Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna brings a mystical island ruled by the Moon to the Pepsi Center

Want to take a trip to a mystical island that is ruled by the Moon? You only have to go as far the Pepsi Center parking lot for this adventure, because the latest Cirque Du Soleil traveling show, Amaluna, opens there tonight. Celebrating its one-year anniversary -- which is young...

By Emilie Johnson

July 18, 2013

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Want to take a trip to a mystical island that is ruled by the Moon? You only have to go as far the Pepsi Center parking lot for this adventure, because the latest Cirque Du Soleil traveling show, Amaluna, opens there tonight. Celebrating its one-year anniversary -- which is young for a Cirque show -- Amaluna has stopped in Colorado on its tour across the country, which has been mystifying audiences with high energy, acrobatic feats that help tell the story as two people from other worlds fight for their love.

In fact, Amaluna is the first Cirque show to have a storyline. "We certainly do get that theatrical sense to Amaluna, which is very different," say Jamie Reilly, company manager -- or mayor of the traveling village that is Cirque Du Soleil.

The show also has a Tony award-winning director, Diane Paulus. "There are traditional acts we have reinvented," Reilly says. "For example, we have a teeterboard act but instead of just having a teeterboard, there's an additional platform that adds a whole new dimension to the teeterboard."

The 48-member cast is 70 percent female, including an all-female band. "The music, I like to qualify it as rock with a techno edge," Reilly says. "So very different from the new-world, new-age Cirque Du Soleil music. It rocks." The costumes are over-the-top, too, ranging from Amazon warriors to the sea. The most lavish outfit is the peacock costume, which is made of fourteen layers of heat-pleated fabric, leather and feathers. But the amazing sights don't end there. "We have a number in the second act that is very unique in the world, not just to Cirque Du Soleil," says Reilly. "I'm not going to say very much about the number so not to ruin the surprise effect but I will make one promise...by the end of the number, nobody in the big top will be breathing."

For ticket information, go to the Cirque website.

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