First of all, Varekai was Totally Worth everything it cost! I hope, very much, that the performers revel in their powers. For those who haven’t seen the show, it’s (apparently — Cirque performances, in my experience (which until last night consisted entirely of watching them on video) aren’t really long on narrative) the story of (an) Icarus, who tumbles out of the sky, to earth, and then (perhaps) below it, to a strange land populated (possibly) by sentient plants and insect-y things (note that it’s equally possible that this all takes place on another planet, where sentient plants and insect-y things are the order of the day and Icari are quite uncommon. Your choice.).
In any case, the flyer breaks a leg in the fall, and his wings are stolen while he lies helpless on the ground. He quickly falls in love with a yellow insect-y girl, who, despite being insect-y, seems very nice. The girl is also stolen away, Icarus grieves, finds the strength to stand on his own two feet, and his love returns, transformed into a golden-haired girl dressed entirely in white glue and glitter, they marry and (one assumes) live happily ever after.
Interspersed with all this are trapeze acts, tumbling acts, wild dancing, swings, juggling, live music, clowns, and a dance-duel between the semi-comic villain who stole the Icarus’ wings and a blue dancer on crutches that has to be seen to be believed. I loved every minute of it except the part where the ground-spot for the juggler was shining directly into my (and Steve’s) eyes.
It was a little louder than I had anticipated; and — having never been in the Cross Insurance Event Center before — I didn’t realize that the seats rise from the main floor. . .precipitously, with the result that I walked off of the main hall into the short entrance to Section 108, and found myself, so it seemed, on the edge of a cliff, looking ‘waaaaaaay down, and about to topple. The vertigo passed in a few minutes, but it was a surprise.
Our show was the Bangor opener, and it did not play to a full house. I find this astounding. Tonight’s show…may be a challenge for people arriving from out of town. Not only is the Cirque on, but, just a couple blocks up the road, Willy Nelson will be playing at the Bangor Waterfront.
Bearing in mind that I’m not a mother, I didn’t really think this was a show that little children would much care for — and one that might seem to a small person. . .somewhat threatening.
But, me? I loved it to bits, and am so glad we cast restraint to the wind and decided to do this thing.
* * *
We had stayed the night in Bangor, at Hollywood Slots, across the street from the Cross Center (yes, we played the slot machines. Steve won; I lost. It was ever thus.). This morning, we got up, breakfasted at Governor’s on Broadway, then headed home via Belfast, since I had business at Coyote Moon. The day was sunny and warm, but deliciously breezy. I had a good time driving Kineo, and WKIT obliged by playing a fine mix of classic rock. I shopped at Coyote Moon; Steve shopped at the Good Table; we walked down to the public landing, and then headed home, where. . .
. . .we found Mozart in a state of rather extreme disarray.
We packed him up and took him to the vet’s, where he was hydrated, and had a blood sample taken, upon which tests were performed. Apparently, he has pancreatitis. We have meds, and some new therapeutic food that none of us actually think he’ll eat, and the suggestion that we blend the food he does eat, so that he’ll possibly be getting more nutrients. He seems happy at the moment, sleeping in his hammock and taking the breeze.
. . .and that, I think, catches us all up.
How was your yesterday? Did you miss me?
The show sounds wonderful. So very sorry to hear about Mozart; best wishes for recovery! My elderly cat in renal failure is supposed to eat Hill’s kd — exclusively. The other cat gets Wellness. I mix a little of the Wellness gravy into the Kd to get Levi to eat it when he’s being fussy, which is most of the time. Naturally, however, they trade food every time my back is turned.
Best wishes for Mozart. Finicky feline eating habits are never easy on either party.
Glad you enjoyed Cirque! I have never seen it in person. My sister took my 11 year old niece to see Totem this spring to their great enjoyment. The niece is a dancer and appreciated the abilities of the perfomers 🙂
Totem is currently playing in my neck of the woods and I’m trying to finagle a way to take my grand-niece. From previous experience the considerations involved in hauling a kid to a Cirque de Soleil performance are 1) can the kid sit still, or at least not have a meltdown until at least the intermission? and 2)do you have an opportunity to deprogram the kid, ie. discuss and demystify anything they might find too scary. My only concern really was, like the danger in hauling a little girl to her first Nutcracker performance and having her go all prima ballerina on you, I was worried about Sophia tightroping or trapeezing from high things. So far my fears have been groundless, although when I took her to the Cavallia Odysseo performance, it did touch off a bit of horse mania.
It seems whenever you go away Mozart’s health takes a bit of a turn. Do you think that he gets stressed so gets sick, or that you are so tuned into him that you notice and prevent actual health crises so when you are absent he has time to really get sick? Extend best wishes to him at any rate.
Wow. Varekai I was the first Cirque show I saw in person, some years ago. You got way more of the story than I did — I was so blown away by what was happening in front of me that I didn’t even realize there was a narrative until afterwards. :-). I’ve splurged on others since then and never been disappointed.