Cirque's new show still dazzles

The more grounded (in every sense of the word), yet still enthralling "KOOZA" marked Cirque du Soleil's return to Chicago after a two-year absence.

Gone are the dazzling aerial acts that dominated 2006's "Corteo," the last Cirque incarnation to play under the Grand Chapiteau adjacent to the United Center. They have been replaced by the less ethereal but still engrossing circus arts of acrobatics, clowning and juggling as well as such old-school staples as the unicycle and the high-wire.

This incarnation boasts some thoroughly enjoyable slapstick courtesy of a terrific trio led by king clown Gordon White (who recalls Christopher Lloyd's nutty professor in "Back to the Future") and including Christian Fitzharris and James Slonia. There's sleight-of-hand from Michael Halvarson's wily pickpocket; madcap chases involving bumbling coppers and a high-spirited dog who's not quite curbed and a dazzling and intimidating production number where skeleton showgirls decked out in feathers strut like Las Vegas pros.

More Coverage Video Cirque du Soleil's 'Kooza'

Writer/director David Shiner's wonderfully entertaining spectacle centers around the Innocent, a man-child played by the beguiling St#233;phan Landry, who is escorted on his journey to self-awareness by the Trixter (played with a soup#231;on of menace by lithe, teasing Justin Sullivan). "KOOZA's" narrative is thin, but Cirque's typically astonishing visuals make up for it. A melange of Indian, Hindu and Asian influences, the show incorporates a vivid, jewel-tone palette that's reflected in St#233;phane Roy's Bataclan, a towering piece whose "sails" unfurl to reveal a two-story bandstand, and in Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt's provocative and bedazzling costumes. Jean-Fran#231;oise C#244;t#233;'s jazz-tinged score mixing western brass and sass with exotic sounds of the East and underscored alternately by ominous rumbles and plaintive sighs.

As robust and muscular as "KOOZA" is, it has moments of great delicacy. There's the whimsy Landry brings to the Innocent; the balletic unicycle pas-de-deux and the trio of contortionists whose sculptural performance is beautiful expression of strength and grace. Yet it remains a spectacle delivering thrills in the form of a bold, defiant teeterboard routine and a heart-stopping, seemingly gravity-defying performance by Carlos Enrique Marin Loaiza and Angelo Lyerzkysky on the appropriately named Wheel of Death. From the audience, Loaiza and Lyerzkysky received from the audience the kind of thunderous response typically reserved for rock stars.

They earned every bit of it.

"KOOZA"

Rating: 3#189; stars

Location: United Center parking lot, 1901 W. Madison St., Chicago

Times: 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays; 4 and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 10

Running Time: About two hours, 40 minutes with intermission

Tickets: $38.50-$125

Parking: $20

Box office: (800) 678-5440 or cirquedusoleil.org

For most ages