The best cirque ever
by Betty on 2/20/24Ford Park - Beaumont4 idioms, great voices, magic and awesomeness, 100% recommended
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Venue
Cirque du Soleil: Corteo on Tour
Like the deceased clown whose festive fantasy funeral it portrays, Corteo has risen again to assume its joyful place in the Cirque du Soleil solar system.
One of some 20 active Cirque du Soleil shows, Corteo closed its "Grand Chapiteau" – or "big tent" – run in Quito, Ecuador, in December 2015 after more than 3,500 performances seen by more than 5 million people since its Montreal premiere a decade earlier. In 2018, Corteo reopened in New Orleans as an even bigger and better arena experience slated for a two-year tour.
If you love clowns, Corteo is the show for you. Taking its title from the Italian word for "cortège," or procession, Corteo offers a parade of brilliant entertainments in a carnivalesque atmosphere. It was inspired originally by "The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown," a 2004 exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada.
That exhibition's vast array of circus life, from 18th-century fairgrounds to Picasso's harlequins, was transformed into an in-the-round big-top experience by director Daniele Finzi Pasca. Pasca founded the Swiss clown troupe Teatro Sunil and directed several other Cirque du Soleil spectacles.
While all of the show's principal characters are clowns – including the Dead Clown, Clowness, Giant Clown, and Little Clown – the 62-member cast, from more than a dozen countries, also features aerialists, acrobats, musicians, jugglers, contortionists, hoopers, and gymnasts in addition to its many jubilant jesters.
Costume designer Dominique Lemieux was inspired by "raw and luxurious" European fabrics from the early 20th century and commedia dell'arte characters from the 16th to the 18th centuries. A labyrinth matching one on the floor of France's famed Chartres Cathedral graces the stage. And French painter Adolphe Willette's fantasy Parisian bohemian scene Parc Domine (1885) inspired the show's elaborate water-colored curtains. Those curtains hide "Patience," an imposing overhead structure holding up the rails traversed by four platform carts.
Its stunning mixture of acrobatics and character-driven acting has been Cirque du Soleil's calling card since 1984, when what is now the world's largest theatrical production was founded in Montreal by street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. With Corteo, Cirque du Soleil has outdone itself with an epic tribute to the circus world's comical essence: the clown.
4 idioms, great voices, magic and awesomeness, 100% recommended
What a fun and amazing show! The acrobatics are awesome and the cast is very engaging. Can't wait until the next show <3
I love going to the Cirque Du Soleil shows and I'm always wowed by the talent they bring in and am sitting on the edge of my seat. I loved the lady on the pole, you don't see many of those acts performed by females. I loved the main clown character. He was very good. The lady on the balloons was also quite entertaining. There were several stops in the first act with "technical difficulties"so it really interrupted the the flow of the show and had us sitting longer and longer as they fixed different issues. Then intermission was much longer than stated. However, the 2nd act went smooth but short. I'm not sure what was improvised and what was part of the real show since there were so many issues. I just wasn't wowed like I have usually been with their shows, which was unfortunate, because I took my niece for the first time as her Christmas present.
I have been to two previous Cirque du Soleil shows. Corteo left me lacking. The show stopped 2 or 3 times for technical difficulties. The venue had zero lighting! To enter or exit. We had to climb 2 flights of stairs UP then 2 flights of stairs down just to get to our seats. Several elderly people were struggling to accomplish this! The show seemed thrown together and hurried, it wasn’t worth the 400.00 tickets for my wife and I.
Plot is terrible, such a nonsense. Performance is at most mediocre. Have seen that is any very basic circus Regret going, what a waist of money and time
Very entertaining. Acrobatics are amazing! Great family show
The event was not as good as I expected. Theme was about a man’s funeral. Overall was ok, but I would not attend another performance by them.
The show had a good storyline. However it did not impress in the actual acts themselves. Lots of jumping and catapults but not as many daredevil acts. The venue experience felt pretty unorganized with hardly any decent food options and seats were higher than the top of the stage. For the price paid, felt that other cirque de soleil shows we watched before were better
This is the second Cirque du Soleil show that I’ve been to, the first being Alegría. I will say that this show was much more simple in its acts - though still amazingly impressive!! The cast are amazing, funny, and super enjoyable to watch. Only lost one start because compared to Alegría, in my opinion, it fell a little flat. But as a whole it was amazing to experience! We paid for the VIP before show experience at Climate Pledge Arena and it was definitely worth the money. Gave us more time to relax and get ready for the show, and we got snacks and water!
Corteo was a decent show, but Climate Pledge Arena is much too large of an arena to fully see and enjoy the show. The sound quality was poor, which made it very difficult to follow the spoken parts. That, and the fact that late arriving patrons were allowed to continue to try and find their seats in the darkened arena, so there were phone flashlights shining around and people standing and talking in the aisles for literally the first 25 minutes of the performance, making it difficult to see and hear the show. I had flashlights shined directly in my eyes more than once. Disadvantage of an aisle seat I guess. I will continue to go to Cirque du Soleil shows, but will stick to the shows in small venues or preferably, under the Big Top.
Cirque is always a creative feast for the senses. I am spoiled because I saw their first touring shows where every act was absolutely awe-inspiring. Now they have several shows - touring, Vegas - and it seems that they lean more on charming skits, sprinkled with the daring performances of their past
Seen Cirque before and am amazed every time I see them. Amazing athletes and performers. They never fail to do something that just blows your mind. The lady in the floating balloons over the crowd was crazy!!! I would see Cirque every time they come any where near where I live.
This was truly a wonderful show, including a variety of many very different circus artists and disciplines, great choreographies, and so much fun in every act! Also, the story line was lovely and the staging and decorations were just gorgeous. I will definitely go back next year!
Great acts and customes! Awesome show! Much better in person than the videos in You Tube!
This was a great show! The acrobatics were fabulous. The show was funny too. We had an amazing time
I’ve been to over ten cirque shows and never had a bad seat till now. The audience was let in after the show began (people coming in in droves 20 min late). There was not enough room for people to get through the rows without holding on. There was a side light shining on the audience that took 45 min to turn off. The glare took away from the show. I was not impressed and don’t intend to return.
The show was fantastic and the venue was as always clean and staff super friendly!
Seat was uncomfortable, little leg room, warm from previous show. Did not like steeply inclined arena. Separate acts were good, but the story was lacking. The music, costumes and staged theatrics took away from the circus, agility and acrobatic feats that I associate with Cirque de Soleil. My partner asked to leave at the intermission, and we did, leaving a lot of money on the table. A lot! Linda
We have a tradition of seeing this show when it comes to Seattle each year, but it was a FAR better experience all around when it was held at Marymoor Park in Redmond. Climate Pledge is difficult to get to, difficult to find parking, expensive concessions and totally lacked that “circus” feel. It was hard to see what was happening from our “cheaper seats”…this was never an issue at Marymoor, we were always able to see the action. Also, it was clear many people were delayed due to traffic or parking because the amount of people showing up late trying to find their seats with their cellphone flashlights on for the first almost hour of the show was annoying and excessive. Probably won’t go next year if it is held here again…bummer.
The seating diagram indicated our seats were fairly close to the stage and would have a straight line of sight to the action. Our seats ended up being in front of stage curtains and we had to turn our heads at a 75 degree angle to see the stage. When I purchased the tickets, it didn’t indicate the seats had an obstructed view.