Cirque du Soleil
Yesterday afternoon, miome and I went to see Cirque du Soleil perform Ovo. I bought the tickets for it on discount through a program with my company. When I say I had excellent tickets, I seriously mean it. We were like two rows from the stage. Of course, the tallest, largest man in the entire theater sat down right in front of Miome.
This was the second Cirque du Soleil performance I've been to. I saw Dralion when it came through Raleigh several years back. I liked the premise of Dralion better, but I liked the actual performance of Ovo better. Maybe because Ovo didn't have any actual dialogue I was supposed to understand, which meant it was easier for me to follow. I have a hard time following dialogue sometimes. This was done mostly in buzzes and chirps, with body language being used to tell the story. The actual sound quality was also better. There was no feedback and I didn't feel like my ears were being blasted out with the music. If Dralion comes through the DC area, I think I'd like to give it another shot. I bet it would be better in the smaller venue that is DC
I think my favorite thing was trying to guess what insects there were. Some were obvious, like the grasshoppers (which I was delighted to see did a trampoline act, because of course the grasshoppers do an act where they hop). I also got the ants, the spiders, and the flying beetles (the trapezes artists). I totally did not get the moths until the every end. Once I did, I felt kind of slow for not realizing sooner.
One of the things I liked was sitting so close to the stage, you got to see the performers faces. I didn't realize how expressive some of them could be. It was really interesting to see and I'm glad I got to. At the end, one of the beetles winked at someone in the audience. We think he either a) knew someone in the audience or b) was flirting with someone. :)
The families attending were my least favorite part of the show. The one in front of us had a kid that couldn't have been more than 3-4. He was terrified of the insects. His Dad took him out several times (which kudos to Dad), but every time one of the performers came too close, he'd scream. It was annoying. Another family kept jumping the seats before the show because they were sure that row B was the one in front of them and not the one the usher had directed them to. When the people whose seats those actually were showed up, they were kind of obnoxious about moving. Then the woman turned to me and demanded (not asked, mind you) "What row are you in?" Row A. "What's that row in front of you then?" I looked at her and said in a sharp voice. "I don't know." Then I turned my back on her. I'm sorry, but I'm not Information. The usher told you where your seats were. Sit in them.
Funny story: Concessions at the place were outrageous. $6 for a small popcorn outrageous. But Miome and I needed something to snack on until dinner and we needed drinks. So I got us a small popcorn and two waters (at least the waters came in nice, refillable, souvenir containers). While waiting for the doors to open, I dropped a piece of popcorn on the ground. "No! That was 5 cents worth of popcorn wasted." Miome cracked up and from then on, every time we dropped a piece of popcorn, we'd talk about how we just wasted another nickel.
All in all, I really enjoyed the show. Given the opportunity, will definitely buy tickets to that venue again. Now I'm kind of hoping another Cirque du Soleil show comes through so I can see that one as well.
This was the second Cirque du Soleil performance I've been to. I saw Dralion when it came through Raleigh several years back. I liked the premise of Dralion better, but I liked the actual performance of Ovo better. Maybe because Ovo didn't have any actual dialogue I was supposed to understand, which meant it was easier for me to follow. I have a hard time following dialogue sometimes. This was done mostly in buzzes and chirps, with body language being used to tell the story. The actual sound quality was also better. There was no feedback and I didn't feel like my ears were being blasted out with the music. If Dralion comes through the DC area, I think I'd like to give it another shot. I bet it would be better in the smaller venue that is DC
I think my favorite thing was trying to guess what insects there were. Some were obvious, like the grasshoppers (which I was delighted to see did a trampoline act, because of course the grasshoppers do an act where they hop). I also got the ants, the spiders, and the flying beetles (the trapezes artists). I totally did not get the moths until the every end. Once I did, I felt kind of slow for not realizing sooner.
One of the things I liked was sitting so close to the stage, you got to see the performers faces. I didn't realize how expressive some of them could be. It was really interesting to see and I'm glad I got to. At the end, one of the beetles winked at someone in the audience. We think he either a) knew someone in the audience or b) was flirting with someone. :)
The families attending were my least favorite part of the show. The one in front of us had a kid that couldn't have been more than 3-4. He was terrified of the insects. His Dad took him out several times (which kudos to Dad), but every time one of the performers came too close, he'd scream. It was annoying. Another family kept jumping the seats before the show because they were sure that row B was the one in front of them and not the one the usher had directed them to. When the people whose seats those actually were showed up, they were kind of obnoxious about moving. Then the woman turned to me and demanded (not asked, mind you) "What row are you in?" Row A. "What's that row in front of you then?" I looked at her and said in a sharp voice. "I don't know." Then I turned my back on her. I'm sorry, but I'm not Information. The usher told you where your seats were. Sit in them.
Funny story: Concessions at the place were outrageous. $6 for a small popcorn outrageous. But Miome and I needed something to snack on until dinner and we needed drinks. So I got us a small popcorn and two waters (at least the waters came in nice, refillable, souvenir containers). While waiting for the doors to open, I dropped a piece of popcorn on the ground. "No! That was 5 cents worth of popcorn wasted." Miome cracked up and from then on, every time we dropped a piece of popcorn, we'd talk about how we just wasted another nickel.
All in all, I really enjoyed the show. Given the opportunity, will definitely buy tickets to that venue again. Now I'm kind of hoping another Cirque du Soleil show comes through so I can see that one as well.