The opening night performance of KOOZA marked a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil with acrobatic performances and the art of clowning. The show mesmerized a crowd of 2,500 by highlighting the physical demands of human performance, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor, live music, and high-caliber acrobatic artistry.
Kooza takes you on a wonderful story of hope, adventure, and possibilities, set around a boy who is trying to fly a kite soon receives a mysterious package. Once this package is opened, well, the whole can of worms is let loose. Jumping out of the box is the host of the alternative world, who takes the boy (and the audience) on a ride full of interesting creatures, amazing athletic spectacles, and wonderful music that carries the entire performance through to the end.
A cavalcade of Hollywood stars welcomed Cirque du Soleil back to town Friday night, October 16, bringing added star power to the electrifying opening-night benefit performance of KOOZA at the Santa Monica Pier.
Proceeds from the performance and an extravagant after party – which totaled nearly half a million dollars, will support the ongoing work of local environmental group Heal the Bay and the ONE DROP Foundation, the clean-water nonprofit formed by Cirque founder Guy Laliberte.
The organizations greeted dozens of their celebrity supporters from the worlds of film, TV, music and sports, including such notables as event chairs Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall, Pierce and Keely Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Owen Wilson, Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons, Geena Davis, Neil Patrick Harris, Heather Graham, Heal the Bay board member Amy Smart, hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille, and rockers Joe Walsh and Rick Rubin.
Kooza will perform through November; shows occur Tuesday – Thursday at 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays 1p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/kooza or call 800.450.1480.If you live in Santa Monica, Kooza is something you must not miss. Kooza is the biggest and most popular entertainment spectacle in Santa Monica this year!
