Mystère Revealed

"Life is an endless mystery. Journey to the heart of it" with Cirque du Soleil's production of "Mystère" at Treasure Island hotel & casino in Las Vegas. The night of July 7th, 2007 was one filled with chaotic color, lights, costumes, make-up, giant puppets, acrobats, dancers, singers, musicians, clowns and actors as I watched a fantastic, mind-boggling performance of "Mystère" by the Cirque du Soleil artists.

For those unfamiliar with Cirque du Soleil, let me give you a brief introduction to this company. Cirque du Soleil mixes performing arts and circus arts, sports, and street performance to create an overall unique and entertaining experience for every show. The company performs many different shows around the world and amazes audiences everywhere with its spectacular display of human flexibility, strength and endurance.

Mystère is one of the productions performed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has a cast of 75 world-renowned artists. This show premiered in December 1993, has had over 8 million spectators since its opening, and represents 17 different countries in its cast. The show is about the mystery of life, from birth to maturity, and how it unfolds.

Reinventing the circus tradition, the show is a "dream-like journey," set to an original score and vocals, with fantastic acts of athleticism and acrobatics that seem to defy gravity. This production also features wild, chaotic, and intricately colorful and entertaining characters such as a fiery red bird, a big baby and a mischievous clown. The goal of Mystère is to "challenge limits and explore the imagination," according to the Cirque du Soleil website (see below for link).

The performance I saw was fantastic overall, with only a few slow moments of frustration. As I mentioned before, one of the characters is a very large baby, and it carries a huge orange ball around as well as a bottle tied around its neck. This baby was actually a very large, overgrown man in a diaper and bonnet. He represented the pilgrim starting out as a baby, about to embark on the journey of life, which is represented by the rest of the performance. This baby was funny most of the time, but as all children do, he became frustrating and tedious at times.

The "narrator," or Man in Pink, was also a bit tedious as he strutted about the stage in a magenta suit and top hat, talking in seeming gibberish (which I think was supposed to be French) and pretending to be a ventriloquist with a strange looking puppet. I couldn't say what the puppet was supposed to look like. Maybe a weird bird. But he and his puppet also had their entertaining moments, like when the clown strangled the strange looking puppet and threw it off stage.

Another notable character was the "clown;" unfortunately, he didn't look like one at first. The audience was introduced to him before the show even started when he stood with the ushers and began taking people around to their seats. Mind you, he was dressed in a black-tie suit; however, his white-gray hair was gelled so that it stuck straight out from his head like a mad scientist stereotype. The lighting crew also had him in a spotlight, something only the audience members already sitting could ascertain. I was one of them, thank God.

So, he led innocent audience members around on wild goose chases around the theatre, made them crawl over people, spilled people's popcorn, kicked people out of their seats, and eventually threw all the tickets in the air--leaving audience members baffled and stranded in the middle of rows and in other people's seats. He repeated this routine about five times before people started catching on that their guide was not trustworthy. The rest of the audience, amused and pitying, watched the spotlighted disaster-area passively, displaying a classic case of the bystander effect, or bystander apathy. It was funny for a while, but I just felt really bad for the clueless people under the spotlight who lost their popcorn and got kicked out of their nice cool seats after racing to get to the show in over 100 degree heat. Clowns--funny yet annoying.

There were many acrobatic acts in the performance and I will only go into detail for a few. The most impressive act was called "Hand-to-Hand," a picture of which is located at the top of this article. Two hugely muscular men with physiques of gods come together to astound viewers with their gentle strength and fluid movements that take amazing stamina and discipline to execute. The two men moved so slowly and gently that they exuded a sense of sensuality that was unmistakable. This sensuality, along with the vocal artists singing "triste amor," translated "sad love," made me think of this act as a metaphor for homosexual male love. These two brothers perform increasingly difficult maneuvers as they maintain a delicate balance while lifting and supporting one another in tremendously precarious positions that make the audience clench their teeth and gasp. This act, performed on the rounded surface of a rotating dome, evokes the hardships and delicate balance many homosexual couples must maintain in societies across the globe. The graceful yet powerful exhibition of their strength and stamina shows that they are always there to support one another even though they may be isolated from the rest of the world. Just to make it clear, this was my interpretation of the act and no where did Cirque du Soleil actually claim that his was their meaning.

Another act worthy of note was the Aerial High Bar, representing human dreams and hopes taking flight for the new millennium, according to the Mystère website. The fourteen athletes from Russia, Romania, Canada and the United States performed on a symmetrical metal structure 40 feet above the stage. The website notes that the acrobats flying on the high bar like a pendulum evokes the passage of time and shows both risk and its reward.

The Aerial Cube is yet another fascinating act performed by Cirque de Soleil. A single man turns and spins a giant cube structure while performing, in the air and on the ground, a graceful and "gravity-defying ballet of aerial maneuvers." He must have had amazing strength to maneuver the cube while trying to hang onto a wire and still look graceful and in control.

Fourth, the Chinese Poles was a light-hearted act that at first made the audience ask, "are they stepping on grooves," then finally groan, "I wish I could do that." The acrobats, decked out in fantastically decadent costumes, crawled up and down poles on stage that were about twenty feet high. They moved about and jumped from pole to pole in strange contortions and movements that a normal person can only dream about doing. Sometimes they used just their hands to climb up (legs held straight horizontally, mind you), and other times they just gripped the pole with their feet and flipped to the next one with seeming ease. According to the Mystère website, the Chinese Poles act is a symbol of sprouting vines and the acrobats crawling up and down represent organic life "which feeds on itself as it grows."

There are many more acts involved in this production, but it would take too long to go through them all. This is definitely a show you must see for yourself to take in the spectacular experience it delivers. I took some quotes by the cast and crew from the Mystère website so you can get an look behind the scenes of Mystère:

"For me, Mystère is about mythology, influences from Balkan and Greek music. You won't find Ulysses or any gods in the show, but it has a unifying, mythical idea behind it. So, in my music, I put an accent on Greek music and percussion."
--René Dupere, Composer

"With Mystère, we knew we were doing something totally new in Las Vegas, and that meant breaking the rules, doing the unexpected. I remember that, while we were rehearsing the show, someone said the lighting was too heavy, that it made him think of a Wagner opera. Franco and I looked at each other and said: 'All right!' We knew we had to be on the right track."
--Luc Lafortune, Lighting Designer

"Mystère, for me, is about life. We knew we were building this temple in the desert, in Las Vegas. When you see the fragile beauty there, you can't help but ask yourself: how did life come to this planet? Mystère, in a way, is the story of this innocent being who is born into the universe, and then becomes a pilgrim, exploring its history.

"We're always influenced by the latest discussions and dialogues. And we were fascinated by chaos theory: the idea that, when a butterfly flaps its wings in Argentina, it causes a rainstorm in Europe. Everything is connected. Of course, the mystery is never fully resolved, but maybe that is what our pilgrim discovers."
--Franco Dragone, Director

"The Mystère set actually suggests Ulysses, and the mythical obstacles he had to overcome on his own journey. The two towers represent Scylla and Charybdis, two of the perils Ulysses faced. The true journey of life is never easy."
--Michael Crete, Set Designer


Also, here is a brief list of the tremendous cast of characters performing in Mystère. The quoted portions are taken directly from the Mystère website and I filled in the rest myself with my own observations:

1. Spermatos and Spermatites: "The Spermatos and Spermatites are like viruses, contaminating the world of Mystère with infectious folly. They are the seeds of life, moving about frantically to fulfill their destinies." These characters wear blue and white spandex jumpsuits with a long, pointy appendage attached to the top of their heads. It shouldn't take your mind too long to imagine what these characters are supposed to represent.

2. Firebird: "The Firebird leaps ever higher in his futile attempt to take to the skies. Still convinced he can fly, he struggles against his fate." This part is played by a very flexible woman wearing a fire-engine red and black costume with a mohawk of feathers on her head. She danced around the stage most of the time, weaving in between many of the other characters. To tell you the truth, I really expected the performer to do more dancing and acrobatic movements. She was dressed so that every eye in the auditorium would follow her while she was on stage, but she didn't do anything special with the attention granted to her.

3. Laquais: "In perpetual servitude, the Laquais are the footmen of Mystère. Their objective is to serve and support others in their pursuit of happiness." These guys were really boring. They just stood around in off-white spandex suits and made sure none of the performers fell and also steadied others on their landings. Like those people in real life who stay out of the spotlight to keep others in it, they play extremely necessary and significant roles for the survival of the show and their coworkers, but they don't get to do anything exciting themselves.

4. Brain (the clown): "Brian looks relatively harmless as he sprints through the audience, but remember: he does not belong to this magical world. He is a troublemaker, always doing things he shouldn't, always in the wrong place at the wrong time." This is the character I mentioned before who took people to the wrong seats in the beginning of the show. Funny and annoying, his shinning moment was when he took a man from the audience, locked him in a box on stage, and took a bottle of champagne back to the man's seat to hit on his wife.

5. The Baby: "Always in search of warmth and food, the babies represent the primitive human state: selfish and hungry." The big baby was also a strange combination of funny and annoying, both traits that real babies have; however, he was lacking in anything I would call cute. I think they stretched out the baby's scenes throughout the show to give the acrobats a breather. He really wasn't needed to carry on the symbolism after the opening scene.

6. Vache à Lait: "The Vache à Lait sounds his ancient horn, it heralds a rebirth, a new beginning. The Vache à Lait is the protector of babies and a symbol of fertility." Mostly there for his symbolic value, this was another boring person in a cool costume who stood around and did nothing.

7. Man in Pink: "The Man in Pink is the narrator no one listens to. He takes himself very seriously, and gets very angry and disagreeable when others don't." Enough said.

8. Chameleon couple: "This chameleon can completely disappear before your eyes. But when it skitters about in its reptilian dance, the lizard shows off its shiny green skin with flashes of scarlet." The chameleon couple had the most impressive costumes, although they just crawled around the other performers feet on stage and never actually did any acrobatics. They were pretty to look at, but if you weren't concentrating, you might miss them.

9. Double Faces: "The Double Faces hide behind haunting masks. In constant search of their own identities, they seldom reveal vulnerability." Acrobats with face masks attached to the back of their heads crawled up and down the Chinese Poles and moved about simultaneously on stage, showing both of their faces repeatedly while unnerving the audience with their eeriness.


If you enjoyed this review, most of this information and more can be found at www.cirquedusoleil.com if you are interested in learning more about Cirque du Soleil and "Mystère." If you don't believe all you've read of this chaotic, fantastic spectacle, I urge you to check it out for yourself. Actually, you don't have to go to Las Vegas to see Cirque du Soleil! Just open your eyes and look around you.

The picture is courtesy of www.cirquedusoleil.com.

Lauren Mietelski
English, Secondary Education
Senior
"Be careful, a mojito may bring on unexpected ice cream cravings!"