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Cirque Shanghai Gold Produced by International Special Attractions Limited Skyline Stage at Navy Pier 600 E. Grand Ave. Chicago, IL Tickets: 312-902-1500 or www.ticketmaster.com, $14.50-$29.50 (adults) and $12.50-$29.50 (children 3-11) Wed & Sat at 2:00, 6:00 & 8:00, Thu & Fri at 2:00 & 8:00, Sun at 2:00 & 4:00 (Navy Pier’s fireworks follow the 8:00 show on Wed & Sat) Running time is 80 minutes with no intermission Through September 1st Shanghai Gold Does Not Live Up to Its Hype Navy Pier’s summer Skyline Stage offering this year is billed as a collection of gold award-winning acts from China. The show features a collection of young acrobats and contortionists who are enjoyable enough to watch, but it is much more an advanced circus school recital than the world-class circus that the massive publicity implies. There is no attempt at a story or theme, merely a series of unconnected production numbers that are at times less than perfectly choreographed. All of the performers are talented and most could join the first rank of circus shows as novices or young journeymen, but there are no super stars in Shanghai Gold and the production is slower than you might imagine.
The nature of the stunts performed implies that the occasional error or gaff is bound to happen, but on opening night there were no fewer than eight such occurrences. In at least one instance the gaff was a relief. There were 10 young ladies each twirling flower bouquets consisting of eight plates spinning on sticks and I was wondering if the plates were actually stuck on the sticks somehow until one of the performers disabused me of my cynicism. (Plates in today’s version of this vaudeville stunt do not break, for the record.) The transitions from scene to scene are not uniformly smooth and the performers sometimes seem self-conscious and unsure of themselves. Great circus performers make strong connection with the audience and that sort of thing is not to be found in Shanghai Gold. There are some exceptions, including a solo hula-hoop act that is actually worth the relatively modest ticket price by itself, but all-in-all, Cirque Shanghai Gold lacks the muscle required for the most demanding flying stunts that are in vogue and it is far from world-class circus.
None of this will matter if you have a house full of kids and just want to go out and have some fun. The stunts – even if strained and awkward at times – will amaze the kids. The costumes are beautiful and for $15 bucks you, too, can be a superstar parent/uncle/grandma, etc. Cirque Shanghai Gold is what it is. By the time the weather warms up this year I suspect the show will have improved as the cast settles into their summer digs, so if you’re on the pier anyway, may as well catch a little entertainment. Don’t forget those jackets for the evening performances. SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED Randy Hadwick randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments Date Reviewed: June 4, 2008 |
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