Entertainment

Still fab-“O”-lous at 10

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Ten years after it opened, Cirque du Soleil’s O still impresses.

O quietly marked its 10th anniversary in 2008. Far from dating, however, the show remains a timeless experience; even its technology still impresses. Of course, O’s real strength, like that of its predecessor, Mystere, stems from a focus on the human elements of performance. Most of what O does best—physical grace and beauty, humor and symbolic narration, all tied together with surreal underpinning—is only occasionally equaled by Cirque’s other permanent Strip shows.

O features a hard-to-capture balance. KA’s gigantic moving stages, for example, are so awesome that the performers can seem specks by comparison, while Criss Angel Believe could use less of Angel’s personality and a lot more illusion and technology.

Sure, on some level, O has always been open to the criticism that it is simply Mystere on water. But, while the two share a sensibility, O’s massive tank ups Mystere’s wow factor considerably. O uses water in ways viewers anticipate (high dives), but its subtle approaches are most memorable, such as the percussive sound of a dancer splashing on a stage covered with water no deeper than a puddle.

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Richard Abowitz

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