Circus and magic shows are an all-ages entertainment option this season,
Last week in this column, Carly Maga wrote about the legendary Russian clown Slava Polunin, whose Slava’s SnowShow is currently playing at the Sony Centre.
There are two major circus openings in Toronto this week: 7 Fingers’ Reversible at the CAA Theatre and Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo at the Scotiabank Arena. And on the 19th,
Champions of Magic starts performances at the Bluma Appel Theatre.
What makes circus and magic shows such popular holiday fare?
“Circus is based on the premise that the audience will be in awe,” says Reversible’s director, Gypsy Snider. “That is a feeling we want during the holidays. We want to be inspired.”
This is the third time in four years that Mirvish Productions has programmed a show over the holidays by the Montrealbased 7 Fingers or 7 Doigts de la main (of which Snider is co-artistic director). As did many I spoke to, John Karastamatis, Mirvish’s director of sales and marketing, points to circus’s cross-generational appeal as a central reason for it cropping up so much at this time of year.
“People are looking for things to do with their families, something that they can all do to- gether,” Karastamatis says. “For some families, that may not mean a show geared to younger ages only.”
What Karastamatis finds particularly appealing is that 7 Fingers’ work can be read on many levels: “While you can marvel at the magic of it all, the beauty of the acrobats and the skill of the performers, people can see a lot more into it if they choose to,” he says.
Reversible wasn’t created as a holiday show, but it seems particularly well-suited to this time of year because it’s about families. Snider first had the inspiration to create it when she was at a country house, “hanging old sheets that have been in our family for five generations. It gave me a sense of stability and strength.”
She tasked the show’s eight performers with interviewing their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents about their lives. The show moves backward in time and the performers “become their ancestors,” says Snider. Episodes include an aerial act inspired by a performer’s grandmother, who wore trousers in 1940s France when women were expected to wear skirts; and a playful fans-andwhips number that grew out of the story of a 65-year-long marriage.
While 7 Fingers at the holidays is becoming a tradition, we’re not used to seeing Cirque du Soleil in Toronto at this time of year (their big top shows have recently visited the Port Lands in summertime). The company programmed this nine-performance Toronto run of Corteo between stints in Quebec City and Montreal, explains Mark Shaub, the show’s artistic director.
A number of factors led to them homing in on these dates, not least the NHL’s schedule (the show is slotting into the Scotiabank Arena and Montreal’s Bell Centre while the Leafs and Habs are away).
Shaub grants that, on the surface, the premise of Corteo “sounds a bit dark”: it’s the story of the passing of a clown as he looks back on all the people he’s met in his life. But Shaub assures that it’s “a celebration of that life” and that the clown, Mauro Mozzani, is “a wonderful actor, very accessible, very human.”
Corteo premiered in 2005 as a big top show; Shaub was involved with the show on and off for 10 years and recalls the high emotion when it played what everyone thought was its final performance in Quito, Ecuador, in 2015. But unexpectedly, Corteo found a second life: “Because of advances in stage technology and the audacity of a few people in our headquarters, we realized it could work in the arena for- mat,” says Shaub.
As for magic shows, they’re “fun and accessible and … great for gifting,” says Corey Ross, producer of Starvox Entertainment, which is presenting
Champions of Magic. The show, which originated in the U.K., features five magicians, a similar variety format to that of the Illusionists — Live from
Broadway, which Mirvish presented in 2016 and 2017. Ross says Champions of Magic is more focused on the personalities of the magicians than the Illusionists: It’s “a bit more comedy, a little bit more down to earth.”
The victory of CanadianAmerican card artist Shin Lim in this year’s America’s Got
Talent, and the popularity of Penn & Teller’s TV show Fool
Us are big contributors to the current vogue of live magic shows, Ross says. “Magic’s having a moment on TV. That’s what’s driving interest to see it in the theatre.”
Asked why magic shows are particularly popular at the holidays, magic historian Joseph Culpepper points all the way back to “simple magic effects in dramatic re-enactments of Bible plays and earlier pagan rituals associated with the coldest and darkest time of year.”
Many live entertainments associated with the season feature supernatural themes and call for special effects: think A Christmas Carol’s ghosts, The Nutcracker’s transforming toys and animals, and the flying in Peter Pan. This helps contribute to the holidays being the most profitable time of year for circus and magic artists, and one when theatre producers tend to try out technologies “that make new kinds of spectacle possible,” says Culpepper, an associate researcher at Montreal’s National Circus School.
“One of the annual splurges for culture happens around the holidays, so that’s when programmers feel like they can program something that’s more novel and unique: an extra special treat.”
Reversible plays the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St., through Jan. 6. See mirvish.com or call 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333. Corteo plays the Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St., Dec. 12 to 16. See cirquedusoleil.com. Champi
ons of Magic plays the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E., Dec. 19 to Jan. 6. See ticketmaster.ca.
Karen Fricker is a Toronto-based theatre critic and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @KarenFricker2