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MONDAY, MAY 06, 2019
THEATER: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL GETS ITS MOJO
BACK
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LUZIA -- A WAKING DREAM OF
MEXICO *** out of ****
NEXT TO CITI FIELD IN QUEENS, NYC
I skipped the last few Cirque du Soleil shows that passed through New
York City. After revolutionizing the circus, this Montreal-basedcompany fell into a bit of a rut. Every show was an amorphous, NewAge-y sort of experience. Worse, they kept trying to shoehorn a
collection of fine circus acts (trapeze work, juggling and the like) into a
narrative. This misguided idea about how to keep their shows freshculminated in the godawful Broadway show Paramour . Perhaps that
disaster sobered the company up. That show was followed
immediately by this one, which comes to the city three years after its
debut in Montreal. Luzia runs through June 9 before moving on to
Connecticut, Canada and then London's Royal Albert Hall in January.
Here Cirque breaks its own "rules" but far more effectively. They take
inspiration from a particular country, in this case Mexico. That gives
the costumes and colors a focus their more outlandish and
conceptually vague shows lack. Many of the songs are sung in Spanish,rather than just the usual made-up Cirque nonsense language meantto be "exotic" and yet not alienate any of its worldwide audience.(Sure, a number of tunes are still vocalized with wordless ooh-oohing,
but it's an improvement.) Plus the score is bursting with brass that --
again -- step away from New Age and create a friendlier, livelier morehuman vibe.
Indeed, the entire show has a warm, inviting feel that draws the
audience in. It's human-scaled and all the better for it. This video giveshighlights of the many acts on display.MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (31)
► June (1)
▼ May (9)
I wasn't surprised for a second by anything in Luzia but I smiled with
pleasure the entire time. A treadmill is used effectively early on. A
woman/butterfly runs forward as her wings fill up the stage and a
War Horse -like puppet of a stallion gallops behind her. It's not
ground-breaking or unusual in any way -- just a lovely, simple effect.
The same goes for the troupe (my favorite of the lot) dressed in bird-like costumes who tumble through hoops as those move forward and
backward along the treadmill. One or two or three hoops are stacked
up, while tumblers go alone or two or three at a time in bothdirections . Again, the routine is simplicity itself but done withelegance and charm. Of course, I say "simple" but of course it's onlysimple for folk who devote a lifetime to developing their skills and
their bodies. (Many performers come from Eastern Europe, which
boasts a deep circus tradition while others were competitive gymnasts,swimmers, wrestlers and the like in college.)
Start to finish, Luzia has an easy charm. True, it never wowed me with
some outrageous never-seen-before feat of derring-do. But I don't
relish truly death-defying acts for my afternoon's entertainment sothat low-key vibe was a bonus. While the clown act usually had mecringing over his "antics" in Cirque shows from the past, Luzia'sperformer was top-notch, especially in an act-one bit where he
engaged the audience in a beach ball competition. When a juggler had
a disastrous outing (he lost his rhythm early on and dropped pins fouror five times), it was a welcome reminder how difficult their skills are.And while the contortionist appearing towards the climax wasunsettling rather than entertaining (he seemed more appropriate for
Coney Island), his big routine was staged beautifully with a parade of
performers placing candles all around the stage while the lightsdimmed.
If an aerialist dipping into a pool of water proved kitschy (his Fabio-
like hair was flipped so often and so dramatically it deserved its own
trailer backstage), this was all part of the fun. A curtain of water alsoplayed a prominent role throughout the show and created some verycool cascading pictures indeed. At the end, the cast gathered around aTHEATER: 'BLKS' IS
SERIOUSLY FUNNY
MUSIC: CHRIS THILE CAPS
CARNEGIE HALL
RESIDENCY WI...
THEATER: CIRQUE DU
SOLEIL GETS ITS MOJOBACK
THEATER: HANS CHRISTIAN
ANDERSEN'S LIFE WAS NOFAI...
The Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I've See...
BookFilter Reading List
TV and Film Must Watch ListTHEATER: "MANUELA
INFANTE," OR REVENGE
OF THE PLAN...
THEATER: "BEETLEJUICE"
SHOWS A LITTLE LIFE
► April (10)
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (5)
► 2018 (33)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (17)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
table to celebrate and even this felt right, especially how they froze into
place at various points to allow the clown a final bit of nonsense. If
you've never been to Cirque du Soleil or, like me, you took a breakwhen it became repetitive or just too omnipresent, Luzia is a good
reminder of why they conquered the world in the first place.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 6:19 PM
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MONDAY, MAY 06, 2019
THEATER: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL GETS ITS MOJO
BACK
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LUZIA -- A WAKING DREAM OF
MEXICO *** out of ****
NEXT TO CITI FIELD IN QUEENS, NYC
I skipped the last few Cirque du Soleil shows that passed through New
York City. After revolutionizing the circus, this Montreal-basedcompany fell into a bit of a rut. Every show was an amorphous, NewAge-y sort of experience. Worse, they kept trying to shoehorn a
collection of fine circus acts (trapeze work, juggling and the like) into a
narrative. This misguided idea about how to keep their shows freshculminated in the godawful Broadway show Paramour . Perhaps that
disaster sobered the company up. That show was followed
immediately by this one, which comes to the city three years after its
debut in Montreal. Luzia runs through June 9 before moving on to
Connecticut, Canada and then London's Royal Albert Hall in January.
Here Cirque breaks its own "rules" but far more effectively. They take
inspiration from a particular country, in this case Mexico. That gives
the costumes and colors a focus their more outlandish and
conceptually vague shows lack. Many of the songs are sung in Spanish,rather than just the usual made-up Cirque nonsense language meantto be "exotic" and yet not alienate any of its worldwide audience.(Sure, a number of tunes are still vocalized with wordless ooh-oohing,
but it's an improvement.) Plus the score is bursting with brass that --
again -- step away from New Age and create a friendlier, livelier morehuman vibe.
Indeed, the entire show has a warm, inviting feel that draws the
audience in. It's human-scaled and all the better for it. This video giveshighlights of the many acts on display.MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (31)
► June (1)
▼ May (9)
I wasn't surprised for a second by anything in Luzia but I smiled with
pleasure the entire time. A treadmill is used effectively early on. A
woman/butterfly runs forward as her wings fill up the stage and a
War Horse -like puppet of a stallion gallops behind her. It's not
ground-breaking or unusual in any way -- just a lovely, simple effect.
The same goes for the troupe (my favorite of the lot) dressed in bird-like costumes who tumble through hoops as those move forward and
backward along the treadmill. One or two or three hoops are stacked
up, while tumblers go alone or two or three at a time in bothdirections . Again, the routine is simplicity itself but done withelegance and charm. Of course, I say "simple" but of course it's onlysimple for folk who devote a lifetime to developing their skills and
their bodies. (Many performers come from Eastern Europe, which
boasts a deep circus tradition while others were competitive gymnasts,swimmers, wrestlers and the like in college.)
Start to finish, Luzia has an easy charm. True, it never wowed me with
some outrageous never-seen-before feat of derring-do. But I don't
relish truly death-defying acts for my afternoon's entertainment sothat low-key vibe was a bonus. While the clown act usually had mecringing over his "antics" in Cirque shows from the past, Luzia'sperformer was top-notch, especially in an act-one bit where he
engaged the audience in a beach ball competition. When a juggler had
a disastrous outing (he lost his rhythm early on and dropped pins fouror five times), it was a welcome reminder how difficult their skills are.And while the contortionist appearing towards the climax wasunsettling rather than entertaining (he seemed more appropriate for
Coney Island), his big routine was staged beautifully with a parade of
performers placing candles all around the stage while the lightsdimmed.
If an aerialist dipping into a pool of water proved kitschy (his Fabio-
like hair was flipped so often and so dramatically it deserved its own
trailer backstage), this was all part of the fun. A curtain of water alsoplayed a prominent role throughout the show and created some verycool cascading pictures indeed. At the end, the cast gathered around aTHEATER: 'BLKS' IS
SERIOUSLY FUNNY
MUSIC: CHRIS THILE CAPS
CARNEGIE HALL
RESIDENCY WI...
THEATER: CIRQUE DU
SOLEIL GETS ITS MOJOBACK
THEATER: HANS CHRISTIAN
ANDERSEN'S LIFE WAS NOFAI...
The Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I've See...
BookFilter Reading List
TV and Film Must Watch ListTHEATER: "MANUELA
INFANTE," OR REVENGE
OF THE PLAN...
THEATER: "BEETLEJUICE"
SHOWS A LITTLE LIFE
► April (10)
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (5)
► 2018 (33)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (17)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
table to celebrate and even this felt right, especially how they froze into
place at various points to allow the clown a final bit of nonsense. If
you've never been to Cirque du Soleil or, like me, you took a breakwhen it became repetitive or just too omnipresent, Luzia is a good
reminder of why they conquered the world in the first place.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 6:19 PM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Newer Post Older Post Home