during the re-do. I'm thinking that in other live performance situations that I've seen a re-do would have been much more obvious. >>>

I saw something similar when I saw La Nouba. During the trick bicycle riding part, the chain on the bike broke. Almost immediately, someone from offstage brought out a replacement and took the broken one back. The music just kind of looped in a holding pattern and then continued on once the bike performer was in position to continue his act. It was quite amazing to see this pulled off flawlessly (assuming of course that the broken chain wasn't part of the act).