Before this year, I had never seen a live Cirque du Soleil show. There are two main reasons for that. First was content, as many of the shows have a sensual theme or look down-right creepy. 
Some say art, I say kind of weird and ‘eccentric’. Second is price. These shows are not cheap but you get what you pay for. The quality of Cirque shows is known to be top-notch and I had heard so many great things about them.
In January, that changed.
OVO was a new show that was touring the area and would be making a stop in San Francisco. This was pretty much a story about bugs and an egg, which we thought was a fairly family-friendly subject. After seeing some advertisements, we decided to see how much tickets for our family of three would cost. Adult tickest cost around a hundred dollars each and child tickets were almost the same. So we figured we would have to miss this one too.
One day, a friend called. She said she won two free tickets to see OVO from a radio contest but couldn’t make it to the show the next day. We were thrilled and immediately bought the second to last available seat, which just happened to be right next to the seats we already had reserved!
The show was held in the area across the water from AT&T Park in a standalone tent. This alone was an experience in itself. The entrance area was full of people from all backgrounds and walks of life, everyone milling about and looking at the merchandise. When it was time, the numbered curtains opened and the crowd filed in to find their seats.
The stage area was round so you could get a good view from almost every section. It was a bit tight in the seating and a little humid in the tent. We didn’t even notice once the show began though. Gorgeous costumes, upbeat Brazilian-inspired music, colorful sets, and amazing acts continued through the entirety of the show.
The basic story is that a foreign bug shows up carrying an egg. The local bugs are fascinated with it and so the plot begins. The foreign bug falls in love with the resident hottie, the ladybug, as she plays hard to get.
Each set of performers were a different bug type. Trapeze-scarabs, wire-spider, trampoline-grasshoppers, acrobatics-fleas, etc. The “love duet of the butterflies” on the rope was the only act that had my daughter covering her eyes and going, “Eiuw”. Our favorite part was the fabulous footwork of the little ants. These girls were amazing!
The show was a blast! We were so enthralled that we almost didn’t realize an hour had passed and it was time for intermission. While the setup and props were something to awe over, the toilets were not. You had to go outside in the cold San Francisco air and into the dreaded Porta Potties. ‘Nuff said. We then went back inside to fully enjoy the rest of the show.
No pictures were allowed during the show, which completely makes sense. I can’t imagine what horror a flash could do to the performers while doing these dangerous acts. So, we opted to purchase a souvenir book which was a wise choice. I was even able to use the stickers inside for my scrapbook.
We had a fantastic time and recommend this show to everyone!
3 comments
Looks like tons of fun! How neat!
I’ve never seen a Cirque du Soleil show, the price has always been a bit steep. This one sounds like an interesting show, I didn’t realize they had storylines. Glad you had fun!
Amazing the things our bodies can do. I’m lucky I can stretch! Looks like you had fun 🙂
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