Cirque du Soleil is back in Regina with their production of OVO.
Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian touring contemporary arts circus opens their production of OVO at the Brandt Centre on Thursday night, with shows running all weekend until Sunday.
“Cirque du Soleil started in 1984 with a small group of street performers that set out to reinvent circus,” said Janie Mallet, OVO’s senior publicist. “You think circus and think animals, but they really wanted it to be about the human possibilities.”
OVO, which means egg in Portuguese, is a story about an insect’s journey meeting a new colony of bugs. Mallet says it’s a performance for all ages.
“There’s a love story with a ladybug, it’s about how we adapt to change. It’s a story of friendship, and diversity and inclusion and just a beautiful story with lots of different emotions and comical moments with our clowns.”
A large production requires a large crew. OVO requires over 100 travelling crew members to run. From acrobats to clowns, musicians to costume designers, there’s no shortage of talent needed by Cirque du Soleil to put on their show.
Catherine Audy is an aerial straps artist in the show, playing the role of a butterfly. She says it’s a must-see show and being able to fly during her act is something she loves.
“It’s a very acrobatic show, very colourful, the music is amazing, kind of a Brazilian vibe,”Audy said. “It’s a really good show to forget about your life for two hours and enjoy.”
And if you go backstage, you can even find a little bit of Regina at OVO.
Tim Oberthier is an RF Technician for Cirque du Soleil and hails from Regina. After touring the world for the last few years, he’s finally making his return home.
“I burned through my entire roll for the year of free tickets in this city sorting out my entire familym” Oberthier said.
Oberthier is expecting up to 14 of his closest friends and family at the show. He’s excited to show them what he does and for them to enjoy the performance.
“I’m looking forward for that and for everybody to experience it first hand.”
Cirque du Soleil’s OVO is in Regina from July 21 to July 24. After Regina, they will be in Saskatoon at the SaskTel Centre from July 27 to July 31.