Corteo

For anyone who has longed to run away and join the circus as a clown, Cirque du Soleil's Corteo is a literal dream come true. In one of their most thematically cohesive productions, the wizards of Montreal have imagined a multimedia extravaganza as a clown's dream of his own funeral cortege.

Dead Clown cycling to heaven Photo: Marie-Reine Mattera ©Cirque du Soleil, Inc. 2005

The current production is a landscape of tableaus, acts, and general mayhem that segues effortlessly between: a rococo feast of angels, chandeliers, and dirges; Olympian acrobatics; and inspired clowning in the European tradition (see Fellini's The Clowns).

Beginning with the pre-show prologue—where a couple of clowns carrying a coffin stumble and lose the body, then try to replace it with an audience member—the fun and awe never stops.

Chandeliers Photo: Marie-Reine Mattera ©Cirque du Soleil, Inc. 2005

We are called together by the ringmaster, who lays out the ground rules and ushers in a procession of performers in their most exotic costumes, including a giant and midgets, the trapeze and vault artists, the fearless jugglers, and, in the Cirque tradition, an assortment of oddball characters that are spread across the spectrum of animal, plant, and mineral phenomena.

When the chandeliers turn into swings, the cortege takes another turn, and we begin to realize that this story's conceit brings with it a clown's eye view of the world, in all its poignant glory and absurdities.

Helium Dance Photo: Marie-Reine Mattera ©Cirque du Soleil, Inc. 2005

Many scenes stand out, but everyone is sure to be talking still about the delightful "Helium Dance," where The Clowness, miniature Valentyna Pahlevanyan, is held aloft by fanciful balloons in just the right balance of float and sink, so that she is propelled by the flick of a wrist from The White Clown out over the seats. The audience joy that followed harkened back to a similar thrill last seen here in "Slava's Snow Show."

Then there are the nerve-wracking moments: Anastasia Bykovskaya's remarkable journey up a high wire tightrope set at about 40º; synchronized, rapid fire high bar propulsions; muscular human trapezes flinging flyweights across the sky; and catapulting acrobats flipping and twisting midair before returning to the teeterboard to send their partner flying.

Ladder Photo: Richard Termine

Unexpected exhibitions abound, including: the ringmaster's hidden whistling talent that goes head-to-head matching classical chops with a concert violinist in a cutting contest; children's beds turned into skyrocketing trampolines; the giant golfer's encounter with the proverbial wiseacre golf ball; the human gyroscopes on the metal wheels; the fair marionette that comes alive to play ball with the dead clown's boyhood memory of himself; and the man who climbs a ladder into thin air.

Though more tame in the X-games categories than other Cirque spectaculars, Corteo surpasses thematically, bringing a poignancy to the clown's life, and lives up to the age-old billing as a show for young and old alike.

Cirque du Soleil's Corteo has been extended through August 5th. Tickets available at www.cirquedusoleil.com or at 800-678-5440; for reservations for 20 adults or more, contact 800-450-1480 or www.cirquedusoleil.com; for corporate hospitality events, call 866-6CIRQUE or group.sales@cirquedusoleil.com.