Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Despite traffic from hell we made it in time to see Corteo last weekend - the latest Cirque du Soleil show to stop in town. It is a beautifull show that takes what could be a very heavy theme (death) and transforms it into a celebration of life richly lived as a clown imagines his own funeral. In fact the opening skit (prior to the main show) consisted of a lady who was so unnerved by death she was measuring people in the audience to find someone else to fit in her casket. Eventually a young man was found and he was promptly stuffed in the casket and wheeled away by the mourning clowns.

We see reflections on parts of his life from childhood onwards and we meet the various characters that have played the parts within. The costumes are at turns lush, nostalgic and fun. The music and the transitions were well choreographed. This show was performed in the round so the audience is on both sides of the stage. I enjoy this type of arrangement because it gets everyone a little closer to the stage and more involved. I can only imagine kids wanting to try jumping on the bed as soon as they got home - complete with flying off the headboards! One of my favorite acts involved the clown with a small lady in a harness with hellium balloons. She could sail out over the audience and spin and turn, very gently floating downwards until someone in the audience would push her up again. And of course the interaction between the lady and the clown was both tender and comical. There were the dazzling acrobatics, floating angles who moved through the scenes, clowns to get everyone laughing and a dueling whistler vs violinist.

As per usual the show was over too soon and we were back out in the traffic again. The magic of a live performance is always something to savor until the next performance comes to town.