Monday, November 17, 2008

Review: Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk


Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

A Wintery Wonderland of Wow!

By Lauren Yarger
Mystifying, bending, talking lamp posts, snow monsters, aerial feats, skate boarding and tumbling acts combine with other circus delights and a terrific snowfall to create a wintery wonderland of “wow!” for young and old alike in Cirque de Soleil’s Wintuk running at Madison Square Garden through Jan. 4.

The hero, Jamie, (Darin Good, who seems a great deal older than the boy you see in the posters), sets out on a quest to the imaginary North called Wintuk to rescue his girlfriend and to find snow to bring to his city where it's cold and bleak, but not white. Along the way he encounters the characters mentioned above, guided by a shaman (Laure Fugere who sings Simon Carpentier’s music and Jim Corcoran’s lyrics in English) and a shy friend named Wimpy (Gaspar Gimenez Facundo). The colder it gets, the more the characters come together for comfort and warmth (confession: without program notes, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you all of that. Like most Cirque du Soleils, there’s a story, but I usually am unaware of it, sidetracked by all of the special acts and awe-inspiring effects.) A couple of green-striped robbers are pursued throughout by a cop on a bicycle for some comic effect. Choreography is by Catherine Archambault.

Wintuk, created exclusively for MSG’s WaMu Theater and directed by Fernand Rainville, is Cirque de Soleil’s first show geared toward family audiences. It doesn’t play like their other productions, geared toward more mature audiences, and instead is great entertainment for kids of elementary through middle school age. It is written by Richard Blackburn.

There’s an awesome backdrop from set designer Patricia Ruel with projected buildings and snowflake mountains that’s practically a character itself with its winking moons, wind-tossed buildings and floating stars. Puppet dogs and cranes from Tony and Emmy award-winning puppet designer Michael Curry (The Lion King and Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ and LOVE) and the lampposts and ice giants from René Charbonneau (cofounder of Théâtre de la Dame de Coeur, Quebec), are exciting – and very large. “Power Track,” is a tumbling number featuring multiple performers in a fast paced precision routine on a huge trampoline revealed when the stage floor opens.

Additional elements, costumes by Francois Barbeau, lighting by Yves Aucoin and Matthieu Larivee and sound by Jonathan Deans, all expertly complete the circus wonderland.

Wintuk is an hour and a half of non-stop action and fun for the whole family.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Gracewell Prodiuctions

Gracewell Prodiuctions
Producing Inspiring Works in the Arts
Custom Search
Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

Search

Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

All Posts on this Blog