[FASTLARRY]

First impressions of ‘Cavalia,’ in Atlanta through Nov. 15

http://blogs.ajc.com/inside-access/2009/10...through-nov-15/

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=yAmfTZmR2x8


I have seen all 3 of their shows in Vegas, so I am a little jaded. Most of these shows have common elements and similar circus type performances in them. Each is different. They are all first class nice shows. The Vegas shows have large comfortable seats and you do not have a head blocking your view in front of you.

Yo Sarah had never seen one and she was thrilled with this one. She gave it a 10.0 rating. She loves horses and last year I sent her and her daughter up to North Georgia to ride for the day on a horse farm that has nice riding trails. If you like horses, this is your show, and even if you have never been on a horse, you will still enjoy it.

You have a circus tent they put up in a parking lot. Its made out of rubber instead of the old canvas. The theater is all put together scaffolding with chairs attached. It is not as big as the Vegas theaters that were built just for the show. So in an effort to make as much money as possible, you get a hard plastic chair that barely fits your butt unless you are the average little runt frog who is 140 lbs and 5' 5" , If you are 6 foot and over 200 lbs, you are fooked, and you are crammed into the chair in front of you so tight your legs can't move. Geeze its like being on Air Tran back in the cattle car, its worse.

So carry in a small pillow or pad to sit on, trust me on this. The next problem is the seats are not far enough apart, the one in front of you is too close to you. Its a huge stage, and lots of the acts are taking place right on the middle front of the stage, and you have the person sitting in front of you, their head is blocking the performers because your chair is not set high and back enough to clear their head. Heads are constantly going left and right, trying to see. They don't care about your personal comfort, the Frogs running this out of Quebec only want to see how much money they can squeeze out of as many packed seats they can cram in there.

Most performances are sold out so that makes it worse and you will feel like you are in a sardine can. It runs for an hour, 20 min break, then another hour. A bottle of water $4, every confection is $5 to $8, prices are like some of the big movie houses, ridiculous. It costs $10 to park.

Personally I think this show is badly over priced. In Vegas, you can get by with $100 a show, every show out there is around there. But they are charging $125 for Bob Uker nose bleed seats to $250. Most want to go on the weekend and the prices are higher then. You can get quite a reduction in prices during the week at a matinee.

For that reason I saw it once, I won't be back again. Once they suck it dry here, they will break it all down and move on to another city.

It's an amazing idea, the Circus has always been for your kids, and was cheap to attend. Today, you can get in the Ringling show for $25.

The Frog takes a basic Circus act, fliers, trapezes, rope climbers, acrobats, has them flying around on bungee cords, builds a really cool stage, and backdrops, nice music, and its the modern high tech cool circus. And, few kids, it's all adults, and a older audience.

The trouble with a Vegas act, is like Siegfried and Roy, soon you are paying these guys millions, and if one of them gets hurt, or dies, the show is over. The Frog has no stars, and if one of his main entertainers falls and dies, he has backups standing around to take their place at the next show. Finding and hiring Circus people, is easy, and they come cheap. So your payroll is low because you have no big stars, just jumpers and climbers. And instead of charging $25, you are now charging $125 to $200 and the people are paying it.

Once you get one of these set up, and you cover your install nut, it becomes a huge cash cow. Now that the Frog I think, has 4 or 5 of them now, he's become a billionaire, and just bought a 35 million dollar seat to fly up to the space station. It's amazing. The more you charge some people, the more they want it. And you pay out all that money, and this cheap frog fooker puts you into a tiny seat where your ass goes numb and both legs are showed into the seat in front of you where you can't move them around and they begin to loose circulation after about 30 minutes.

Here is a big tip, if you want to go in there cheap, and beat these problems, bring a pillow, and book your two seats in the middle, as far back as you can get, at the very top. The theater is not that big and you can see just fine back there. There are two seats, against the back wall, that are on the aisle. Meaning, no head in front of you, and you can extend your feet out since there are no seats, in front of you. Get a seating chart to find them. They are about $78, and about 10' in front of them, they jump to $125, and as you go down, the prices continue to climb.

The show has been running now for 6 years and is a huge success.
Seen by over 2.5 million people worldwide, Cavalia is a tribute to what the horse has accomplished and a celebration of the relationship that we have enjoyed together. This multimedia extravaganza features more than 100 two- and four-legged artists, including beautiful horses of 12 breeds, riders, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and live musicians. It is this combination that sets the mood in the majestic White Big Top, the largest touring White Big Top in the world. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Cavalia is the brainchild of Cirque du Soleil co-founder Normand Latourelle, who has become renowned for producing popular events throughout the world.

Cavalia is not just a show for horse-lovers. Nor is it a show just for Cirque-fanatics. It is a lavish orchestration of multimedia, equestrian and performing arts designed to astound and entertain people of all ages and backgrounds. Under the world’s largest touring Big Top, which rises 100 feet above ground and spans more than 26,264 feet, 60 of the most magnificent creatures on the planet will express themselves in all their beauty, grace and strength on a 160-foot wide stage. While the horses gallop and cavort and, at times, run free completely unbridled, the show will incorporate unbelievable acrobatics, original live music and stunning special and lighting effects to create a dreamlike setting, making it apparent to see why this show has become a global sensation.