“A juggler, a contortionist and a singer walk into the Winchester Mystery House” isn’t the start of a joke but something that actually happened this week as a trio of performers from Cirque du Soleil’s upcoming production, “Echo,” took a tour of San Jose sights on Tuesday.
The performers — contortionist Indrajit Kumavat, singer Jonathan Stombres and juggler Henrik Veres — were in town to promote the show, which opens April 8 and runs through May 11 at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. They stopped by the Tech Interactive, where they got to use their distinctive body movements to interact with the new “Dream Garden” AI exhibit; the equally colorful Children’s Discovery Museum and the aforementioned Winchester mansion.
They even stopped by SAP Center that night, where Stombres sang the National Anthem and Kumavat and Veres provided a mini performance for the crowd. Of course, they also got to clown around a bit with mascot S.J. Sharkie (who, you may recall, had a Cirque style adventure when he was stuck hanging from the rafters before a game in 1999.)
“Echo,” which started touring in 2023, features a protagonist, Future, and her best friend, a dog named Ewai (played by Veres) who encounter a mysterious 23-foot high cube. If you’ve been to a Cirque show before, you know that there will be a lot of high-flying, breathtaking stunts after that. And, in a Cirque du Soleil first, most of the show’s seven musicians also will be singing live at some point in the show.
“The musicians are on stage the entire time, so we’re kind of the narrators of the show as well,” said Stombres, who will be playing the electric xylophone as well as singing.
Veres, who comes from a circus family, said he’s enjoyed the vagabond aspect of traveling with Cirque shows because it’s fun to discover a new city. “It’s always an exciting feeling because you arrive and you’re like, OK, let’s discover what’s here, what the people are like, what the city is like,” he said. “A lot of times you get such a pleasant surprise.”
You can get more details on the San Jose stop of Echo, including schedule and ticket information, at www.cirquedusoleil.com/echo.
LAUGH ON: Actor and stand-up comedian Ali Wong is playing five sold-out shows next week at the Punch Line in her hometown of San Francisco, but Silicon Valley fans who didn’t get tickets to those shows will get a chance to catch her new material next month in San Jose. Wong will play four shows at the San Jose Improv on May 13-14, and you can expect those tickets to go fast.
Wong last appeared in San Jose last August at the 2,000-seat Center for the Performing Arts; the Improv — located at the gorgeous Jose Theatre downtown — seats 450 at the most. Go to www.improv.com/sanjose for details.
CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS: This weekend, San Jose will be host to one of the largest celebrations of Mexica New Year — also known as Aztec New Year — with about 20,000 people expected to take part in the festivities at Emma Prusch Farm Park, 647 S. King Road. The event, which features a showcase of Aztec dance, draws people from around the West Coast as well as Mexico.
The celebration runs 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, starts again Saturday with a 6 a.m. sunrise ceremony and runs until 6 p.m. and then wraps up Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can get more information at www.aztecdancers.com. One word of warning, though: The VTA strike will probably not be settled by this weekend and parking at Emma Prusch Farm Park is limited, so it’s wise to take a ride-share service or carpool.
Meanwhile, the Association of Indo Americans will have its own colorful celebration, Holi Fest, taking place at Discovery Meadow in downtown San Jose. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with DJ music, dance performances, food booths and a lot of holi color powder. Tickets are $10 at the door, and you can get more information at www.aiaevents.org.
