Cirque du Soleil Kooza

This was a very entertaining and beautiful show. I loved the variety the show provided and how very entertaining it was. Cirque du Soleil shows are typically beautiful, but some are kind of dark and more targeted towards adults. I took my 16 year-​old niece to experience her first Cirque du Soleil show and she loved it. I was pleased to see how many times she (and the adorable 3 year-​old behind us) clap her hands or/​and laughed. I was afraid it was going to be more dark and slow like their Ka show in Vegas. And it was amazing how there is no such thing as a bad seat in the show. I was highly impressed by the set-​up. I would highly recommend this show to anyone.

Overall, a very enjoyable evening but not up to the level of the other Cirque show that we saw.
The acrobatics were fantastic. Particularly loved the couple on the unicycle, the gymnastic dancers in blue, the hula hoop woman, and the gerbil wheel men. The clown and magician acts, however, were terrible. The striped clowns with the kite were not so bad, but the magician, Christian, was neither funny nor entertaining, and the three clowns were similarly a letdown. I was very disappointed that the three contortionist women, which was one of the most publicized acts of Kooza, appears to have disappeared from the Portland show. Perhaps they quit when realizing they’d have to follow one of those lame clowns? I don’t know if the clown and magician acts were added as filler to replace them, but I would have preferred that they simple make the show shorter than put in those scenes.
So, on the whole, I would say 60−70% of it was beautifully done — great costumes, very talented, very artistic. 30−40% of it, which was slapstick clown and magician, was not good at all.
The setting is great — very intimate compared to those of you who have seen shows in the much larger Vegas venues. I would definitely recommend parking on the street under the bridge, rather than the lot.

Kooza took my Cirque du Soleil virginity, but what a way for it to go!
The show was remarkable and the performances were breathtaking. I enjoyed the contortionists, the random skits by the clowns, and the super hot guy climbing all those chairs…
Went during the pre-​peak time @ 4PM and the place was packed! We came a bit late so missed the first 10ish minutes, which we caught on the monitors outside. For the cost of tickets thinking they weren’t the best in the house, the view was still spectacular… It seemed no matter where you sat in the audience you had a fabulous view of the show.
The show was a 2.5 hours including an intermission in between worth 30 minutes. You’d think it’s such a long intermission, but it was just perfect enough to refresh yourself and look at their souvenirs. I enjoyed playing with the masks and hats, even purchased the CD for the show as a worker gave us at $ 5 discount if you use your AMEX card (take note). However, begesus, the costs of masks ranged from maybe $ 30 to even $ 190! INTENSE.
I know it’s not Kooza’s fault, but unfortunately PDX’s fault, but the parking was HORRIBLE. Take your time and park elsewhere and street car, taxi, bike or walk yourself there… $ 10 easy parking, but getting out was difficult. The attendants did not know how to organize themselves as they kept cars coming in as cars needed to get out. I personally stopped at my turn so another lane that was waiting for 5 – 10 minutes could go. Of course I told them they had to better organize their systems and by their rude response I had to yell my two cents…
Kooza show overall was great, definitely if you have the chance to go… GO!

Thoroughly enjoyed the incredible acrobatics, contortionists, wheel of death (AWESOME!), chair balancing… THE MUSIC (loved!)…thought the clown acts were entertaining… Just a beautiful show, as expected… definitely worth the cost of the tickets IMHO!

Eyes wide open, jaw dropped, in total awe! There were three acts that really stood out, those being the contortionists, the talented folks who jump and run around in a spinning hamster wheel, and the tight rope walkers. The only thing I didn’t enjoy so much was the circus-​y, clown-​y, goofy skits they performed between acts, although, this gave me time to down my $ 8.50 beer and $ 5 nachos without missing the important parts of the show!

With tickets at 145 bucks, I expected something more than what I can get at Dante’s any given sunday. While the wheels of death were amazing and scary, that was about the only thing that set it out from the other circus’ about town. An unexplained mish mash of characters which seemed left over or unused all tossed in and dressed up in burning manish garb. The costumes were only vaguely interesting and unfortunately, except for one act and a really neat wand, they lacked the sparkle I expected from a group most people eagerly describe as amazing. The creepy giggling guy with a nose like the doomed girl in «La Strada» dressed in stripped jammies who runs about with a kite? a king and two sexually frustrated hench men? maybe I missed something or I expected it to be a life changing experience, but it was pretty sad I had seen better at Circus Circus-​Reno, for free.

How to explain Kooza? If you’re familiar with Cirque du Soleil shows under the big top you no doubt understand the feeling of casting about to find the words to rationally describe all the magic and mystery and awe inspiring acrobatics that are involved in an evening’s performance. Kooza is not unlike welcoming back an old friend; one that never really changes but always surprises.
However, if you haven’t been to a Cirque du Soleil show, the closest perhaps I can get to explaining Kooza is that it’s like some mad mix of bawdy burlesque show, late night club down some dark alley in New Orleans, and a Fellini film of a day at the beach with your dog.
For Cirque du Soleil fans this stripped down return to its roots — 2009 marked the 25^th Anniversary of the first show — will not disappoint. New audiences will take a great deal of delight in this worthy introduction to Cirque du Soleil.