My weekend in reverse (1 of 3)

[oakenguy]

Yesterday Deb surprised me with a slightly-early birthday present, two tickets to Kooza! We braved the rain and wind and Red Sox traffic and broken subways and bizarre concession stands (I'm not talking overpriced popcorn here, I'm talking "Smoothie--$7.62", a number that's still crystal-clear in my head because I'm just so baffled by how they came up with that amount) and made it to the show, and wow.

Wow.

I don't want to spoil things for folks who haven't seen it yet, so I'll say that it's a very good blend of things that made me go "What the HELL?", two moments that were so awesome the hair on the back of my neck literally stood up, and three or four separate times when there were things done to the audience that I can't ever imagine, say, Ringling doing, both for liability insurance reasons and sheer wtf-ery. (Very realistic dog costume. VERY realistic dog costume.)

I'll also mention that of the 5 Cirque shows I've seen, this had _the_ best group of clowns. They had me from before the show even started, when half of them were planted in the seats portraying obnoxious audience members (!), and they just kept getting better. By the end of the show, I was composing a letter in my head that read "Dear Monsieur Petit Chapeau, I will pay cash money to watch you and your friends walk down the street. Please contact me re: prices and proposed routes."

Also also, any show that leads to sentences like "I'm not sure which I liked more, when they were shooting the cannon into the crowd or the cloak made out of rats" is a GOOD show.

Comments

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

I'm talking "Smoothie--$7.62", a number that's still crystal-clear in my head because I'm just so baffled by how they came up with that amount) and made it to the show, and wow.

You're not a retailer. $7.62 + 5% tax= $8 even, give or take a mil.

[gilana]

Whee! Going to see it next week, I can't wait.

[magickcat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in the bistro section, the LEAST expensive panini is $10.95.... crazy...but people buy them from what I am hearing.
I love working for Cirque. I hate Manpower so much.
But working for Cirque rocks. I need to be given some sort of discount for tickets because I can not afford them, and Dave has never seen ANY shows and he MUST see Kooza. OMGMUST.

[prettyh.livejournal.com]

Ooooh!! I only JUST saw my first ever Cirque show on my birthday (Saltimbanco), and I now want to travel all over the place to see them all! What I would GIVE to see Love. And O. And Ka. And now, with your persuasive description of it, Kooza is on my list too!

I know. One Cirque show in all these years? I'm a bad Canadian. I really am.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

As the person from Maine who's only eaten 1 lobster in my life (under duress), I cannot judge you. :)

[prettyh.livejournal.com]

Hee - you're preaching to the converted. I don't like seafood, and when I spent a week in Nova Scotia, the incredibly polite and friendly people just seemed so hurt that I wasn't willing to point at something and ask them to boil it alive for me!

Which of the other 4 shows have you seen, and in what order would you rate them (y'know, in case I win the lottery and can pick and choose any of them!)?

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, fun and tricky question! It's tricky because each show has the Story and it has the Performances--you know, the actual *circus* stuff--and the two can be really really different in terms of quality.

I think I'd rate Quidam at the top, because the story and how they incorporated it into the acts was so good--it's also still my favorite soundtrack pound for pound.

Varekai and Kooza have to tie for second, I think. Varekai was GORGEOUS and jungle-y and ambitious, and their collection of acts--the Georgian dancers, the Russian swings--were the best of any of the shows, but Kooza had more hair-standing-up moments and a better sense of humor, I think?

After that I'd put Corteo, which was nice but apart from one good act involving a very long trampoline I don't remember much about it? And after THAT I'd put Alegria, which was two hours of "Whu?" "She's in a hoop skirt and she's all in black and she's just come out and she's standing there and now she's walking off again? Whu?"

[katestine.livejournal.com]

Interrresting. I saw Quidam years and years ago, didn't really find it all that fun, to be honest. Then I started doing this stuff, and watched Journey of Man and Varekai on tv. Loved the former, was bored by the latter. But after your review, I'm now trying to time my next trip to Boston to catch Kooza. Well, partially bc I generally don't like clowns at all, but you make them sound like a good thing.

[fightguy.livejournal.com]

It's a hell of a show, isn't it? Of the six Cirque shows I've seen live, this was the first time I wasn't just dazzled, but was in honest-to-goodness disbelief at what i was seeing. For those who haven't gone yet: the Wheel of Death is aptly named.

Loved the clowns, though John Gilkey (from "Quidam" and "Varekai") is still my all-time fave. And I covet the whacked-out Baron Samedi suit & mask that the Trickster wore at the start of act 2... I covet it with a deep and abiding covetousness...

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, that WHEEL. That "fun with momentum" wheel! At my show, there was a moment when the jumprope got snagged on the performer's costume--those damn scales--and I swear my stomach clenched down the the size of a nickel I was so nervous for him.

And yes. That mask. YES.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Oops--that was me.

Went Friday

[lordgrip.livejournal.com]

Yep water for 4 bucks including tax a bit stiff. Show was great!