On stage: Cirque du Soleil will present seven performances of Varekai at the Wells Fargo Center through Sunday.
After 12 years of touring the world under the blue and yellow “Big Top,” Cirque du Soleil is bringing Varekai to arenas.
This week, the show is at the Wells Fargo Center. There will be seven performances through Sunday.
The larger venue requires the performers to make their gestures and actions bigger and clearer.
“It’s quite different from the Big Top. It’s a big challenge,” said clown Gabriella Argento. “But we can reach more people.”
The show is set deep within a magical forest at the summit of a volcano. A young man encounters fantastic creatures in an extraordinary adventure.
The word Varekai (pronounced ver-ay-kye) means “wherever” in the Romany language of the gypsies, the universal wanderers. The production pays tribute to the nomadic soul and to the spirit and art of the circus tradition.
“It’s a very interesting storyline and a very beautiful metaphor. It really helps people dive into the illusion,” Argento said during a Friday afternoon phone call from Portland, Maine, where the show played before coming to Philadelphia. “There’s a mix of lots of different art.”
Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil formed in 1984 to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Canada’s discovery. Varekai debuted in Montreal in 2002, and more than 8 million people have seen it worldwide.
The show features 50 artists and musicians from 18 different countries with top-level acrobatic and performance skills. There are 600-plus costumes, shoes, wigs, hats and accessories, all custom-made at Cirque’s costume workshop in Montreal.
The set is comprised of over 300 trees. The band consists of seven musicians, and the music will include Hawaiian rituals, songs of 11th-century troubadours from the south of France, traditional Armenian melodies and gospel music with contemporary arrangements to conjure up the unique universe of Varekai.
ldquo;Everything is so good and creative,” Argento said.
Argento, of Brazil, has an opera and classical theater background, but has played a clown for 20 years. She’s performed in Las Vegas, in improv festivals, at hospitals, on cruises and even at workshops for executives.
Typically, she said, female circus performers are hired for their beauty, not their comic skills.
“A female clown character is not very common,” she said.
Argento said the show appeals to people of all ages.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “A lot of children come, and they go crazy with the juggling. The parents are impressed with the aerial stuff. It’s a real family show.” ••
For tickets, call 1–800–298–4200 or visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/varekai
