I'm a big fan of Cirque du Soleil shows. I don't always get the ethereal storylines or this concept of having odd people wander on and off the stage for no reason…but I usually walk out feeling I got my bucks' worth just for witnessing a few someones do the impossible, right before my orbs. There were few such moments in Zumanity, which I saw Tuesday evening in Las Vegas, and only a few. The best, which came early on, involved two lovely ladies sliding in and out of a huge glass fishbowl of water, balancing on a rim around it and bending their fine forms into impossible contortions. It was amazing, sexy and, for me, the highlight of what otherwise was a disappointing presentation.
Not that I'm sorry I went with my friends. Cirque, even bad Cirque, is interesting…but I'm inclined to agree with those who suggest that maybe, opening show after show as they are, the company is spreading itself too thin, running out of jaw-dropping acrobats and interesting variations on what are, for the most part, the same acts. Everyone says Love, the Beatles-themed Cirque show, is astounding but some of the others are getting panned…and it wasn't that long ago that nothing Cirque du Soleil did evoked even tepid reviews.
And there's another problem: Zumanity is supposed to be "The sensual side of Cirque du Soleil." That's a nice way of saying "naughty." So the performers don't wear much clothing…but beyond that, the makers don't seem to have a lot of ideas about what makes this an adult show. The ladies slithering in and out of the fishbowl were a good start, and there's one woman who floats over the arena on straps and seems to have a zero-gravity orgasm…but for the most part, the ribald content is supplied by a number of performers who come out and involve audience members in little routines, dragging them up on stage to participate and talking with them about body parts and humping. One thing Cirque du Soleil has never been good at is talking…and some of the audience participation was just embarrassing, if not for the luckless draftees than certainly for those of us who had to sit through their on-stage awkwardness.
Ultimately, I emerged with my jaw largely-undropped. The physical feats were expert but largely repetitious (a lot of swinging around the room on drapes and wires) and there wasn't one where I could barely believe my eyes. That's never happened to me before with a Cirque du Soleil show. I will say the costuming was nice (what there was of it) and the music was fine…or would have been if we hadn't been sitting too close to a speaker. Bottom line: There are 744 other Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, not counting the three they're opening next week in local Baja Fresh outlets, and I would recommend all of them over Zumanity.