Daredevil Feats Meet Holiday Mirth

Religion never stopped Neil Goldberg from appreciating the trappings of the holidays.

"Even though I'm Jewish, I've always been a fan and collector of Christmas ornaments," he said. "The holidays are sort of generic in the sense that there's not anyone in the world who doesn't buy into the celebratory theme of the season."

It's a theme that Goldberg and his troupe of aerialists, contortionists and acrobats hope will make the first national tour of "Cirque Dreams Holidaze" a successful one.

The show, which just had a run in Memphis at the Orpheum, unifies two seemingly contradictory images: daredevil physical feats with holiday mirth.

"It's kind of mind-boggling how we are still doing scary, dangerous things and instead of presenting it in the way of 'maybe they'll make it, maybe they won't,' we're making people think 'how cute and clever."'

Think gingerbread men doing backflips.

Goldberg started his company Cirque Productions in 1993 as a way to expand the potential of the popular Quebecois-style of circus performing pioneered by Cirque du Soleil. He has created productions for two Super Bowls, Disney, Busch Gardens and numerous corporate events.

His niche is inventing shows that can be bused to Broadway-style houses. One of them, "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy," which was seen at the Orpheum in 2006, even became the first cirque-style show to have a Broadway run.

The inspiration for "Cirque Dreams Holidaze" was his collection of ornaments.

"I thought: 'I'm going to create a show where the ornaments come to life and each of them tells a story,"' he said. "It's very musical theater. There's a Dickens' character, toy soldiers, Jack-in-the-Boxes that pop up in Christmas attire. It brings a smile to people's faces."

Every new Cirque Dreams show begins with a Goldberg concept. He then assembles a team of artists who can forward the story with their feats. Cirque Productions operates a training facility in Pompano Beach, Fla., where artists from around the world come up with new material. His company now employs 140 people spread out over three shows.

Doing a fluffy, puffy Christmas show, full of reindeers, penguins and elves proved challenging for his artists.

"They were actually quite shocked at the idea," Goldberg said. "They are used to wearing form-fitting costumes. Any female acrobat will tell you that they can't perform a flip in a dress. So I had to find performers who could adapt and transform into the recognizable ornaments."

Due to the artists' specialized skills, some unique to a single performer, the two touring companies of "Holidaze" now crisscrossing the country feature slightly different stunts.

Goldberg said he had to run several aspects of the production past his staff first, just to make sure his ideas stayed in line with the more traditional aspects of Christmas.

"It's interesting to mix my imagination with what artists are able to do, but there was a time I heard 'No, Santa is NOT going to do that!,"' he said, laughing. "We still have Santa appearing in a special way. I like to think that what we're doing with 'Holidaze' isn't so much a Cirque du Soleil show, but more along the lines of modern-day vaudeville. It's a unique presentation that showcases originality."