Zumanity has now opened at New York New York. This is a sexy and senusal
version of the usual Cirque du Soliel show. Apparently they are now saying that
current shows are "previews" even though full-priced, and changes may continue
to be made until the actual "grand opening" in mid-Sept.
I found the show somewhat of a mixed bag. It is certainly not
ground-breaking in any sexual way, and in fact is more R- rated than X. From the moment we
arrived we should have gotten a clue that the costuming would feature more
pseudo-nudity than actual, since the ushers wore short dresses that on first
glance appeared to be ground-breaking see-through dresses where you could see
their panties and bras underneath. A second glance showed that this was actually
a short dress that had the bra and panties painted on, and despite seeing
stockings held up by garter belt, the total effect while perhaps titallating to
some was actually totally non-revealing.
Similarly many of the costumes in the show feature pseudo-nudity -- flesh
colored panties with appropriate patches, small pasties over most if not all
nipples, and so on. A few men stripped to rather large codpieces held by
g-strings in back, but a lot of the time the skimpy costumes of the men were plain old
white briefs. I trip to Victoria's Secret for some sexier costumes wouldn't
be amiss for this show.
Personally I think there is nothing wrong with nudity, and if I'm seeing a
"adult" show that wants to be sensual and sexy and doesn't let anyone under age
18 in, I want to see some toplessness, and actually I wouldn't mind seeing
some tastefully done full nudity.
But the use of flesh colored costumes and pasties in many parts of this show
gave me an impression that the show was prudish in parts, rather than going
for the truly sensual.
The bottom line is that if you want to see the Cirque du Soliel, go to "O"
first, then "Mystere," and then "Zumanity" last if you've seen the others. If
you want a show that is really sexy, go see Skintight or maybe "X" or so on.
Basically Zumanity is a mix of 2 types of shows that doesn't quite do either
thing total justice.
A couple of side notes - if you don't want to be possibly touched by a
performer, such as having a large, skimpily clad lady or sexy guy sit in your lap,
don't sit in the lower part of the orchestra. We were in the upper part of the
orchestra and the seats were perfect (this might be called the mezzanine - it
was above the aisle). The balcony seats probably are not the best place to
sit.
Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes early for the pre-show.
The seats in the theater are not very wide. If you are a big person, try to
get one of the "sofa" seats.
Now for the main part of the review. I can almost imagine a group of people
sitting around planning the show and what they said. Before I go to their
dialog, let me explain that the show isn't bad, it is just that it seemed more
prudish than it should have been, perhaps a bit predictable, and certainly not
at the fantastic level of excellence of "O." Some of the acts were excellent
and the whole was entertaining, but unlike "O" or "Mystere" which are shows you
might want to see over and over, this is a show you probably would only want
to see once.
Anyway here is how I see the dialog of the producers as they decided how to
do the show:
···
----------
A: Gee, let's combine Cirque type acrobatics and clowns and acts with sex,
and it will be great.
B: Yeah, let's be daring, like -- we'll have a black man and a white man and
have them sort of box in an acrobatic way and it will be sort of sexy and
masochistic and they'll end with a sensual kiss.
A: Great - and let's make sure the black guy is very dark and the white guy
is really white.
B: Ooooooo -- an albino!
A: Great. And since we've got gay guys let's have a lesbian thing.
B: Like two lovely young girls, and let them swim in a fishbowl.
A: Terrific. But we've got to have a man and a woman together too.
B: So let's have a black man and a white woman to show all the equality we
have in the show and the diversity.
A: But make him really really black, and the white woman really white.
B: Hey like an albino with white hair! Terrific. And put them in a bath.
The guy can give the woman a bath, squishing water all over her. Now that's
sexy! Oooo - let's make it milk all over her. Wow! We're really getting
something now.
A: And we want to have diversity, so let's get a couple of big broads. Hey,
maybe some twins?
B: Don't forget the midget. We've got to have a midget.
A: My god, I have a great idea - we'll have a transvestite too - let him/her
be the master of ceremonies.
B: Fantastic. We'll have everyone of every color and every type, and even
every age.
A: I know a great old couple that are acrobats to put into the finale!
Let's end with a big orgy and these old folks come in for a great finale.
B: You're a genius.
----------
Well, that's what I imagine they might have said, then again, maybe not. The
above really doesn't do justice to the show, since a lot of the individual
acts are excellent. The best was probably the midget and the woman who "fly" on
curtains and are quite beautiful. The two girls in the fishbowl (or
champagne glass or whatever it is) are also excellent. And I liked the black man and
the white guy who fought. But somehow as a whole the show just wasn't as
sensual, sexy, or daring as I thought it could and would and should be.
The idea of a transvestite or transsexual hosting the show might have been
great if it had been someone as sexy and high energy as Tim Curry in "The Rocky
Horror Picture Show" as the "sweet transsexual from Transylvania." In fact,
on thinking about it after the show, I thought it might have been a terrific
idea if Cirque had bought the rights to "Rocky Horror," added their acrobats and
other acts, and translated the show into a terrific, sexy and sensual Cirque.
But they didn't do that. The MC for this show is more like a beefy guy in
drag, and though he is somewhat entertaining, he just wasn't sexy (except maybe
to someone who loves drag queens).
I've seen a number of scenes in "adult" reviews that showed the beauty and
grace of the human body and were really beautiful. "Enter the Night" -- the
old, now defunct Stardust revue -- had several great numbers. In one a woman
disrobed while a man sung about his dream woman, and they eventually danced
together, and it was beautiful. I remember several other great numbers from shows
like "Skintight" (Harrahs) and Tropicana's revue (I'm blanking on the name
right now - Follies Bergere?).
Unfortunately Zumanity never really goes for anything in that vein. The
closest number was the ballet-like flight of the midget and woman. There are no
real topless or nude numbers that show the beauty of the human body in its
fullness.
Also I did feel that the midget was there more for shock value than for the
fact that he was an excellent acrobat (which he was).
At least the Cirque forgoes its usual sometimes weirdish music for jazzy
numbers, usually sung in English. For much of the show, think of Caberet (the
Broadway show and Liza Minelli musical). Yet hardly any of Zumanity's numbers
seemed as "sexy" or kinky as the best of the Caberet numbers.
One of the best numbers in the show was a woman using a bungee-cord sort of
setup as bondage straps on herself. The effect of hearing her breathing was
eerie and disturbing. Though this was a quite interesting and "adult" number, I
again felt that Cirque didn't go quite far enough, in that she was not really
naked.
So all in all I did enjoy the show, but I felt somewhat disappointed. The
show seemed to be trying too hard (like teenagers deciding to "Let's put on a
show and have it be really sexy") in some ways, without being willing to go all
out with toplessness and truly skimpy outfits. Also many of the performers
were great athletes, but for the women, that meant that many were slender to
skinny, and didn't really have the sexy bodies to go with their sexier dancing.
The men had more muscular build, making them more of the traditional "sexy"
variety, assuming that you like muscular men.
Interestingly, unlike other Cirque shows I've seen, the audience failed to
give a standing ovation at the end (although a few people stood and everyone
clapped enthusiastically). If you have about $100 a person to spend on a show,
see "O" first. If you've seen the other Cirque shows, then maybe you'll like
to see this one too. If you're given a comp for Zumanity, as we were, then
go and enjoy.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
