I do the theater. Never again.

Have you been to other Cirque du Soleil shows, and have you enjoyed them?

I've enjoyed several and was looking forward to this one when it came to Chicago, but as you said, it got horrible reviews here. Just ripped to shreds.

I thought about trying to get a couple on the cheap in front of the Theater some night, but this winter was pretty damn cold, and the girlfriend's idea of fun wouldn't be standing in front of the Chicago Theater looking for tickets in the cold.

Glad I skipped it.

 

Ragu, I was a theater skeptic about 30 years ago when my fiancee dragged me to a touring Broadway musical -- on the afternoon of a big college football game.
That was in the days before VCRs, DVRs, etc. You missed the game, and that was that.
So I went in totally convinced I'd have an awful day, and 2-3 hours later, after "A Chorus Line" was over, I'd been completely transformed. Theater is now one of my favorite things in the world to do and my wife and I have traveled to NYC to see shows on average of nearly once a year throughout our 27 years of marriage.
So if you see the right shows with an open mind, it's something you can embrace.

 

Banana Shpeel had some of the worst word-of-mouth in the history
of commercial theatre, since its inception. I've found the best of the CdS
shows to be OK, but I wouldn't want to be on a desert island with CdS
as the lone form of DVD entertainment.

Best way to protect yourself is either/or (a) ask someone you know with
a broad history of/appreciation for modern theatre, and/or (b) log onto
one of the handful of representative thertre-freak websites, check out
their message boards, and take heed of the consensus.

There are always exceptions. The critics treated the current Nathan Lane/Addams Family venture as if it were malignant. The broad public doesn't care, and continues to buy tickets in droves. I won't go, because
I trust the critics, in this instance.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I lucked out as far as going to Broadway shows. First ones I took in were the original cast of Dream Girls (fourth row near center, mind you) and original cast of Glengarry Glen Ross (Joe Mantegna, Robert Prosky as Shelley the Machine Levine). I was first dragged there by an ex-girlfriend. Later, found another hockey writer, a guy who was 60 going on 25, who loved the shows too so we made it to a bunch--second night of Rent in previews was pretty amazing (Jesse Martin), came out of it trying to remember why I was in NY in the first place (pretty sure it was Habs vs NYR). Again, Rent we had row four or something like that and the old guy, so help me, found that halfway through the show his hearing aid battery was wearing down. He had to lean forward to make out the words--me, the sound was reverberating through my chest. It was like taking in a Rush concert sitting on top of a speaker. I enjoyed seeing James Gandolfini and Jeff Daniels in Gods of Carnage, Frost/Nixon, Jackie Mason's one-man show (twice) but the best was Ron Leibman (truly one of my favorite actors) in Angels in America--outstrips the TV version with Pacino. I took my youngest daughter to see Rent (Toronto production) ten times (Saturday matinees) when she was eight. She knew all the words but had absolutely no idea what they were about.

Yeah, my ex made me see Cirque ... it did nothing for me but it's all about batting average. You suffer through some bad one, pick your spots and get the best possible seats for the biggest shows. There's a reason they're that high-priced ... it's a different experience when they're performing within arm's length.

o-<

 

I'm not really a Cirque guy, but we did a family trip to a show in Atlanta a few years ago and the skill and athleticism I saw was pretty amazing. If they were trying to tell a story I missed it, but the acrobatics were stunning.

 

Despite the thread title, you didn't really do the theater. You did Cirque du Soleil.

Repeating something I said on a Vegas thread, regarding Cirque's 'Love' show (aka, Yes It Is Possible to Make People Hate the Beatles:

At its worst, it's like when you're at a family holiday and the kids drag everyone into the basement so they can put on a show...and you sit there endlessly watching the kids run and jump around WAY too long while you smile and clap and wonder when you can leave.

To be fair, at its best (see O), those folks can do stuff that no folks should be able to do.

 

Ragu needs to see Avenue Q to cleanse himself of the stink of Cirque-l-jerk, I think.