cirque du soleil's songblazers @ the saenger theatre

Tumble deeds: Cirque du Soleil's Songblazers @ The Saenger Theatre
Review by Dorian Hatchett

Is there anything French clowns and acrobats can’t do?  If you said “pay homage to the uniquely American art and culture that is country music without seeming condescending or silly” I would posit that you are wrong.  The proof is in Songblazers, a Cirque Du Soleil Theatrical production currently on tour across the US.  

With a forty-year history of wowing audiences around the world, Cirque is currently operating nineteen different productions, either touring or resident, in ten countries. Their shows are the gold standard for production level, and this one was no different. The sets are designed to be more than backdrops, and the costumes tell stories all their own. Cirque owns its own music production company, just to make the show that much more seamless, and you won’t find a better produced stage outside of Broadway.  

Songblazers tells the story of an aspiring country music songwriter, set in Nashville Tennessee. There’s a slow wind-up, as the environmental entertainment while awaiting the curtain smoothly transitions into the show proper, and we’re greeted by a massive, complicated set featuring balcony stages for a live band, and a giant moving steam engine that is occasionally a stage and occasionally the moon and is always the center of the action.  

I am always excited to see how a traveling show will use the stage. The flexibility, the professional knowledge, that must be used to shift the blocking and lighting and props for every single location on a tour is a source of wonder for me. The performers made it look like they grew up on that stage, using every single inch, never looking crowded or sparse. Dancers and acrobats confidently chewed up scenery and there wasn’t a bad seat in the house.  

There was real genuine laughter and joy from the audience. What country music backed show doesn’t have a full-cast bar fight? It hits a little different when the actors are acrobats. A juggler performs feats of midair organization, with a whole stack of red solo cups, set to the song Red Solo Cup. Toby Keith would be proud. There’s no way someone doesn’t love that bar.

There was a carnival strongman advertising nails by driving them into a board with his hands, and I cannot stress how very difficult it would be to do aerial silks in a cowboy hat, but they pulled it off with aplomb. They might have friends in low places, but they are at the height of their craft. 

More information about Songblazers and Cirque du Soleil
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