Cirque du Soleil's 'Corteo' puts a clown's life (and death) onstage at Hertz Arena

Clowns have always been a big part of Cirque du Soleil, but never quite like this. They’ve never been the stars of the show. And they’ve rarely tried to do more than just make people laugh.

That changes next week when “Cirque du Soleil: Corteo” arrives at Hertz Arena to tell the story of Mauro the Dreamer Clown.

This isn’t like the clowns you’ve seen before at Cirque shows, though. You’ll laugh, sure. But you’ll probably cry, too.

That, after all, has always been the goal of “Corteo,” which debuted as a tent show in 2005 and now travels the world on tour. The show’s creators wanted to leave audiences in tears, says artistic director Aoife Carry.

“But they’re not tears of sadness,” Carry says. “You’ve gone through this cathartic re-living of this man’s life, and you get to watch his final farewell. So as sad as it is, it should leave you feeling uplifted that he had this final experience.

“It should be a celebration of life.”

Mauro, you see, isn’t performing for crowds at a circus. He’s lying on his deathbed and imagining his own parade-like funeral. And he’s thinking about his life and all the people he’s known and loved along the way.

“He’s getting to revisit these moments of his life that stand out in his memory, and they’re important times for him and important people for him,” Carry says. “They’re not always realistic — so we have one scene where all of his past lovers come together.

“Now, I think, in reality you probably wouldn’t want them all in the same room. But in this imagining of his funeral, when everyone comes to say their goodbyes to him, they all come together and they’re very supportive of him and they’ve very supportive of each other. So it’s beautiful.”

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But this is Cirque du Soleil, after all. So all those emotional moments are dramatized with the help of acrobats and aerialists doing all sorts of jaw-dropping, death-defying feats.

They jump up and down on a pair of 600-pound beds. They swing above the stage from giant chandeliers sparkling with about 4,000 “jewels.” They juggle rings, hoops and clubs.

They balance precariously on various ladders — including one teetering at almost 15 feet high. They soar above the audience on balloons. And they do many other things, too.

The Bouncing Beds act is one of Carry’s favorites from the show.

“It’s a memory from his childhood, where he remembers going to his grandparents’ house and bouncing on the beds,” she says. “And it’s something that we’ve all done: We’ve all bounced on beds.

"It’s just one of those things that lets you get back into that childhood excitement and naughtiness.”

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Acrobat Fredric Umali — who’s been a part the show since its debut in  2005 — helps close "Corteo" with the popular Tournik act, where acrobats swing and maneuver on  a series of high bars shaped like a cube.

“There’s about 10 to 11 of us onstage at one time, and we’re all swinging together and flying back and forth, very very closely,” Umali says. “We have to be very, very on time, or we will crash into each other.

“It’s sometimes a little nerve-wracking, but it’s what we train to do.”

As with everything else in “Corteo,” Tournik represents more than just an awe-inspiring showcase of human agility. It represents Mauro the Dreamer Clown’s closest friends, who have gathered together to celebrate his life.

“We get together and we’re trying to connect with him again,” Umali says. “We’re remembering him, and then we start really celebrating him and recognizing that he’s not with us anymore, but he’s still there. It’s quite powerful.”

Sure, “Corteo” is darker in tone than most Cirque du Soleil shows — but it’s also beautiful and poetic and life-affirming, Umali says. And it’s a different kind of storytelling than Cirque fans are used to.

“It has a much different flavor than a lot of other shows that Cirque has done,” Umali says. “I find our show a lot more personable and intimate. A lot of shows that Cirque does are very — wow. Loud costumes, crazy makeup, very extravagant set pieces. You don’t see the humans onstage as opposed to characters or creatures.

“But our show is very human. You see us. We’re wearing very natural makeup. Our clothes are natural colors — they’re vibrant, and they’re rich in terms of texture and color, but they’re not trying to hide the humans that are in the costumes. … You can see us very clearly.”

Yes, “Corteo” focuses on death. But it’s so much more than that, Carry says.

It’s really about life — specifically, the life of a clown.

Until “Corteo,” clowns were secondary elements in Cirque shows, Carry says. They entertained audiences before the shows started, and came out occasionally onstage for comic relief.

But in “Corteo,” this clown is more than a funnyman. He’s a real man full of nostalgic memories from a life well-lived.

“This puts the human — the clown as a human — at center stage, and we see all aspects of the life,” Carry says. “So you see the full human being."

Here’s more about “Cirque du Soleil: Corteo”:

• The show features a sprawling cast of 52 acrobats, aerialists and other performers.
• They come from about 16 different countries, including the United States, Finland, France, Japan, Italy, Romania, Brazil and Ukraine.
• "Corteo" premiered as a tent show in 2005 in Montreal. Since then, it’s traveled to 19 countries on four continents and entertained about 8 million people.
• The show’s name, “Corteo,” is Italian for a cortege or a procession, a reference to the festive parade imagined by Mauro the Dreamer Clown.
• Costume designer Dominique Lemieux created more than 80 costumes for the show’s cast.
• The show features a 41-foot long turntable built into the stage.
• Since the story is about a clown, humor will obviously be a part of "Corteo." But it’s not the kind of humor Cirque’s clowns are known for. “Its not rolling in the aisles, clutching your belly funny,” says artistic director Aoife Carry. “It’s not that sort of funny. It’s very touching. Yes, it’s a clown, so there’s going to be those comedy moments in it. But it’s a very nostalgic show.”

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), @crunnells1 (Instagram)

If you go

What: “Cirque du Soleil: Corteo”

When: July 17-21. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, with matinees at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Hertz Arena, 11000 Everblades Parkway, Estero

Tickets: $45-$130 (plus applicable taxes and fees, prices subject to change). Parking on site is $20.

Info: 948-7825 or hertzarena.com