Saturday, March 26, 2011

Cirque stretches idea of circus

By David Maurer, orangenews.com
March 25, 2011
When one-time clown and circus owner James L. Thayer brought his show to Charlottesville in 1870, he made an interesting observation.
The man with the nickname “Doo” stated with straight face that the performances he was offering were so entertaining that the “consumptives and dyspeptics” in the audience would be cured.
Tim Smith, artistic director for Cirque du Soleil — Alegria, isn’t claiming any curative abilities for the spectacular he’s bringing to the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena next week.
Nonetheless, he’s confident that people will be astonished, dazzled and certainly entertained by the international cast of 55 performers and musicians from around the world. Cirque du Soleil — Alegria opens the first of eight shows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’ve found that 99 percent of the audience members who see Cirque du Soleil shows, especially Alegria, walk away saying they have never seen anything like it before,” Smith said recently during a pre-show visit to Charlottesville. “Then they often ask, ‘Where do you find these performers?’read more at:http://www2.orangenews.com/entertainment/2011/mar/25/cirque-stretches-idea-circus-ar-926078/

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