Cirque du Soleil's Kooza and Saltimbanco in Boston and Amherst

A spectacular moment from Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco coming to Amherst September 3-7

Cirque du Soleil has remade the traditional circus into a true artistic experience. Their mission is to invoke the imagination, provoke the senses and evoke the emotions of people around the world. In the process of reinventing the art form, this Montreal based company has grown from a small troupe of twenty performers into a worldwide phenomenon. They have 4,000 employees, and 17 shows currently being performed all over the world. I am impressed that they dispensed with the circus animals that were often brutally forced to entertain us. Good thing too, since the handlers often utilized hurtful training methods on the animals in their care.

Cirque rethought the way everyone from the clowns to the trapeze artists perform, raising the bar to the point where even Ringling Brothers tries to copy their concepts, costumes and choreography. But nobody does it like the Cirque people. This coming month, there will be two Cirque du Soleil troupes visiting Massachusetts. One is a tent show, the other a touring arena production.

Arriving in Boston on September 5 for a month's stay at the Bayside Exposition Center, Cirque du Soleil will set up their Grand Chapiteau near the extensive parking lot and MBTA station. The show is fresh and new and "Kooza" tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world. The plot, of course, is just the connective tissue that holds together the half dozen acts that are presented with the most glorious costumes, lighting and special effects. Click here for Kooza information

One of the Cirque clowns in Kooza in Boston, September 5- October 5

The Arena Show is an old favorite of mine (I have seen almost all the Cirque shows - three of them multiple times) titled Saltimbanco. It will play the Mullins Center at the Univesity of Massachusetts in Amherst from September 3-7. Saltimbanco takes spectators on an allegorical and acrobatic journey into the heart of the city, celebrating the people who live there. Click here for Saltimbanco information

Either show will provide memories for a lifetime. I guarantee it. Like me, you may be bitten by the Cirque bug, and start thinking about seeing their five shows in Las Vegas (Mystère is still the best in my opinion) or Orlando to see La Nouba. If you are ever in Hong Kong, take the boat to Macau for Zaia.

Broadway in the dark

For the first time in its 121 year history, Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Hands has gone on strike, closing down 27 Broadway shows. The eight shows remaining lit have separate contracts and the scalpers have descended on the available tickets, hoping to score a killing. The eight shows still performing include "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" which began at the Berkshire's own Barrington Stage Company. Others are "Mary Poppins," "The Ritz," "Mauritius," "Cymbeline," "Pygmalian," "Xanadu" and "Young Frankenstein."

As we commented here in September, this strike can spell doom to weak shows, and hurt theater-going in general. Theater is a billion dollar a year business in New York City, and affects everything from hotels and restaurant to the taxi business. While the union has a $4 million dollar strike fund, the League of American theaters and Producers, who already tightened work rules during the non-contract period, has a reserve of $20 million to weather the strike.

As one wag commented, "Even if the producers manage to cut union costs, you can be sure it won't be reflected in lower ticket prices."