I’ve seen — and enjoyed — a number of Cirque du Soleil shows, but they didn’t prepare me for Toruk: The First Flight, currently at U.S. Bank Arena. This is one of Cirque’s newest productions, less than a year old, and it’s enormous, reproducing the world of Pandora in the distant Alpha Centauri star system — familiar to moviegoers as the setting for James Cameron’s dazzling 2009 special-effects film, Avatar. Toruk, set in Pandora’s distant past, is a tale of two adolescent boys and their adventures in search of Toruk, an endangered flying beast that’s a blend of dragon and dinosaur. Rather than Cirque’s usual productions with clowns and miscellaneous acrobatic acts, Toruk is a full-length and wholly immersive narrative, guided by a narrator and using a large cast of performers who acrobatically and artistically enact the events and create picturesque scenes. Pandora’s creatures come to life using 16 large-scale puppets, including the high-flying Toruk with a 40-foot wingspan. The story plays out on an immense set (it’s 85-by-162 feet, made of inflatable rubber) with remarkable video and light projections that convincingly recreate rivers, fires and volcanoes. Ultimately Toruk is a lesson in preserving bonds with animals and nature and of working together in unity and peace. It’s a spectacular evening of amazing imagery, thundering music (a lot of drumming) and high-flying acrobatics, but all in the service of telling a moving story. The final performance is Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Tickets: 800-745-3000.
Two local theaters opened shows this week they’ve previously presented in new productions this week:
Violet at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a rare reprise, a show ETC presented back in 1999, before OTR was the go-to place for entertainment and dining. It’s a lovely, intimate musical about a young woman disfigured by a childhood accident. She’s on a cross-country pilgrimage in the 1960s
to a televangelist she believes can heal her. Along the way she finds the true meaning of beauty. Composer Jeanine Tesori created some wonderful anthems for this show, and it’s a story that resonates with director Lynn Meyers. “
Violet ,” she says, “is definitely a story about somebody coming into their own and finding their way.” This is the first weekend of performances; it’s scheduled through May 22. Tickets: 513-421-3555.
The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park has brought back one of its most popular productions, Bad Dates, by Cincinnati playwright (now a big name in New York City) Theresa Rebeck. This one-woman show about Haley, a recently divorced middle-aged woman trying to get back into the dating game, was a hit in a Playhouse mainstage production back in 2005. This time around it’s happening on the smaller Shelterhouse stage, but you can be sure Michael Evan Haney’s direction (he staged the earlier production, too) it will be very entertaining. It’s onstage through June 12. … The Playhouse is presenting Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing on its mainstage, through May 21. Read my review here. Tickets: 513-421-3888.
Continuing at Know Theatre is Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky. The story of Henrietta Leavitt, an amateur astronomer from the early 20th century who made some mind-blowing discoveries, is a thoughtful script that’s being wonderfully acted by some of Cincinnati’s best female theater talent. There’s a lot of very positive buzz about this production; a friend called it was the best show she’d seen all season. Read my review here. Onstage for one more week. Tickets: 513-300-5669.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here
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This article appears in May 4-11, 2016.
