The Next Big Circus Comes to Town

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

'Le Grande Cirque' offers amazing athletes and amusing comedy in brisk show at Trop

By Lori Hoffman

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 19, 2010

The European circus movement has found a popular home in Atlantic City showrooms over the past 15 years. The latest Cirque show in the town’s history, Le Grand Cirque, is now wowing crowds in the Tropicana Showroom, produced by David King’s Spirit Productions, the man behind The Spirit of the Dance and other shows that have played Atlantic City.

And, in late June, Neil Goldberg returns to town with Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Trump Taj Mahal.

These two bookings, as well as V: The Ultimate Variety Show coming to Trump Plaza on June 29, present a nice counterbalance to the big name — and often expensive — headliner shows that dominate casino showrooms in the spring and summer seasons. Shows like Le Grand Cirque are family oriented and are reasonably priced.

In a recent interview, the creative director of Le Grand Cirque, Simon Painter, explains its appeal. “I suppose that we are really all about the spectacle,” Painter says. “There’s a lot of group acrobatics, guys that climb up poles, nine people riding one bike. It’s just a really big production and a big cast production with about 40 people traveling with it, and they’re artists. The show is just full of lights and music, and we’ve made it as wide as possible — kids from two to 92 will enjoy the show.”

The show is orchestrated by a comedic ringmaster, played by Darren Partridge, who begins the show by strolling in the audience looking for a volunteer to complete his first silent comedy bit, enticing a woman onto the stage for a romantic picnic. It is all done in mime with him stealing a kiss at the end of the bit and escorting his heartthrob back to her seat.

Later in the show he will conduct the audience in a bout of organized clapping that doesn’t always go as planned, to the point that he feels the need to give an audience member a “time-out.” However, the comic highpoint is when Partridge climbs into a giant balloon and appears to be doing a striptease while enclosed in the purple sphere. The punch line to the gag had the audience in stitches.

The comedy bits are a nice part of any Cirque production, but what fans come to see are human beings who appear to defy the limitations of the human form as they leap through hoops and tumble in breakneck fashion. One of the highlights of the evening was the troupe of tumblers known as “hoops divers” who fly and tumble through rings that are increasingly higher and higher off the ground. Their ability to leap into the air beyond their own height and do so without any assistance is mind-blowing entertainment.

If you’re into women who can contort themselves into what appear to be neck-breaking positions, you’ll enjoy the young ladies who balance candles on their hands, feet and heads.

If you’ve ever tried to keep a hula-hoop spinning on your body, you know it is a lot harder than it looks. The Cirque hoopster keeps half a dozen spinning on various parts of her body and does a really cool Slinky-like finish.

If you’ve seen the movie Ocean’s Eleven you’ve seen acrobats that climb up vertical poles and tumble between them using their legs to keep gravity from winning the battle.

It is also simple, but pretty amazing, to see people balancing on a standard-size bicycle, each jumping on in turn until there are nine acrobats on the bike. The show also features strong men and a strap acrobat.

Le Grand Cirque offers a show that should keep families amused and amazed.

‘Le Grand Cirque’
Where: Tropicana Showroom
When: Now to June 16: Sat. 9pm; Sun. 7pm; Mon. 8pm; Tues., Wed. 3:30 & 8pm
How Much: $25 & $35

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