Cirque Italia brings innovative water circus to Vernon Hills

Cirque Italia, a European traveling circus, will be bringing a Broadway-style stage filled with 35,000 gallons of water to the Westfield Hawthorn Shopping Center in Vernon Hills Friday through Sunday, Oct. 10-12.

During the two-hour show, audience members will be surprised when the lid lifts up to 35 feet in the air while a curtain of rain and fountains dance with each performance move.

Cirque Italia is presented under a customized white and blue big top tent 110 feet in circumference and 70 feet high. The circus brings the appreciation of production and circus arts together with an international cast of circus performers.

Performances include Coco the Clown from Argentina, who rides the world's smallest bicycle; contortion atop an 8-foot coat rack; a hula-hoop balancing act around a ring of water; the juggling Fusco Twins, who are in the Guinness Book of World Records for juggling five clubs for 57 minutes; a mermaid; generations of circus families sharing their talents from around the world and more.

Also performing is the 360 Laserman, an illusion with laser lights in which the performer actually "holds" a beam of light in his hand, splits it into two, then bends it and spins it around like a lightsaber.

Owner Manuel Rebecchi from Milano, Italy, has brought his legendary family's genuine, traditional European-style circus to the U.S. He is the nephew of the famous Moira Orfei. Moira Orfei Circus is Italy's most famous circus, founded in 1960.

For tickets or more information, visit CirqueItalia.com or call (941) 704-8572. Advance discount tickets are available for a limited time at cirqueitalia.com/tickets.

Level 1 tickets are $50 for adults, $45 for children 12 and younger; Level 2 tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children; and Level 3 is $20 for adults and $10 for children. One child will be admitted free with every regular full price adult admission ticket in levels 2 and 3.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10; 2:30, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11; and, 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. To preview the show, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-fFwUVu__I.

The show also is scheduled for

Oct. 3-5 at Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora and Oct. 24-26 at Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie.