Exquisite Creative Interpretation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"…read more
SITREP
I got to enjoy the show with my friend Larissa J. - a HUUUGE fan of the "Cirque du Soleil"-brand w- and what we watched, heard and experienced in total, was a very beautiful story of shipwrecked lives, but transformed by love found in an exotic paradise of wonders & whimsy.
THE SETUP
This incarnation of "AMALUNA" is part of the touring show that started in San Francisco in late 2013 and has now migrated over the years until now here at Raley's field in West Sacramento (home of our AAA-team the "River Cats").
AMALUNA CREATION
From the great minds of Cirque du Soleil, AMALUNA premiered in Montréal, Canada, on April 19, 2012, created by Diane Paulus, one of the few Americans to rise high in the ranks of the Cirque de Soleil production realm.
Diane became Artistic Director of Theater & Opera of the American Repertory Theater (ART) at Harvard University in 2009, but she is probably best know recently for her nomination for the Best Director Tony Award for her revival of the musical "Hair".
Diane and her hubby Randy Weiner co-founded a small theater troupe in New York City called "Project 400 Theatre Group". Here they created avant-garde musical productions which merged classic theater and modern music, and their FIRST production was a rock version of Shakespeare's, "The Tempest".
The scouts of Cirque de Soleil looking for good source material from contemporary theater stumbled upon this gem and - flash forward some years - had her make an entire AMALUNA themed Cirque de Soleil event also loosely based upon this Shakespearean classic!
THE AMALUNA STORY
The AMALUNA story takes place on an island governed by moon goddesses ("Ama" = Mothers; "Luna" = Moon). During a storm, there is a shipwreck and several men are washed up to this beautiful Island Paradise. One of the divinity's daughter falls in love with one of the young men, and the trials that their love must endure make for the interesting chapters of contest that this production is all about.
FUN AMALUNA FACTS
* I loved how the central part of the AMALUNA stage platform was like a giant daisy wheel (lazy Susan) that allowed it to revolve like a suspended carousel. It is 25-feet diameter and weighs 6,000 pounds.
* Other than the AMALUNA carousel, the set design has very few moving parts allowing for focus to be on the performers.
* There are 174 branches in 534 sections (90 in the canopy and 84 upstage) making a total of 1.1 mile of branches.
* The upper tent-top grid - that suspended all of the AMALUNA aerial artists and from whence wonders of light and shimmering beauty were dropped upon the staged - weighs 8,600 pounds and includes three acrobatic winches, each able to lift loads up to 400 pounds at 10 feet per second.
And in fact, I WAS amazed at how fast those 3 beautiful AMALUNA Moon goddesses shot up so fast to the center of upward top! (There was also a cynical part of me that kept imagining, "Christ. What if that beast of a mechanism accidentally gets "unbolted" and crashes down to center stage?!? But luckily THAT never happened)
* The center AMALUNA acrobatic winch in the middle of the carousel can lift up to 1,000 pounds at 10 feet per second, and this certainly was tested when the Queen Lunar goddess invited the vocalist-cellist to sit amidst with her in her"Sliver of Moon" and play for the Island denizons.
* And how about that giant AMALUNA Fishbowl? The bowl part alone is 5 feet 5 inches tall, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter, and weighs 5,500 pounds when filled with water. But that was a beautiful scene when the moon daughter and the shipwrecked sailor acrobatically seduce each other atop, aside and INSIDE the fishbowl. I LOVE it all.
LE COMEDY
I almost feel guilty calling these talented individuals "clowns", but the talented duet - one a denizon female of the Island, the other the shipwrecked captain - find their OWN passion amidst very humorous scenarios that act as timed pieces to allow the aerial and acrobatic performers to rest up, grab a water, change costume, and than "have at it" again on the stage.
REFRESHMENTS!
You expect drinks and munchies to be a BIT more expensive when at special events, like games, shows and *pop-up* tents like this, right?
But even with each of our $14 beers
https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=wAuHQGXB5Wfyu05B6xxWbQ&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w
..and our $6 gummy bears,
https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=iyCFy90JlxVVbsxnnIaAUA&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w
..we were still caught up in the magic and whimsy of the moment and it was worth it.
THE LOWDOWN
AMALUNA is a beautiful, majestic, and exquisitely exotic themed event that will dazzle you with it's beauty and love of aerial performances, exciting dances & lively music!