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Cirque du Soleil returns with Kooza
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Maybe they need to slip.
Not often, egregiously or dangerously, but perhaps those other worldly Cirque du Soleil players actually need to miss the foothold on the tight rope, catch the jump rope wrong on the wheel of death. And then, as they did Wednesday night under that blue and yellow grand chapiteau , they need to go right back and perform the maneuver again correctly.
Perhaps the performers of “Kooza,” which visits the southland in Santa Monica and Irvine through late February, need the occasional misstep to show that they are, in fact, not too other worldly. The remarkable feats of the Quebec based Cirque remain jaw droppingly entertaining even after 25 years. And there’s certainly as lot of fanfare to be enjoyed with Cirque’s return to the Santa Monica Pier to coincide with the pier’s 100th anniversary.
As exciting as these acrobats, aerialists, jugglers et al are, I’m now on my seventh Cirque show, and – while the plot framework and music have some variation _ the acts are starting to blend ever so slightly together (less so with the Las Vegas based shows). This is not to say that a given performer could be taken randomly from one show and plugged haphazardly into another, but it’s sure looking like every single product will have the obligatory wheel of death and an assortment of trapezes.
Written and directed by clowning legend David Shiner, “Kooza” purports to be a return to Cirque’s roots of acrobatics and clowning. Both are in abundant supply and, not accidentally, the buffoons are hugely prominent. There’s even a King of Clowns _ a frizzy haired gent played by Ron Campbell equipped with two henchmen _ who loses his crown and presides over the selection (and subsequent humiliation) of a couple of volunteer audience members. One lady was disappear-ed just before the four person high wire act, and didn’t return _ through a manhole opening _ until the high wire act was over. Wonder if she even got to see it.
A young man called the Innocent (Stephan Landry) opens the show trying, unsuccessfully, to fly a kite. He gets a delivery, a magical box out of which leaps the mischievous Trickster (Mike Tyus) who promptly lights up a bunch of towers and brings forward the enormous monolith of a set (designed by Stephane Roy). Although he too wants a crack at making some magic, our Innocent seems never seriously imperiled. Bothered is more like it, especially by an enormous dog (the thing looks half yeti) who barks giddily and urinates on the audience. Matters get ever so slightly darker in the second half when the assemblage don skeleton wear, the king is attacked by rats and the whole thing turns into a kind of Day of the Dead fiesta.
It’s probably not entirely safe to be part of this crowd given how many different sorts of clowns use the aisles as a thoroughfare. One of the king’s henchmen wrapped up a poor sap in crime tape, took a leaf blower to the front row and nearly brought out a jackhammer. And this was all before the show even started. A running gag _ and I do mean running _ had a balloon toting clown pursued across the stage by the police. The clown escapes, eventually morphing into a slick handed sort known as the Pickpocket (Lee Thompson)
In the midst of this, there are feats of agility, strength balance and dexterity. A trio of contortionists (Julie Bergez, Natasha Patterson, Dasha Sovik) twine around each other giving new meaning to the word “spineless.” No less nimble is unicyclist Yuri Schavro who both dances with and flings his partner Diana Aleshchenko over his shoulders, never missing a pedal. Or acrobat Zhang Gongli who ascends the 23 foot high stack of chairs as he’s building it. This gentleman I don’t’ want to see falter. Ditto, juggler Anthony Gatto whose ball, ring and pin tossing was pretty darned dazzling.
Whatever their show, whoever the creator, Cirque du Soleil is rarely anything short of fantastic, and the grand chapiteau belongs more logically out on the sand rather than at Staples Center or in Inglewood. The city should be eagerly awaiting the troupe’s movie themed show to debut at the Kodak Theatre in 2010. That project, one hopes, won’t fail to be new and original.
Kooza runs 8 p.m. Tues-Sat., 4 p.m. Sat., 1 and 5 p.m. Sun. Tickets: $60-$135. www.cirquedusoleil.com (800) 450-1480
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