Cirque Mechanics

Subterms

    Latest story

    150 Shares24 Views

    Holiday Shows to See in N.Y.C.: ‘Elf,’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ and More

    by

    “Elf the Musical,” inventive spins on “A Christmas Carol” and classic family fare: Here are some of our favorite shows of the season.The end of the year marks the return of eggnog and latkes, gifting and regifting — and holiday-themed shows to bask in tradition, communal spirit and, yes, fun. In New York, we can always count on well-timed offerings on stages of all sizes.One of the biggest, the Marquis Theater, is hosting “Elf the Musical” (through Jan. 4) in which Grey Henson gets the title role “delightfully, entirely right,” according to Laura Collins-Hughes’s review for The New York Times. And then, at the cavernous Theater at Madison Square Garden, Whoopi Goldberg’s Miss Hannigan will do her darnedest to prevent the darling orphan girls of “Annie” from enjoying Christmas at Oliver Warbucks’s mansion (Dec. 4-Jan. 4, with Goldberg joining the cast on Dec. 11).In the middle is the Big Apple Circus, which once again pitched its tent in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. The company members may come from all over the globe, but the new show, “Hometown Playground,” is about New York City (through Jan. 5). And don’t overlook the jewel box New Victory Theater, which is presenting “Yuletide Factory” (through Dec. 29) by Cirque Mechanics, a Las Vegas troupe with, as Alexis Soloski described it in her review, “a giddily steampunk aesthetic.”And there is more, so much more — with some selections from around the country because New York can’t have all the fun.From left, Una Clancy, Mary Beth Peil, Kate Baldwin and Christopher Innvar in Irish Rep’s immersive, site-specific production of “The Dead, 1904.”Carol RoseggWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 125 Shares28 Views

      in Theater

      In ‘Yuletide Factory,’ Cirque Mechanics Manufactures a Family Holiday Show

      by

      It’s Christmas at the sweatshop, but the mood fluctuates between ho ho ho and ho hum.Since the 1840s, some people have complained about the commercialization of Christmas. Others have embraced it. “Yuletide Factory,” a circus show at the New Victory Theater, splits the difference, locating its cheer inside a sweatshop churning out seasonal doodads. Nothing says Christmas like a repetitive stress injury?Cirque Mechanics, a troupe with a giddy steampunk aesthetic, has produced five previous shows at the New Victory. This wordless entertainment is an adaptation, not especially inspired, of its first, “Birdhouse Factory (2008).” The holiday version, conceived by the Cirque Mechanics creative director, Chris Lashua, stages its circus acts on and around the factory floor — and the ceiling and occasionally a back wall. While the performers are all indisputably on the nice list, there’s a certain lack of spirit to the show, Christmas or otherwise. The mood fluctuates between ho ho ho and ho hum.In the first act, the workers arrive at a Depression Era plant. They’re an exuberant bunch, especially Chase Culp’s shambling clown. But their somber boss (Steven Ragatz, also a writer and a co-director) quashes any holiday revelry. (This is the 1930s, which means that human resources departments that can address religious discrimination haven’t been invented yet.) Still, the employees sneak in a rope act (Jeremy Cifonie and Erika Radcliffe) and a contortionist routine (Mariama Kouyate). And the boss might not be such a killjoy after all. In a sweet sequence — and the rare circus act that kids absolutely should try at home — he juggles several balls and then his own hat, briefcase and cane. Alas, juggling skills don’t guarantee solvency and the factory goes under, which allows for an intermission.Still, this is a circus, so bankruptcy doesn’t last long. In the second act the clown has bailed out the factory (too flexible to fail?) and the unusually nimble workers can now celebrate without fear of management reprisal. Some of the subsequent routines too closely echo the ones in the first act, though there is a delightful German wheel number (Cifione again), the only sequence that meaningfully exploits the eclectic machinery that Cirque Mechanics is known for.Apparently it’s hard to be the boss. There are a couple of entr’actes in which the clown, teased by his former supervisor, inclines toward the Grinchy. If this sophisticated critique of the corrupting power of capitalism goes over the heads of some of the New Victory’s littler attendees, they may yet intuit that seizing the means of production is even better with a few back handsprings.Jeremy Cifonie, on the German wheel, in the Cirque Mechanics’ production.Maike SchulzWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More