La Nouba – Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney

Posted on March 9, 2014 by borysSNORC

Absolute clusterfuck trying to get to La Nouba tonight. Between a time change in Central Florida that we weren’t expecting, and a misreading of the ticket times (I thought it was a civilised 7:30pm time like every other show, but it was at 6pm!), and the damn GPS taking us to the wrong end of Buena Vista Drive, we literally rocked up to collect our tickets at 5:57pm and I was panicking that we were going to get locked out! Well, we made it in by the skin of our teeth and discovered that our tickets were front row, which is weird because I don’t want to be pulled up onto the stage during the show and I usually book a few rows back, but oh well, front and centre it was – I must have booked ‘best available’ rather than chosen my own seats.

The building itself is quite beautiful, and as expected the place sets an entirely different atmosphere to what we experienced a few nights earlier at the Ford Arena when we saw Varekai. Gorgeous building, liveried staff, fancy decor in the lobby and a fantastical space created for the performance which leads to an air of excitement in the air for patrons so completely different to that of wandering into the Arena in sombre lines.

Most of the acts at La Nouba are obviously designed to cater for their younger patrons. Given the theatre is in Downtown Disney, there is a strong family atmosphere and far more children present than you normally see at a Cirque du Soleil show. As such, there were many apparatus incorporated into the show that would be very accessible to the younger audience. They had an act comprising of some very fancy people jumping rope in a wonderful display of coordination and skill, there was another with some guys doing tricks on bicycles, and another that was tightrope walking and a very accomplished juggler – all acts that children can appreciate how difficult they are to execute as they may have tried similar challenges themselves. Ditto for the guys on the trampoline, kids all familiar with trampolines would know how hard it is to do what these acrobats can do having played on trampolines themselves.

In addition to these seemingly commonplace items of skipping ropes, pushbikes and balance and juggling acts were a wonderful trapeze act and an amazing group of four girls using Diablos. Now if you’ve ever used a Diablo, you know they can be a little tricky to get hang of using them, they can be fun, but they get knotted up and it’s hard to get the rotation going well, but these girls were experts, they danced and ran about and used their Diablos expertly, tossing and throwing them to themselves and each other in an amazing display of coordination, gymnastics, dance and most of all dedication to practice! They were great, and definitely my favourite act of this show.

After La Nouba, we went for a stroll around Downtown Disney and took in the sights and did a little shopping. DisneyWorld is HUGE… and I am so glad we are not going to be visiting DisneyWorld this trip – I think I’m a bit Disney’d out after last years three days in Disneyland and California Park with The Small Child. 🙂

Cirque de Soleil – Varekai

Posted on March 7, 2014 by borysSNORC

Saw Varekai in Beaumont Texas tonight at the Ford Park Arena. I was a bit confused when they arrived there was no signage, no merchandise stand and no concession stand. We were being led into what looked like an empty arena by side doors. We go through some black curtains and find ourselves in the stands and looking for our seats which were flat on the floor about five rows from the front. I’ve been to quite a few Cirque shows by now and every one of them has had an atmosphere of surreal excitement going on outside… I recall the sets and props outside the tent at Ovo and how amazed The Small Child was at being able to get in amongst the oversized grasses and lit up flowers – this place had none of that. Not even a sign to let you know you were at the right show. The result being we felt like we could be getting let in to see a lecture or something and people were responding to the flat atmosphere accordingly.

We took our seats and had a good look around, the usual stage lighting, small amount of smoke and crickets and dripping noises made up the ambience inside. I was feeling a bit uneasy about it and my expectations lowered dramatically as I felt like this was budget Cirque somehow. Being in an arena just doesn’t have the same feel as the BIg Top or one of the dedicated theatres in Las Vegas. Had me a bit worried as I have Mr K lined up for about five shows and this was the first.

Unfortunately that feeling of slight disappointment lasted well through up until intermission. There was a lot of panto and time with the clowns on stage as well as quite a few dance scenes, but only four moderately impressive acts – two aerialists (the main character who falls from the heavens with wings and a lady in gold with a trapeze bar) and two acrobatic acts. They looked fabulous as per usual and the music was wonderful too, but there was none of the ‘OMG how the hell did they do that?’, gives you goosebumps, display of human ingenuity and physical endeavour that I tend to associate with the Cirque.

The second half however totally redeemed itself, some amazing balance and strength artists, some very accomplished aerialists and one of my favourites, a dozen guys on the Russian swings. They were fantastic, and I was so glad we came all the way to Texas to see them in the end. Mr K said he enjoyed it immensely as well, so now I am less worried about having lined him up to see so many shows, knowing that the others will have a vastly improved atmosphere over the arena setting too.

Cirque Du Soleil… Zarkana!

Posted on July 22, 2013 by borysSNORC

We head out of San Diego from our hotel, which turned out to be spitting distance from the Mexican border, this morning towards Las Vegas. In a slight deviation to the plan we decided not to spend tonight in Phoenix after all where there was stuff all to do, but to head back to Vegas for our last night hanging out together to go see another Cirque du Soleil show! It was going to be another day of long boring drive either way so, Cirque = Squee!

As it turns out, Ka is up and running again but doesn’t run on Sunday nights. So I guess we just weren’t destined to see that one. Instead I got us great seats for Zarkana. Hint for new players – dont book online, there is no option to choose any other seats other than the ‘best available’ for each zone and also no option to select a kids ticket, which is 50% off. We didn’t want to be in the front row cranning our necks, so called and got seats in 103 Row K which were great.

The show itself was fabulous. the Aria Hotel is relatively new and the Zarkana Theatre has obviously been purpose built to house this show. The stage is fairly traditional but you can see how much engineering and hardware is built into the place, particularly up above the stage, that would make it impossible to take this show on the road under a big top. It has various frames leafing into the rear if stage that are used to interesting effect with projected imagery.

As for the rest, costumes, set design, acts etc., it feels much like it had Tim Burton smooshed a Cirque du Soleil show through a kaleidoscope. This is not a bad thing… it’s just a description of how slightly darker and how very busy the entire show looked most of the time. The ‘frames’ I mentioned earlier always had imagery projected onto them that was relevant/complimentary to the action going on which lead to an extremely busy visual experience where you didn’t know where to look half the time. It had a pretty contemporary steam punk feel going on that I imagine might date a bit, but the show would definitely have loads of appeal for gothy, steam punky, alternative type audiences.

I still loved it and even saw some fancy tight rope walking, hoops stuff and the double barrel looping thing that I’ve never seen in a Cirque show before. Actually, there was a young dumb American chick beside me who saw the trapeze guys come out – 12 of them in a large spider web inspired set – who actually said ‘trapeze guys? Why do they keep doing this old shit?’, to her friend. Well, silly bint, they keep doing it because its really fucking hard and it takes world class athletes to do it this well. Oi!

After this we took the Small Child for a walk along the strip to check out the lights and the Bellagio fountains (which played to Dean Martin last time we saw them but were to Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas this time), but he was more interested in all the cards littering the streets advertising the strip shows and prostitutes… it appears he heard Grandpa Doug say we should take a pile of them home for Dad!

So there ends my Cirque Tour of the US… I’ve seen Allegria, Saltimbanco, Dralion, Ovo, Mystere, ‘O’, Zumanity and now Zarkana.

Mr K, you’re just going to have to bring me back to Vegas to see Ka, Love and One!!!

Zumanity… The Sensual Side of the Cirque du Soleil

Posted on July 13, 2013 by borysSNORC

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. It’s 18+ only and decidedly risqué, so those easily offended shouldn’t bother going is the low down. I was also expecting more ‘Vegas’ in the form of glitz, glamour, sequins, feathers, stilettos and skimpy costumes than the other Cirque shows, and that expectation was definitely met.

The various acts within the show ranged from uptempo, bawdy and raunchy, to slow, sensual and erotic. Most of the time there was a fair bit of nudity – plenty of toplessness and peekaboo costumes and barely there G-strings, for both him and her. Though in my opinion, I don’t really think the nudity added anything particularly titilating to the various themes – most dancers, acrobats and gymnasts are hardly big in the bust department so what’s the point in showing a bit of nipple here and there? It did however really afford good opportunity to see the absolute chiseled musculature of these athletes which is usually hidden by their bright coloured spandex costumes.

Compared to all other Cirque du Soleil shows, this one is plenty of talk, talk, talk, talk and lots of audience engagement. From the over the top swingers who came across like game show hosts that were essentially the ‘clowns’ (comedic interludes) to the six and a half foot tall be-stiletto’d transvestite/drag queen who acted as MC. Lots of talking, some of it narration, some of it banter, most of it kinda smutty and intended to challenge.

But the best bit of the show last night for me, was when my Mum got pulled out of the audience and thrown in the middle of an orgy/group sex themed scene. She had this scantily clad buff young man come fetch her from her seat and bring her up on stage. He was groping all over the place, very handsy and at one point had Mum on her knees in front of him kissing his stomach! Then he laid back and pulled her over the top of him and started humping! Mum was laughing so hard and falling all over the place, the audience loved it. After the show, everyone who came past us on the way out kept calling out ‘Hey look, it’s Mary!’ And told her she was ‘Awesome’, and that she ‘Stole the show’. One person even said that she ‘was the best thing in the show tonight’.

We’ve been watching plenty of people being ‘volunteered’ to participate in the shows all week and thinking ‘That guy’s a good sport’ etc., and of all shows to end up on the stage in, Zumanity is NOT the one I would choose. But Mum was great and had a ball, I laughed my arse off, and the test of the audience loved it. 🙂

In fact, this little escapade kinda reminds me of the time my sister, BigSal ended up on the stage with a huge buff black stripper during a sex show in Amsterdam… but that’s another story. 😉

“O”… Eau, What a Night!

Posted on July 12, 2013 by borysSNORC

Described as, ‘an aquatic tapestry of artistry, surrealism, and theatrical romance, “O” pays tribute to the beauty of the theatre with a class of world-class acrobats, synchronized swimmers, divers and characters.’ … and I gotta say, that’s a pretty succinct description of the show we saw tonight.

I now know why “O” is considered one of the greatest ‘must see’ shows of all time. I have never in my life experienced a theatrical, musical, artistic or athletic performance quite like it.

The show opens with the customary Cirque du Soleil mime/clowns and audience participation to warm everyone up, and slowly reveals the incredible stage until you get a feel for the scale and grandeur of the space.

There is a 1.5million gallon pool in the gorgeous Bellagio Theatre, which keeps appearing and disappearing in various configurations; the depth of which ranges from a few inches to 17 feet deep (for high diving from 60 feet above the stage); there are 85 cast members, some of whom are olympic champions; 150 technicians, including 14 scuba divers helping the artists underwater.

The sheer athleticism of these performers is demonstrated constantly throughout the show and blended with that unique ‘je ne sais quoi’ that the Cirque du Soleil brings to all its productions. The music, costumes, stage direction and overall artistic vision of this show, is far and away the most sophisticated of all the Cirque productions I have been fortunate enough to experience – Allegria, Saltimbanco, Dralion, Ovo, Mystere and now “O”.

The show opened with some impressive synchronized swimming and diving, but part way in there are three Russian swings set up, one with a bell tolling atop it, that has a beautiful lady on the front of it… as they swing higher and higher the audience is wondering when the first acrobat will make a move. The beautiful woman is propelled high into the air, seems to hover in a moment of sublime expectation and executes the most beautiful dive… and from there the tempo picks up and up with divers going every which way and so much action it’s hard to know where to look.

There’s smoke and mirrors (literally), fire and reflections, the most unusual trapeze artists I’ve ever seen and and incredible group of artists working in rings.

My advice, should you be coming to Vegas is book tickets and book them now. Don’t book online. Get up at stupid o’clock and call the MGM reservations line. We were sixth row, center and I was entranced by every moment of it.

Honestly, I think “O” has left a bigger impact on me than a Rammstein concert, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a Pavarotti performance, an AC/DC gig and The Blue Man Group all rolled in together!