#13 of 33: Cirque Du Soleil
I found out that Cirque Du Soleil was coming to Denver as part of the Michael Jackson Immortal Tour. I was expecting to have to go to Vegas to check off this item on my 33 before 33 list. Upon finding out, I got really excited because I am a closet MJ fan in a big way. The MJ Pandora station is what I play while training like 50% of the time. I love me some MJ. This was a win-win. Then I looked up the price of tickets. Oh my lanta! I didn't think I would need to solicit sponsorship for my 33 before 33 list! They were really expensive. So I bagged it and tried to forget about it. But then I kept checking craigslist every 2 days.
Finally on the day of the Saturday show (they were there F/Sat/Sun) I found a set of tickets that were equally pricy, but the seats were great, and it was a set of 4, and I got a little impulsive, and next thing you know I'm driving across town in a snowstorm when I should be doing my long run to purchase really expensive tickets. In my defense, they came with a VIP parking pass....
PIC was off driving to the slopes that night so I hatched this grand plan. Ann, who lives behind us likes to spend time over at our place from time to time. She's 11 and we adore her. Annie loves her, and her and her family have made moving to the neighborhood one of the best things we have ever done. So I called her mom and asked if we could surprise Ann and take her as part of our special night. Score!
At 6:30ish we packed up and headed to the show. The girls were HYPED up, they were so excited. We totally splurged, shirts and show treats whatever they wanted, snacks, etc, just for one night we lived it up. This is their "We are really excited" faces.
The show was pretty crazy. Honestly, I think MJ was rolling over in his grave. He wouldn't have hated it, because that wasn't his style, but he is really much more into the build up...the slow crescendo. This was Cirque first and foremost, to the music of MJ, inspired by what MJ is known for, but not in an attempt to be MJ...it was clearly Cirque. So it was fast paced, mashing together the peppy parts of various MJ songs, all lights and dazzle, with the main dancer representing MJs sequin glove. Still, I'm happy to listen to MJ all night long, and the acrobatics and performers were jaw dropping.
There was one issue in my mind, the music was extremely loud. I love loud music but I was very glad I brought ear plugs for the kiddos and I even used them a little bit myself. It was funny at the end, Annie actually fell asleep. The music was pounding, they were singing and performing all over the stage, and her eyes drooped shut. Annie is such a sensory seeker, it's not surprising. The kid was meant to have like 10 siblings.
After the show everyone was hyped and we watched MJ music videos the whole way home. Smooth Criminal is still my favorite all time MJ video, and it was my favorite song at Cirque.
All in all, an amazing show, and just awesome to see them portray so many of the things that MJ was passionate about...his lost childhood, the earth, hunger, poverty, love. I'm so glad I splurged and went to this slow.