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"Cirque Imagine" at Kings Island


BoddaH1994
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I went to see all three shows yesterday. It's funny, I was there waiting when the doors opened a half hour before the 3:00 show, 5 minutes before the 5:00, and 15 before the 7:00, yet I was able to get nearly the exact same seat each time: third row, center.

I really enjoyed the show a lot more than last time. Most of them are taking on a practiced smoothness that hides the effort needed to do their stunts.

There is a new clown, again. The one who replaced the injured clown has been replaced. The replacement does not appear to be the one originally injured (although I've personally only seen pictures of that one). The show I saw prior to yesterday, the first replacement was playing the role of Niko, but the new Niko is one of the other three who have been performing since the beginning of the season. He is neither the one with long hair nor the shortest clown. He is the one I found so charming before, so I think it was a good choice.

The brand new clown is excellent! He is very facially expressive, so he is a joy to watch. There are some small things that he has added to the performance that I feel are real improvements.

The woman in white seems to be getting some more confidence in her skills. The first time I saw the show, I noticed she showed how difficult everything was on her face, now she has more stage presence. There were a couple small bobbles during yesterday's performances which may have been caused by getting used to a new Niko. She balked a couple times before the lift up on the backdrop at the end during the first performance (although it was ultimately done well once they did it) and during the third performance she and new Niko couldn't get a rhythm going to do her final spectacular spinning at the top of the rope. She handled that so well, though, if I hadn't seen the act I wouldn't have realized something had gone wrong.

The other performers are also great. The bike dragon has been excellent this whole time, and the other two who do the trampoline are great at it. The woman who does the ring is one of my favorites, and she is getting even better at her tricks, and is showing more attitude in her performance. I've noticed there seems to be a little play in the show at the end of her having some connection to another one of the clowns (the shortest one).

Watching all three performances yesterday helped make it my favorite visit of the year so far.

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Fantastic show, I've watched it a few times now. Best part is how relaxed the performers are with everything. Plus with me knowing French and most of them are from Quebec, it was nice to kind of get to know them a bit more personally than the typical thank you, selfie deal.

Get a chance to go in and say hi to them and thank them, they really enjoy that kind of stuff. I mean I didn't think me standing up, and turning around and telling everyone else to get up would have heralded that much thanks. During the applause one of the performers looked and nodded at me because of it, they really do enjoy our gratitude.

So go, enjoy the show, relax in the AC, and just watch as this group of performers just perform these excellent stunts for about 25 minutes, def. as advertised, something to not miss in the park.

Merci Beaucoup mes amis!

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I finally got to see the show and it was fantastic. As I'm sure Devan can attest to, I didn't want to look away (Yeah I saw you in my peripheral looking over to see my reaction). I can't imagine the training it takes to pull off the acts they perform. Not only that but literally dozens of times during the show their lives were on the line. There is little to no margin of error.

The videos don't do the show justice. If you haven't seen it you need to go see it live. I'm going to make sure and see it several more times this summer.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I FINALLY got around to seeing Cirque Imagine on Friday. You guys talked it up so much that I decided I probably should give it a try. Typical Cedar Fair/Six Flags live entertainment (i.e., music revues that may or may not feature people ice skating) really have done nothing for me in the past and felt like a way to say "look, we have more than rides" than a genuine attempt to give guests an alternative to riding roller coasters.

Let me just say that, in addition to seeing Cirque on Friday, I also wanted (and did) see it again today. And I'll also see it the next time I'm at the park. And the next time. And the next time. Because wow. Cirque Imagine is truly incredible.

The art direction is beautiful. The actors convey the emotion of the story (it has a story! at a Cedar Fair park!) wonderfully while still being humorous and thoroughly entertaining--and that's all done with minimal dialogue, all in a language a majority of the audience presumably does not speak (French). When each scene is performed, it is done extremely well and almost always takes a turn that you will not expect your first time watching. If you all hadn't talked about a performer having been injured, I would never have guessed that it's missing an actor*. It's seamless. Do yourself a favor and see this show if you haven't already. Seriously. You're not going to regret it. Even if you aren't into shows, it heralds the Ouimet era of live entertainment and makes me really excited to see what's next throughout the chain.

I have to give HUGE kudos to KI's live entertainment department. Between Cirque and the roaming band, they have really outdone themselves this year. They've made me a believer in the relevancy of live entertainment at Cedar Fair parks, and the bar is set very high for the rest of the chain and for live entertainment in future years at Kings Island, as far as I'm concerned.

*And according to that actor's Twitter (@trevorbodough), he'll be back in the show starting Tuesday!

@Kiera_Peterson Backstage prepping for a return onTuesday!

So now I have even more of a reason to check out CI on my next visit!

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I FINALLY got around to seeing Cirque Imagine on Friday. You guys talked it up so much that I decided I probably should give it a try. Typical Cedar Fair/Six Flags live entertainment (i.e., music revues that may or may not feature people ice skating) really have done nothing for me in the past and felt like a way to say "look, we have more than rides" than a genuine attempt to give guests an alternative to riding roller coasters.

Let me just say that, in addition to seeing Cirque on Friday, I also wanted (and did) see it again today. And I'll also see it the next time I'm at the park. And the next time. And the next time. Because wow. Cirque Imagine is truly incredible.

The art direction is beautiful. The actors convey the emotion of the story (it has a story! at a Cedar Fair park!) wonderfully while still being humorous and thoroughly entertaining--and that's all done with minimal dialogue, all in a language a majority of the audience presumably does not speak (French). When each scene is performed, it is done extremely well and almost always takes a turn that you will not expect your first time watching. If you all hadn't talked about a performer having been injured, I would never have guessed that it's missing an actor*. It's seamless. Do yourself a favor and see this show if you haven't already. Seriously. You're not going to regret it. Even if you aren't into shows, it heralds the Ouimet era of live entertainment and makes me really excited to see what's next throughout the chain.

I have to give HUGE kudos to KI's live entertainment department. Between Cirque and the roaming band, they have really outdone themselves this year. They've made me a believer in the relevancy of live entertainment at Cedar Fair parks, and the bar is set very high for the rest of the chain and for live entertainment in future years at Kings Island, as far as I'm concerned.

*And according to that actor's Twitter (@trevorbodough), he'll be back in the show starting Tuesday!

@Kiera_Peterson Backstage prepping for a return onTuesday!

So now I have even more of a reason to check out CI on my next visit!
You saw kind of a chopped up version of the show some some people are on the mend. Trevor on his bike is a crowd favorite. Glad you enjoyed the version you saw because you'll LOVE the show at 100%!
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If that's chopped up, then the real thing is guaranteed to be a winner with me. Thanks for the update!

Oh, trust me, it's a winner. Even the show, which essentially was two acts down, yielded standing ovations. Trevor seems pretty confident that he'll be ready Tuesday, and they integrated an abridged version of the seesaw act today. Things are looking good. Not to mention the new HAND2HAND act which is an incredible addition.
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Watched the 3 o'clock show today, makes 5 times for me. I am amazed everytime, I didn't know until today that the cast does a meet and greet and poses for pictures after the show. Very nice group and a few said they were in Skeleton Crew. By the way they said Trevor will be back Tuesday.

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Watched the 3 o'clock show today, makes 5 times for me. I am amazed everytime, I didn't know until today that the cast does a meet and greet and poses for pictures after the show. Very nice group and a few said they were in Skeleton Crew. By the way they said Trevor will be back Tuesday.

Meet and greets are not guaranteed, and do not happen after the 7:00 show. Just an FYI for those keeping track at home.
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To clear up a little confusion: Trevor is the guy on the bike. He was not the injured actor. According to Trevor's tweets, he was simply taking a day or two off to rest (hence the tweet above). The injured actor from earlier this month was Nico, one of the clowns. Trevor's tweets indicate that Nico has returned to Canada, so I assume that Nico will not be back in the show this year.

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Whoops! My bad. I thought Trevor was the actor who had been injured, and the show had switched around to remove the bike scene until he recovered. That's what I get for not seeing this show until this weekend and not reading this thread as thoroughly as I ought to have done before posting in it.

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Uh, the Entertainment Department selected it. They could have gone with a Justin Bieber revue. Be thankful.

I was really pulling for that revue to happen!!!!! :(

Just kidding.

This is an acrobatic revue...
A Justin Bieber acrobatic revue? I was hoping for the Biebs revue, but Cirque Imagine is okay.

Kidding about wanting a Bieber revue.

Sent from the electronic piece of equipment known as the iPad using Tapatalk

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I caught the show twice today, so I got to see the new act.

The snake lady (as I will call her, not because she uses a snake in the act, but I feel she moves like one) is a very talented enjoyable addition to the show. The stunts performed by her and her partner are amazing, and she has such a sinewy grace. I very much liked her contribution to the show.

However, I don't like that they cut nearly the entire teeter-totter clown portion to make room. I wish they had cut out some of their clowning around on the box at the beginning rather than that. I can't get enough of watching the long haired clown in the air. I love his talent and gracefulness. Sure, I still get to see him on the trampoline, but I still miss the teeter totter.

One of the clowns (the shortest one) had a bit of an accident in the first show, but fortunately he didn't seem to be injured (and did the rest of the show and the second show fine). As they were wheeling in the tall stand before the teeter totter (the bit of the act they still use), one of the folded mats slipped off the cart, right at the position the other two were carrying the teeter totter to. As he was quickly backing it into position, he tripped into the mat and fell on his butt and the clown on the other end didn't have time to react and stop moving forward, so he ended up with the teeter totter's end jamming into his pelvis after he sat down hard. I could tell it wasn't part of the act, and he looked a little upset/embarrassed and in some pain (but not too bad). Fortunately, the end of the teeter totter and the thing he landed on were padded. The second showing, I noticed he looked behind him as he approached the same area, rather than backing up blindly.

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