The cycle of Cirque du Soleil

TONY DODERO

All is forgiven.

At least, that would seem to be the case judging from the

reception Friday night at the opening night of the Cirque du Soleil

performance of “Varekai” at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

But first a little history.

Hark back to January 1997. Cirque du Soleil had come to town and

set up shop at the fairgrounds in its characteristic multicolored

tents. Sitting in the parking lot near the corner of Fair Drive and

Fairview Road, the location proved disastrous for fair and Cirque

officials, even though the performance itself, “Quidam,” was so

successful that it was extended deep into March of that year.

The nearby College Park neighborhood, itself the source of bad

blood from years of Pacific Amphitheatre noise, came unglued. The

loud noise from Cirque, topped off by the crashing sound of a loud,

large drum, was driving residents to distraction each night.

Fair officials launched a committee to study the problem, and nary

a week went by that we didn’t have page after page of letters to the

editor or call after call to the Readers Hotline debating the merits

of Cirque du Soleil. And by the time it was all over, it seemed the

Cirque would say good riddance to Costa Mesa forever.

And by January 2000, it looked like that was going to happen.

Cirque du Soleil returned to Orange County, and instead of going

to the fairgrounds, it landed at the Irvine Spectrum, with a

production of “Dralion,” to the delight of Larry Agran and the Irvine

gang.

After the production ended, we wrote an editorial that finished

like this: “It’s too bad that a city that likes to call itself the

City of the Arts, that boasts a world-class performing arts center

and a cutting-edge repertory theater, can lose such a prestigious and

enjoyable event as the Cirque du Soleil. It’s too bad that fairground

officials were so short-sighted in their planning and were unable to

foresee the debacle they had planned.

“It’s too bad that residents were so quick to run the troupe out

of town and were unable instead to see it as, yes, maybe a boisterous

visitor, but a visitor who brought culture and notoriety to our fair

city.

“But maybe there’s still time to make amends and bring the Cirque

back to Costa Mesa. Chantal Blanchard, the circus’ spokeswoman, told

the press that despite the good run at the Spectrum, there’s no

guarantee they’ll make the spot a permanent home.

“Costa Mesa officials, here’s your chance to pull off the best

high-wire act yet. Let’s work to bring the Cirque back home to the

City of the Arts.”

Now, I’d never be so bold as to suggest that anyone took our

editorial advice. But the Cirque is back, though now it’s at the east

end of the fair parking lot, closer to the freeway than homes.

And aside from a small, front entrance protest over the Cirque’s

firing of a man who is HIV-positive, Friday night was a good night

for Costa Mesa indeed.

“Leave the past where it’s at,” City Manager Allan Roeder said

after the show finished.

Roeder, who attended with his wife, was very impressed with the

evening’s performance of high-wire acts, gymnastics, contortions and

flat-out hilarious clowns.

“It brings spirit and vitality to the community,” Roeder said of

the Cirque’s return. “That’s why it belongs in Costa Mesa.”

Spotted in the crowd opening night were a number of luminaries.

The few whom I remember seeing included: Orange County Sheriff Mike

Carona; Marketplace owner Bob Teller; Newport Film Festival chief

Greg Schwenk; Costa Mesa Councilman Mike Scheafer; Costa Mesa Chamber

of Commerce honcho Ed Fawcett; Fair General Manager Becky Bailey

Findley; Newport Beach Sgt. Steve Shulman; South Coast Plaza

marketing whiz Werner Escher and Orange Coast Magazine Editor (and

former Pilot colleague) Tina Borgatta.

If this performance and reception is a harbinger of the future,

I’d bet on a long Cirque run this year and an unquestionable return

down the road.

*

It looks like the Cub Scout tours have resumed in the Daily Pilot

newsroom. Here’s a shout out to the Carden School Cub Scout Den 2,

who came to see how the paper is produced. Accompanied by mom Leslie

Fuchs were Cub Scouts William Fuchs, Matthew Kernan, Charlie Gels and

Marty Taylor.

I trust we now have four solid new readers to add to the Pilot

family.