by Mark Smiley
The latest Cirque du Solei show to come to Denver is Corteo, written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca. Corteo, which has been seen by eight million people around the world, tells the story of a clown picturing his own funeral, which takes place at a carnival and is witnessed by angels. Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown.
The show first premiered in 2005 under the big top in Montreal and has been since updated for arenas in March 2018, keeping the original story intact. The show features 51 performers, including acrobats, clowns, musicians and actors.
Cirque du Solei has been entertaining Colorado audiences since 1997. “We always have a great responsive audience there and we love to perform in a place where people react well and enjoy our shows and I think it adds a lot to the show,” said Max Batista, Tour Publicist for Cirque Corteo.
The stage has a unique setup as it will be set up in the center of the arena and audience members will be on either side with good sight views. Set Designer Jean Rabasse has divided the Grand Chapiteau and its rotating stage in two, with each half of the audience facing the other half, so they see not only the performance, but also have a performer’s eye view of the audience. There is one turntable built into the stage, which is about 41 feet long, and the track is almost 120 feet long.
This show also features six musicians and two singers who are on stage with the performers. Typically, musicians and singers are hidden from the audience but in Corteo, they are part of the show. “People can see us all during the show,” said Eve Willems who plays the accordion, guitar, and mandolin in Corteo.
The music accompanies the show and features different styles of music including Spanish and Irish. Willems, who submitted her video application to become a part of the show via Facebook, enjoys being part of Cirque. “At first for me it was to discover all the different talents and I was amazed to see all these people doing their tricks,” said Willems. “Now that we have started, I like traveling with all these people and make people dream and it’s really nice to be part of it.”
The show lasts two hours and 30 minutes (with a 20-minute intermission) and is packed with death defying feats fans have come to expect from Cirque shows.
Cirque du Solei’s Corteo arrives at the Pepsi Center on August 15, 2019, and runs through August 22, 2019. For tickets, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/usa/denver/corteo/buy-tickets.
