My husband and I were lucky enough to get free tickets to see Cirque du Soleil‘s Zarkana. Zarkana is a touring arena show that is playing in Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Our tickets were dead center aisle seats in the fourth row! Awesome.
The show basically transforms Radio City Music Hall into a Big Top circus, complete with two silly [and not terribly funny] clowns who keep the audience entertained while the sets are changed. The one bit they did well was when they pulled a young woman from the audience and did some schtick with her. She was a very good sport. 🙂 The Backstage.com review describes it as:
The essential story is the same: Zark the magician (Paul Bisson) searches for his love in the bowels of an old theater inhabited by a mischievous group of swamis, escaped prisoners, ballerinas, French soldiers, mad scientists, and misfits. He meets with exotic women creatures (all played by Meetu Chilana). In between, acrobats and aerialists perform Cirque’s trademark death-defying feats of skill, including the aptly named Wheel of Death.
I had a terrific time – there were a couple of fumbles by the aerialists but overall they were superb. I actually had my hands over my mouth as I watched some of the acts. I think I was more impressed than the 10-year old boy sitting in front of me. [What the heck does it take to impress kids these days, anyway? I think they compare live theater to computer generated images…]
The sets were huge and beautiful. The music was only mediocre but the voices were lovely. The Village Voice review by Michael Musto was short and sweet. You should click on the link and read it.
