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| - We're huge fans of Cirque, though we only have a passing knowledge of Michael's 80s and early 90s catalogue and not much else. Even so, we enjoyed the show very much, my husband more than me. We were surprised that we actually knew over half the songs used. My biggest complaint was that it was light on the Cirque aspects (in other words they focused a lot more on dancing than on acrobatics).
SPOILER ALERT
One number was just a giant video with no live component at all, which was kind of disappointing since we came to see a live show. It was also heavy on the silhouette/shadow puppet effects that they have been incorporating into more and more Cirques.
And they went a little overboard with the crotch-grabbing - for a show inspired by someone who had so much technical dancing prowess, they sure spent a lot of time on a far less difficult dance move than they did on Michael's other, more impressive signature moves. For these few minor complaints, it gets a 4 instead of 5.
We liked the number where the entire floor was bouncy, allowing the ability to incorporate crazy flips into the choreography.
We were impressed by the one-legged man's balancing act and breakdancing. As I am disabled and my husband spent a year and a half on crutches and almost lost a leg due to a bone tumor, we always welcome representation and diversity of this kind. He was seamlessly integrated into the show and no big deal was made of his differently-abled status or his crutches - he was treated like just another cast member and the crutches were treated like just another set of props. And he was just as technically able as the rest of the troupe. Most people can't move that well on crutches even after 6 months or more. Or without crutches and two good legs, for that matter.
And as music people we appreciated that the live female guitarist they had was very technically skilled.
Like at other Cirques, the ushers all wore related costumes, though in this case it felt a little more strange than usual because it meant that there were dozens of Michael Jacksons running around all over the theater. At, say, Ka, they just look like other people from that world, rather than the same person over and over.
Having been to many Cirque performances, I recognized instantly that the four "audience members" horsing around in the aisle with very bright and distinct outfits on (one of whose was reminiscent of Ash/Satoshi from Pokemon's outfit) were not just the rowdy audience members they seemed to be. Cirque's signature move of having a plant (audience member who is actually part of the show) was expanded to a gang of four friends who travel through a very strange world after one of them steals the glove, which turns out to have a life of its own a la Thing and Mickey Mouse. This throughline wasn't as strong as it was in say O, but that's okay.
Most of the music was just remixes of Michael's originals without much change to it, which as a purist I appreciated. Though I loved their version of I Just Can't Stop Loving You, which they turned into a "duet" between Michael and one of the Cirque performers. If only this were available on a CD in the shop.
Another minor nitpick is that I didn't like the tabloid covers with audience members' photos on them that were showing on the screens while people were being seated before the show began. The jokey headlines were cheesy and the pairing of them with the photos was completely automated - there was no curating to make sure that the people's faces weren't covered up by headlines or that the person matched the headline. That 8-year-old boy on the "squirrel saves woman" cover - is he the squirrel or the woman?
If you only see one Cirque, this shouldn't be it*, but it was still enjoyable and entertaining. There are no bad seats in the house due to generous stadium-style spacing between the rows, so don't be afraid to go for the cheap seats if you're hesitant about spending $175+ each on tickets.
*If you only see one Cirque, make it Kurios, Zarkana, Ka, or Mystere (listed in order from best to "less best").
[NOTE: I posted this review recently but I wrote it when Zarkana was still playing. Unfortunately it has since closed.]
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