"Traces" plays Oct. 26 to Dec. 19 in the Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.; $50-$71.50 at 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com
The history of the traveling circus in America goes back to the late 18th century. And for the next 200 years, the nation's understanding of the word meant a small number of very specific things. Acrobats. Clowns. Trapeze artists. Exotic animals. A ring — or three — replete with a ringmaster.
But in the early 1980s, Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier founded Cirque du Soleil in Montreal. And Cirque, beloved in Chicago since it first pitched its “Nouvelle Experience” tent by the (now redeveloped) North Pier in 1992, replaced the ringmaster with creative concept.
It put traditional circus acts into a narrative landscape unified by live music, theatricalized design and an emotionally ripe subtext. Cirque wasn't the first new kind of circus — or nouvelle cirque — to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s, but it did popularize and brand the concept, globally blowing away its mostly regional competition and spawning a slew of antecedents, from Cirque Ingenieux (which specializes in shows inside theaters and on cruise ships) to Teatro ZinZanni (which offers circus and dinner, and has been eyeing Chicago for a new permanent installation) to “Cavalia” (which caused a stir in Chicago in 2008 by adding horses).
And thus, for the last quarter-century, the circus landscape in North America has been bifurcated. Most people split their understanding of circus into two distinct tracks: the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey-style experience (families, elephants, top hats) and the Cirque experience (arty acrobatics, sensual spectacle, Europop).
But what about a new, third way for the North American circus?
7 Fingers — or, in French, Les 7 Doigts de la Main — is the creator of “Traces,” which opens Nov. 3 at the Broadway Playhouse (formerly the Drury Lane Water Tower) for an extended run on the Magnificent Mile, and the troupe says a third way is precisely its aim.
Although 7 Fingers, which was conceived in 2001, is already well known in Europe and has made scattered North American appearances over the last few years, the Chicago opening will be the beginning of its first major North American tour (Los Angeles will be next). This is a major unveiling of its work, and the company understands that. The name 7 Fingers (let alone Les 7 Doigts de la Main) will not, ipso facto, sell tickets across America. The work itself will have to do that job. The circus may be one big family, but the competitive pressure is on.