Entertainment

Review: Cirque du Soleil Quidam

Mark Stone - Aug 23, 2012 / 1:00 pm | Story: 79544

Concert Review: Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam

Photo: Contributed - Matt Beard

Having reviewed many concerts and movies for several years now, I’ve been able to discover a workable formula for how to approach my reviews. Although I can’t profess to have mastered the art, I thought I had it more or less refined.

And then, last night, we witnessed Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam at Prospera Place, and everything went out the window.

How to review such a masterful spectacle of theatre without giving anything away?

Let’s step back for a moment. What if I were to tell you that there was a show taking place at the arena, and this show was a mix of theatre, interpretive dance, comedy, acrobatics, circus atmosphere, magic, and human stunts – all set to a peculiarly enigmatic storyline? You’d think that this show would be an absolute mess, right?

In theory, the ability to pull off a show combining this unorthodox mixture of theatrical styles sounds downright impossible. Yet, YET, with Quidam, Cirque du Soleil succeeds in more ways than you can imagine.

Theatre? Beautiful and eye catching.
Interpretive dance? Up there with the world’s best.
Comedy? You will laugh out loud. Hard and often.
Acrobatics? Nobody does it better.
Circus atmosphere? It’s not named Cirque du Soleil for nothing.
Magic? While not a magic show per se, there’s enough here to keep you up at night wondering how they did that.
Human stunts? This is where Cirque excels, and everything in Quidam must be seen to be believed.

To fill the reader in on any details about the show would be doing them a tremendous disservice, so I will do my best to sidestep any specifics here. From the moment the show starts (the festivities actually began almost 10 minutes early around 7:20) until the last of the performers leave the stage more than 2 and a ½ hours later, you will be in awe.

You will lose count on how many times – whether to yourself or aloud – you say “holy s**t!”

You won’t look at your watch. At all.

Your brain will thank your eyes for providing it with such tremendous perpetual stimulation.

As our budgets are being stretched even further to meet the sharp increases in costs of living, we are forced to make decisions on which entertainment options to keep and what to cut. Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam falls resoundingly on the former. If your entertainment budget allows for it, even if you have to make some other cuts, do yourself a favour and see Quidam.

This is world-class entertainment at it’s finest, and it’s right here in Kelowna.

For those of you (myself included) who have seen Cirque du Soleil perform in Vegas and are dismissing this as merely an arena show, it’s not. Quidam is every bit as good as the two Cirque shows I’ve seen in Las Vegas, perhaps better. While shows like ‘O’, ‘Le Reve’ and ‘Ka’ rely on the stage itself to be a huge part of the act, Quidam is all about the performers.

This is a rare treat, Kelowna, and an even more rare 10 out of 10 rating from me.

Go see it!

Quidam is playing at Prospera Place through Sunday, with the following show times: