THE CIRQUE COMES TO TOWN
But Cirque du Soleil show at the Air Canada Centre is lacking the wow factor. Review,
Varekai
K (out of 4) Directed by Dominic Champagne. Until Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay St. 1-855-985-5000 When Varekai first opened in Toronto in 2002, I praised this Cirque du Soleil show for spectacular acrobatics and striking moments that made up for the corny comedy and sometimes uneven presentation.
Alas, the arena version that opened at the Air Canada Centre still has all the corny comedy and the uneven presentation, but the spectacular and striking elements are sadly missing.
To be blunt, this pared-down show skimps on the “wow” elements that Cirque has now taught us to take for granted and this 13-year-old showpiece really is showing its age.
It stems from the period in Cirque’s early-ish history when a few mythic elements (like the story of Icarus) and a couple of ongoing characters (the Guide, the Starcatcher) are supposed to unite a series of acts that might have fit nicely into the Ed Sullivan Show.
But more recent Cirque exercises, such as the sophisticated artistry of Kurios, Amaluna and Totem, make it a little hard to get excited about such a retro piece of showmanship, especially when presented in a truncated format like this (at two hours, including a lengthy intermission, it’s the shortest Cirque show I can recall).
There’s some eye-catching tumbling early on and the famous “Slippery Surface” sequence still has its charm, but the comedy sequences make you realize that when Stephen Sondheim wrote “Send In the Clowns,” he never intended it as a mantra for Cirque du Soleil.
Some of the boy-girl sequences that are supposed to provoke laughter are rooted in such decades-old clichés of sexism that they’re kind of hard to watch.
And another scene, where Steven Bishop dashes all over the arena in pursuit of an errant spotlight while trying to sing “Ne Me Quitte Pas” is as weirdly pointless as it was in the original production.
What does this have to do with the myth of Icarus or a tale of death and rebirth? You tell me.
But then, I’m looking at Varekai backwards from the perspective of a new Cirque du Soleil that is so much more sophisticated and profound that you really wonder why a show such as this is still hanging around their repertoire.
It’s the fault of this ever-evolving organization that they’ve made us come to expect so much more than a collection of odds and ends like Varekai.
Put this one in mothballs. Bring us something new next time.