****4/5 Stars****
A perfect evening for those who love a circus that comes alive at night. The vampire circus is such a show. With a mix of humour and stunning agility, this circus shows a person the beauty that is hidden in the darkness. A great experience for Anne Rice lovers, Halloween junkies, and night owls in general. Thank you, Grey Eagle Casino for making some undead dreams come true.
The set look like it is straight out of Transylvania. A gothic castle standing in the night with blood-coloured windows are setting the scene. The music was a symphony of eerie classical music remixed with harsh electronica. Keeping things elegant but spine-chilling. When the lights start up that is when the action happens. Only the action can't happen unless the audience screams their loudest scream.
The percussion sounds and the performers emerge from out of the shadows and out on the stage. The clown emcees bring giant hammers and sulk around until they tell a joke or set the scene for the acrobats.
Out of a coffin comes a trapeze artist that looked part vampire and part spider. Genuinely frightening but grimly beautiful, you watch as this woman twists and turns while making the spiderwebs attached to her work with her apparatus. She wasn't the only marvel. The hula hoop dancers got her own shares of "ooohs and ahhhs." The way she took multiple hula hoops and swung them on her arms, legs, and everything in between gives the audience a sense of wonder. However, the expert prop manipulator (juggler) had many of the ladies in the audience swooning. Mostly, because he looked like Jason Momoa. With six props being thrown and caught all at once was fun but the fact that he can catch these pink marshmallow-like balls in his mouth. That is not something you see everyday.
The whole circus is something you don't see everyday. There was a lot of audience participation and it was mostly funny (i.e. the knife "throwing" stunts) which had everyone in the room laughing. Then the whole audience had to light up their phones with their flashlights in order for the clowns to do their next trick. Couldn't remember the last time that ever had happen. Then again, you would never expect a vampire to get a stake in his butt when he was announcing an intermission.
The second half of the show was just as dramatic and exciting as the first half. An aerialist that starts the show looking like she was just murdered, hanging upside-down on her silk which a drummer circling her as if to wake her up. Clearly, he succeeds and she does an aerial dance that takes your breath away. The constant wrapping up different parts of her body and then tumbling down has a living person's heart jump to their throats. Following her was a aerial hoop artist that spun and dangled his way into all of our hearts. He looked like he was a bat flying in the air. Or in this case, a vampire bat. Lastly was the contortionist. She looked like she came straight out of the exorcist. You would have never seen a better spider-walk come from another performer.
All in all this was a great show. Funny, surreal, and special. Everything a circus should be. The only reason why a star was docked was because, there didn't seem to be enough attention to the audience in the back. It would have been nice to see them included a little more than just the phone bit. This event screams Halloween through its bared fangs. If you ever get a chance to see it, go for it. Don't be shy; they don't bite. Hard anyway.
Special Thanks to:
Grey Eagle Casino: A great setting for a Halloween show. https://www.greyeagleresortandcasino.ca/
Vampire Circus: For giving us a look into the land of the undead. https://thevampirecircus.com/
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