By SHARON EBERSON
Cirque: Crystal arrived in Pittsburgh Friday accompanied by cold and snow, appropriate for the company’s only show on ice.
This Cirque du Soleil glides and flies through the journey of a young woman named Crystal, who feels boxed in by societal expectations and is on a search for “the joy inside.” A traumatic and thrilling moment sends her into a dreamscape, where she is bestowed a magical pen that allows her to write her own version of how the world should be.
Once you enter that world of imagination, all things are possible. And that’s where Cirque: Crystal and artistic director and Mt. Lebanon’s Crystal Manich pull out all the stops.
Cirque: Crystal continues at PPG Arena today and tomorrow, January 19 at 7:30 p.m., January 20 at 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, January 21, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/cirque-du-soleil-crystal-tickets/artist/2367484.
Here are five cool things about Cirque: Crystal to excite the senses:
World-class circus acts: From a mesmerizing juggler and thrilling acrobats to a snowball-throwing clown, from contortionists to heartstopping trapeze artistry, signature Cirque performers move in and out of Crystal’s story with plenty to oooh and aaaah.
World-class figure skaters: As an ice show, naturally there are skaters with backgrounds in national and international competitions. Olympian Kurt Browning is Crystal’s skating performances senior designer.
… And there’s hockey (sort of): Cirque is a Canadian company, Crystal is an ice show in a hockey arena, so of course, the sticks come out. Of course, “players” speeding up curved ramps, sailing high over the goalie and landing on their skates is a thrill you won’t see in an NHL game.
A feast for the eyes: Described as “a living scrapbook” and “vintage poetic,” the PPG Arena rink starts as a picturesque frozen pond and explodes into a world of a young woman’s imagination, with scenes based on a cross between hockey and X-games, work-a-day business people gone wild and more. Video projections provide arena-sized scale and costumes run the gamut from suits and ties to a seemingly random banana-yellow tube-head that reminds me of characters in the Saga series of graphic novels.
Live music: “With its sweeping, atmospheric and romantic soundscapes, the score moves from grand orchestral sounds to klezmer-style chamber music to melodic folk and rock-tinged beats.” There also are adept and apt cover versions of songs such as Sia’s “Chandelier,” which accompanies a high-flying trapeze act.
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