Cirque du Soleil Manila

Okay honestly, I didn't have an idea what Cirque du Soleil was until a very good friend of mine, Lai sent me a pm on my FB telling me that we should watch Cirque as they will be having their Manila run of Varekai  from June until July of this year. I remember that in the pm, Lai jokingly said something like, "Ate, watch tayo Cirque du Soleil, maganda yun ipost sa FB, sosy." To which I replied, "Oo nga, para hindi lang Star Cinema ang mga naka post sa FB ko."  But seriously, she wanted to watch because the opportunity's here and we need not fly out to Vegas to have this chance. This was I believe as early as March 2011. 

my e-ticket!

 So, I googled them and found a lot of info about this group. Cirque du Soleil when translated into english means circus of the sun. So I told Lai and Caren that we will be going. Keber sa mahal ng ticket! Pikit-mata. Caren booked 3 tickets for us sometime late May. We got tickets for the July 02, 2011 evening show. 

When Varekai was featured on evening news on the day that it opened, I was like, "Ah okay, so yan pala yun". Although the reviews made by the news anchors already mentioned that the audience were generous in giving the cast and crew not just one, but THREE standing ovations, I was still like, "Okay."

There were several tents erected in front
of the Quirino Grandstand. This I think is the top where
the shows are being held

So here comes July 02, 2011. I was a bit disappointed upon re-reading the tickets that I couldn't bring my dslr camera inside to take pictures of the show. But then again, this being a foreign production, I wanted to be that Pinoy who follows the rules. So my dslr was left in my car. By the way, on the ticket it says that the show will be held under the grand chapiteau or the big top. Yes, shows are done under a BIG, BIG, tent. And yes, I do believe that all of those tents, seats, stage, costumes and down to the tiniest props were all brought in by the group. 

Beside the ticket booths

Upon entering the premises, one could already feel the orderliness and that excitement. Marshalls and ushers are scattered through out the venue. We were told that we can take pictures up until the concessionaires' area (or if you're one those blessed nilalang and have the priciest ticket, until the Tapis Rouge). And since I didn't  have my dslr cam with me, we made do with my Nokia N97 mini and Caren's Ipod Touch. 

Trying to be naughty... 

We lingered around the concessionaires' area for almost an hour I think. There were commemorative items being sold, from souvenir programs to apparel. There was a women’s blouse which I fell in love with, but it was expensive so I settle for a ballpen instead. Hehehehhe.

Anyhow, the tent opened at precisely 7:30pm. We were ushered in to our seats. As I’ve said earlier, since the show is being held inside a tent, the seats weren’t plush but it was comfortable.

How the show started from the intro to the start of Varekai itself was seamless. I mean, they have these 2 casts, a male and female who went around the audience area and did fun (and funny) things with them. They were sort of what one might call, front acts.

From the first act of this circus art, my mouth was literally left hanging open. I couldn’t help it. I felt sort of overwhelmed, because I don't know how I'd listen to the songs and dialogues while I was left staring with my mouth open on the acts being performed!! The acts alone made me stop listening to the songs and dialogues. I swear! Like, if you’d ask me to tell you what or how the story went, I’d answer you with “tingnan mo sa google yung summary or what Varekai is all about”. Ahahahhaha! Gosh! And I’ve always been the kind of person who would listen intently to dialogues or songs in a movie or play. Even if I’m reading a book, in my mind, I’d be imagining what I’m reading.

As I’ve said in one of my FB posts that very night I watched it, it is the best P3,350 I’ve ever spent for entertainment! And I would gladly pay more! Though judging from the turnout that evening, the tent wasn’t filled to the brim but I’d say that the numbers were decent enough for me to say that it didn’t flopped, a lot of people are saying, “ang mahal ng ticket eh”. Yeah, I understand. Like if you’re a family of 4 and all of you will go and watch it, the cheapest ticket will cost a total of more than P12, 000.00. Not cheap. But then, definitely worth it!