I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: January 11, 2017] Cirque Éloize: Saloon

I was pretty excited to see that Cirque Éloize was coming back with an all new show.  Their previous show Cirkopolis was phenomenal–wonderfully constructed and very cool to look at.  This show was very different, both in theme and production, but it was still amazing.

Indeed, I had mistakenly believed that this production was by Cirque Alphonse (another troupe from Montreal), who did a lumberjack-themed show last year.  But no, it was from the folks who did Cirkopolis.  Cirkopolis proved to be so different from Saloon, that it’s even more impressive that the same company created both shows.

This show was designed to be set in an old timey-salooon.  And while most Cirques perform the same basic routines, it was really fun to see how they were able to modify them for this new setting and “story.”  I also loved that they were all dressed like the old west–with chaps, and suspenders and hats–the kind of clothes that you really never see people performing this kind of material in (although I’m sure there must have been leotards underneath, right?).

There was maybe a story, or maybe a series of stories that all seemed to focus on the men and their desire for one particular woman.

There were three women in the cast–two performers and one musician–(more on her n a moment).  The “main” female performer wore a red leotard, but from time to time she added a big flowy skirt with lots of ruffles.  It matched the leotard in color and really looked like she was wearing a dress–very cool.

The show began with a very cool miming sequence (one of the guys was a comic relief cowboy).  He moseyed up to the stage (with great sound effects) and then “shot out” the lights and “lit” a match which started a “fire” across the stage.  It was a fun opening.  And then the other men came out.  The show proper began with a musical number in which all of the cast “hammered’ the ground with these large mallets–showing off feats of strength and dance moves.

And then there was singing.  One of the more interesting things about this show was that the “band” was on stage pretty much the whole time with them.  Whether playing the piano or the guitar or violin, they played live to what was happening.  There was also a lead female singer Sophie Beaudet who sang beautifully (and did an impressive Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” at the end).  It was easy to forget the musicians were there, but if you looked you could see that they were playing along live and that the music wasn’t per-recorded. (One of them even “accidentally” became part of a skit.

One of the most fun things about a Cirque Éloize show is that for most of the “skits” there is a lot going on besides the main action.  So whenever the main performers are doing something, it’s fun to see what the “extras” are doing–although sometime it makes you miss something really cool if you focus on just one thing.

The first piece was a pole.  The pole guy climbed the pole, slid down the pole using his elbow and knees and then did amazing flips from off the pole or on to the pole–sometime from the pole back onto the pole. Since the entire pole skill is so mind-blowing to me–I can’t imagine how they can slide head first down it and then latch on with just their knees or leaping onto a pole and catching it with just the crook of your arm.  The whole thing is amazing to me, so any extra tricks are just icing.

They also had many clever set ideas.  A “train” came to the saloon a number of times.  The first time, there was a bright light on an engine with several boxcars.  But when the train eventually made it to the center of stage, it turned and was revealed that the “engine” was actually the piano, and the other cars were more props.  It was funny and clever at the same time.

So the “plot” seemed to be that a stranger comes to town and tries to win the woman away from the other men (with names like The Sheriff, The Owner, The Player, etc).  But I’m not sure if we were supposed to root for anyone, or just to enjoy the fun.

There was a very funny hat juggling sequence–with one of the guys stealing the not-cowboy-hat from one of the men.  There was also a pin-juggling sequence which is always fun to watch.  One of my favorite “jokes” in the show was a kind of throwaway gag.  There was a very tall performer and a very short performer.  At one point the tall performer draped his knee over the smoulder of the shorter one.  Funny enough, but then he put the other knee over the other shoulder–as if he was sitting on the man’s shoulders, but with his butt hanging down the guy’s back–surely an impossible thing to happen to some one so short.  And then he rose so so he was actually sitting on the man’s shoulders.  I’m really not sure how they did it.

One of the more impressive scenes involved the woman and one of the men.  They performed a kind of dance in which she seemed to allow him to hit on and her but then rebuff him, all while showing off feats of strength and acrobatics.  Tabitha didn’t understand why she “kicked” him a few times, and it was hard to explain that to a young girl, but it was cool to watch nevertheless.   The woman was able to perch on his hand while he held her high and she balanced and flexed from that impossibly small perch.

One of my favorite bits was called “The Wild Ride.”  They rolled out a train with two box cars and two of the men “chased” each other across the top of the box cars.  The cars had treadmills on top which allowed them to actually “chase” each other and to do some fun mime.  There were some really funny jokes like having them duck under things or having clouds and an eagle fly past.  It was an original piece of circus and I loved it all the way to the ending, which in itself was very clever.

In addition to the main woman and the singer, the third woman (whose character was known as The Kid) was an amazing asset to the show,.  Not only did she perform some amazing feats of strength and acrobatics, she also played violin sometimes. (She is a classically trained violinist in addition to being an acrobat).  The two women performed an amazing act up in the air on the chandelier.  It was spinning act in which the two women held each other up and hung off of each other in fascinating ways.  One oft he times, the woman was held by the back of her head–how?.  Later she also did a fun demonstration of the large Cyr wheel (that was done to “Crazy”).  I don’t know that she did anything especially inventive with the wheel, although her size (she was kind of short) allowed her to be fully inside the wheel, which I think some taller performers can’t do.

There was a strange sequence in which two guys “fought” over a stick of dynamite.  They threw it to the comic relief cowboy who freaked out and ran off stage only to get blown up (his arm flew onto the stage).  The next serene is a weird puppet part in which they move the life-sized puppet while making him look very much alive.

Near the end, the whole saloon erupted into a barroom brawl which was so much fun. They had put a large mat on the stage and then hidden it with a bar set up.  So performers were jumping off of buildings or flinging each other over the bar all of them sailing through the air and landing safely on the mat.  There was even an amazing moment where the music slowed down and the performers did, too–they even went in reverse, before resuming again.  It was fantastic.  That was one of the pieces where it was hard to know what to watch.

I was pleased that the comic relief cowboy also had an acrobatic performance in the show.  He grabbed two straps that hung down. He tied himself up and unrolled himself. He “jumped” around the stage swinging to different parts and flying through the air. It was pretty spectacular.

There was even an audience interactive moment when performers came down into the seats and ran across two of the aisles (pardon, pardon).  One was few rows in front of us and the other was behind us.

There was a short lasso performance and then as the show ended, the band played a number of songs in a medley of music (they had a CD of the music available).

The final piece was fantastic.  I had forgotten that I wanted to see a teeter totter.  The two guys had a “showdown” on the board.   Each one sending the other one higher and higher as they did flips in the air. And then occasionally stopping to threaten each other.  I’d never seen a teeter board in which the performers were adversaries before, and it was cool twist on a theme.

The story ended with a showdown and everyone pointing a “gun” at someone (fingers, not guns).  Until only music can break the violence.

The show was really amazing.  It was about 90 minutes long.  Clark said there was too much music.  And, I have t agree a little bit.  Even though the music was great, there were a few parts where the musicians sang whole songs.  And we were there for the acrobatics.  It also felt like most of the pieces were a little shorter than I’m used to. Not a lot, but maybe a typical piece is about 5-6 minutes and these were 3-4 (notable because most of the songs had words rather than just instrumentalist, so you have a better sense of just how long they were).  But regardless the show was great, and we were all blown away by the skill and strength of the performers.

If Cirque Éloize comes around, definitely check them out.  They will not disappoint.  Here’s some videos and stills from the show.  And you can read about the performers here.

For ease of searching, I include: Cirque Eloize.