| Friday, May 27, 2005 |
| Verakai!! |
I apologize for all the Baltimore centric posts yesterday and today, but this town is a rockin right now!!
So here goes another one. Some day (or not) I may post the popular "100 things about me" meme (don't hold your breath), but in the meantime, you should know that I am a HUGE Cirque du Soleil fan.
Tip: Sign up to be a member of Club Cirque. Listen here, it's completely free and there is utterly no downside to this that I can see so far.
1. I was notified 2 weeks in advance of general public tickets going on sale and offered a chance to buy the best seats in the house before anyone else.
2. I was sent an offer for 30% off tickets for certain nights.
3. I was offered an upgrade to these tickets to VIP status at no extra cost by presenting our tix 2 hours before the show at the box office, if they had leftover or unsold tix being held for sponsors and family members.
Once I herded the cats (i.e. friends) and we picked a date, I was able to use my Cirque Club membership to save about $20 / ticket off the regular price for everyone. This is sweet - because as you may or may not know - tickets to Cirque are hideously expensive, ranging from $190 apiece for the VIP seats (which include food and drinks) to $75 for the better seats. Cheapest seats in the house go for $45. Having said that, once you see the talent, the show and the production - you realize why they can charge these prices. Especially since the tent only holds about 2,500 people.
This evening, 7 of us (we were supposed to be 8, but one of us was disabled at the last minute by a bad work week), met for a nice dinner on the waterfront in Fells Point at Duclaw Brewery, and were then able to walk about a block to the "Grand Chapiteau", to see Verakai.
I took advantage of my Cirque Club membership and tried to upgrade all 8 tickets. Voila!! We were granted 8 tickets in two, four seat blocks, directly adjacent to each other, in the center section about a dozen rows from the stage. SCHWEEEEET!!! It really made the show special when the artists come soaring out directly above you, and the clowns race through your aisle during the show.
I have to assume that most people have seen a Cirque production either live or on TV by now. If by some rare exception you haven't - PLEASE get a DVD and introduce yourself to this unique art form, because that's truly what it is. Guy Laliberte' has founded an entirely new form of performance art based on classical circus traditions, street performers, cultural performers and other physical acts of daring. Then he combines that with haunting music, costumes, and high tech stage productions, and it has resulted in a product, that like "Disney", is unique in the world, but at the same time, is now also so familiar as its own genre.
Verakai - It is not something that can be explained. It has to be experienced. |
posted by Broadsheet @ 12:19 AM   |
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