NEW YORK — A family holiday show from Cirque du Soleil. What could be more promising, with the weather getting colder and the kids itching for some indoor entertainment?
Alas, some of the "cirque" is missing and some of the "soleil," too, from this new production at Madison Square Garden.
Perhaps "Wintuk" is just trying to do too many things. The show aims to tell a story that appeals to kids, as well as offer the same visual thrills that Cirque du Soleil has long given their parents, and to do it all in the convenient Manhattan location of the Garden's WaMu Theater.
The first problem is the space itself. The conventional stage setting doesn't allow the Cirque creative team to reach the heights, literally, of their more thrilling shows. Your heart sinks a bit when you realize, a few moments after the curtain has risen, that what you see, space-wise, is all you're gonna get. There are ramps, for roller-skating and stuff, but it's soon evident that the acrobats and trapeze artists will be seriously cramped.
Of course, the talented performers are there, as you'd expect from Cirque du Soleil. There's the contortionist hidden within a giant rag doll. Balletic snowflakelike creatures dangling from ropes. Cyclists, jugglers, clowns, a pretty cool balancing act, expert hula-hooping and some exciting acrobats using poles. One young man in particular has priceless comic facial expressions that are alone worth the price of admission.
But all along, one wishes there was more, well, more Cirque du Soleil. And less, perhaps, of the attempts to tell what seems a rather thin story.
"Wintuk" is the tale of Jamie, a young boy in jeans and a red down jacket who lives in a city bereft of snow. (The plot line seems eerily apt, given the recent balmy autumn and thoughts of global warming melting the Arctic ice cap.) The streets of the city are populated with an assortment of unusual characters, including giant shaggy dogs and friendly street lamps — with nice eyelashes — that seem to come alive.
But what this boy wants is snow. So he sets out to find it, accompanied by a female shaman who's lost in the city, a shy man who seeks to discover his courage, and the shadow of a young girl. They are headed to the land of Wintuk, where apparently the snow is hiding.
There's probably lots more information to be had about this plot, but it rests in a $15 program, which means many parents won't be able to explain to their little ones exactly what is going on.
In any case, it's a nice enough story. But what little dialogue occupies the show — which is not much — is stilted, and it just makes you (and more importantly, your kids) a bit impatient. For the real circus stuff.
In the end, the snow does come, and this, the kids absolutely love. It enevelops the entire theater in a happy swirl of paper flakes. This part of the show is quite literally unforgettable, because these flakes will end up fluttering out of little coat sleeves, little pant legs and maybe even your own pockets or purse for hours after you leave.
But aside from a few of the acrobatic feats, those little flakes may be the most concrete memories you take away from "Wintuk," a show that leaves you wanting more from those talented Cirque du Soleil folks.