Even if Zumanity had failed on opening night, it should have been considered a success. For any company to move so far away from what brought them fame and fortune to try something so completely different in tone is a huge risk—and one to be commended. The pre-Zumanity family-friendly Cirque du Soleil could have easily rested on their all-ages box when creating this show, but instead went all in on a mature audiences-only theme that proved to be a creative risk worth taking.
Nearing two decades on, the sensual concept from René Richard Cyr and Dominic Champagne, with the backing of Guy Laliberté, Zumanity takes mesmerizing acrobatic acts and paints them all with sensuality. For example, you’ll find two lovely ladies writhing and locked in embrace as they plunge in and out of a huge bowl of water. Then there’s the red mohawk-wearing hottie whose beautiful body fires up desires as he chains himself up and daringly flies through the theater. And the Midnight Bath number uses a menage-a-trois of performers who revel in each other’s sexiness inside of a champagne-filled bathtub. It’s Cirque du Soleil “after dark.”
New York-New York, 7 & 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Tues., starting at $69 plus tax and fee, $125 plus tax and fee for duo sofas (sold in pairs only), 18+. 866.606.7111
