Filmed live at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL in 2003 by famed director David Mallet (Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), the long-running Cirque du Soleil production La Nouba (a French expression meaning "to party, or live it up") looks and sounds fantastic. Combining their trademark exotic blend of music, comedy, and stunning individual and group performances, the Cirque team's 11th stage production serves up a number of impressive set pieces: a trio of young Asian girls masterfully spinning pins on handheld poles connected by a string, a pair of BMX bicyclists who can make their mechanical steeds "walk" up steps or stop on a dime, and some extraordinary high wire acts. The eye-popping finale is one of the best Cirque bits I've ever seen (and I was fortunate enough to catch this show live a few years ago), as a handful of troupe members use trampolines to vertically run up an approximately 20-foot-high structure full of windows that the performers pop in and out of. The double-disc set also boasts a handsome array of extras, including a 24-minute "Meet the Artists" section with additional in-depth interviews, a profile of "Les Cons" (the show's quartet of white-clad semi-clowns), a 15-minute "Meet the Musicians" featurette, and previews of other Cirque du Soleil productions on DVD. Highly recommended. [Note: Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within, the 13-episode television series offering a behind-the-scenes peek into the conception and launch of Varekai, Cirque's 13th production, is also newly available from Columbia TriStar in a triple-disc set priced at $39.95.] Aud: P. (R. Pitman)
La Nouba
(2003) 2 discs. 89 min. DVD: $28.95. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. ISBN: 1-4049-6954-3. Volume 20, Issue 1
La Nouba
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