Quidam

Cirque du Soleil at the UMB Bank Pavilion

It has been almost exactly three years since Cirque du Soleil last set up their friendly blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau in St. Louis. Back in 2003 the show was a relatively new one, Dralion, and the location was the empty lot across from Forest Park Community College. This time it's the more well-established Quidam (originally produced in 1996) and, with that former vacant lot now occupied by some ugly office buildings, the venue is the parking lot of the UMB Bank Pavilion out in Maryland Heights.

Considering that Cirque started out as urban street theatre in Montreal and that the visual theme of Quidam is “the variegated hues of a megalopolis inhabited by street people” (a theme executed with great imagination by designer Dominique Lemieux), there's more than a little irony in trekking out to the nether suburbs to see the show. The blunt fact is, however, that the 2500-seat Grand Chapiteau is actually more of a portable theatre - complete with its own HVAC system, and state of the art lights and sound - than traditional circus tent, so it needs a lot of real estate. It's hard to find that in any are of the city proper where you'd want to go after dark.

Geographical quibbles aside, however, Quidam is quintessential Cirque du Soleil. That means that once the lights go down and the sounds comes up, you're in for a unique mix of spectacular circus acts, dance, mime, and musical theatre guaranteed to evoke a sense of wonder in all but the most resolutely jaded.

As with all Cirque shows, there's a story line of sorts, or at least unifying theme. This time it's about Zoë (lead vocalist Tori Letzler), a young girl whose boredom with her conventional life thrusts her into what the program calls “the universe of Quidam”. The Latin equivalent of “anyone”, Quidam, in this case, is defined as “the one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all” and is represented on stage by a headless giant with a blue umbrella and matching bowler hat. Together with the aggressive Boum-Boum (Viktor Katona, creating lighting and thunder with his boxing gloves), the Puckish Target (Philippa Hayball) and the fanciful Rabbit (Martine Howard), he leads Zoë through a dream-like urban landscape that just happens to be populated by virtuoso circus performers.

You'll undoubtedly have your own favorites from among the dozen different acts that take the stage during the ensuing two and one-half hours. Since I'm the one with the computer, here's my list, starting with The Diabolos. A kind of Chinese yo-yo, the diabolo is an hourglass-shaped spool that rides on a string fastened at each end to a stick. Four young Chinese performers (Tong Sun, Xin Sun, Anna Li and Mingxin Gu) use that simple prop as the basis for a stunning combination of juggling, dance and acrobatics. Their grey metallic costumes make them look like diminutive versions of The Tin Man from Oz and, in fact, the amazing precision of their act does make them seem more than merely human.

Precision of a different sort can be seen in the Aerial Contortion in Silk routine of Anna Venizelos as she spins, ascends and descends above the stage using a pair of long scarlet fabric columns. It's a variation on a not uncommon circus act but, as is usually the case with Cirque du Soleil, it's a virtuoso variation.

The same can be said for Olga Pikhienko's remarkable hand balancing specialty or the human statue act of Jérôme Le Baut and Asa Kubiak. In both cases, the nearly superhuman level of muscle control on display is breathtaking. Le Baut and Kubiak, in particular, move with such uniformity and grace that they produce the illusion of a single alien life form with multiple heads and limbs. It's brilliant and just a bit unsettling.

I was also very much impressed with the rope skipping act of Kata Banhegyi and Norihisa Taguchi, who raises that simple child's game to the level of high art, and the gravity-defying Banquine ensemble with its rapid-fire combination of acrobatics, tumbling and human pyramids.

Of course, no circus is complete without clowns, and Cirque do Soleil has two of the best. Mark Ward as the lanky and agile John and Guillermo Toto Castineiras as the compact and buffoonish Toto generate plenty of laughs, often at the expense of remarkably cooperative audience members. I particularly enjoyed Ward's Fred Astaire-style dance routine with a hat rack and Castineiras' hilariously mimed automotive seduction scene with a woman from the audience who will probably spend the next week getting her hair back to normal. His “making a movie” number, however, could do with a bit of trimming.

There are, of course, many more wonderful performers whom I have failed to mention here, but you can find them all, complete with pictures and videos, at the Cirque du Soleil web site. While you're there, you can also listen to some of Benoit Jutras' evocative music, played by the Cirque band. Music is an integral part of any Cirque du Soleil show and is often strong enough to make for an entertaining listening experience all by itself.

Equaly integral are the other technical and design aspects of the show. A Cirque production is at least a much theatre as it is circus and the Quidam experience would be much diminished without Debra Brown's inventive choreography, François Bergeron's evocative surround-sound design, and Luc Lafortune's dramatic lighting - including a starry night sky and, when Toto really needs it, a full moon. All of this beautifully realizes what the press packet describes - quite accurately - as director Franco Dragone's “poetic and social vision”. Kudos to everyone, and especially the backstage folks responsible for keeping the show's split-second timing on track.

Quidam will continue to enchant all comers through October 22nd [2006]. If your only exposure to Cirque du Soleil has been through their many videos or their Delirium music show, which played here this summer, you really do owe it to yourself to witness this ensemble's unique combination of circus and theatre. For ticket information, call 800-678-5440 or surf over to cirquedusoleil.com.

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