on theater ❖
Let the Show Begin! A kaleidoscope of theatrical options awaits group travel planners
Cirque du Soleil’s OvO, a big-top show with dazzling acrobatics, explores the secret world of insects.
Soleil has become a household word in the global entertainMusicals and comedies light up the stage at ment industry. CeleCirca ’21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island, Illinois. brated for its high quality and artistic innovation, the company has 1,200 artists o matter the ages or interests of from 50 countries. In 2010, Cirque du your travelers, there’s a rousing Soleil will present 21 unique shows in show in any city that will breathe life tents, arenas and theaters throughout into a group itinerary and keep folks the world. It stages seven resident talking long after the final act. shows in Las Vegas and one in Orlando. Dinner theaters, long a staple of traFrench for “circus of the sun,” Cirque ditional motorcoach trips, regale older du Soleil is constantly reinventing the audiences with familiar songs and stoidea of the circus, mixing circus arts and rylines from favorite musicals. Religious street theater with original music, elecspectacles inspire as well as entertain. trifying choreography, special effects, Cutting-edge fare from Cirque du elaborate sets and lavish costumes. Soleil and Blue Man Group have put a There are no animal acts. Many of the whole new spin on what theater is all touring shows are performed in Cirque’s about, stimulating the imagination trademark blue and yellow Grand while engaging all the senses. Chapiteau (Big Top). OVO, its latest big-top production CIRQUE DU SOLEIL (now in New York and then moving to From a group of 20 street performers Hartford, Boston and Washington, in 1984, Montreal-based Cirque du
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D.C.), features stunning acrobatic acts. The life cycle and birth of insects represent the underlying thread of the show, which portrays a colorful ecosystem where insects work, play, fight and look for love in a world of noisy action and moments of quiet emotion. Banana Shpeel, a new show playing New York’s Beacon Theatre from April 29 to Aug. 29, takes vaudeville as its starting point but transcends that traditional form for 21st century audiences. Blending choreography, slapstick comedy and acrobatic acts, Banana Shpeel is a roller coaster mix of styles. The holiday family show Wintuk, an adventure about a boy’s quest for snow, returns to the Theater at Madison Square Garden for its final season from mid-November to early January. (cirquedusoleil.com/groups) SIGHT & SOUND As a past Reader’s Choice Platinum Award recipient chosen by the readers LeisureGroupTravel.com