Want to add some circus magic to your holiday season? Cirque du Soleil's Christmas show might be just what you're looking for.
I recently caught the holiday performance of Cirque du Soleil's 'Twas The Night Before... in Toronto, and here's everything you need to know before buying tickets.
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TLDR - Should you watch 'Twas the Night Before
Yes. 'Twas the Night Before... is a fun, and energetic holiday showing from Cirque du Soleil. It doesn't reach some of the highs of their other shows, but there is still a lot of fun to be had here.
'Twas the Night Before... is like diving into a box of Christmas decorations – bright, colorful, and full of excitement (but also sometimes a little underwhelming).
What is 'Twas the Night Before
Performed by the Cirque du Soleil troop, 'Twas the Night Before... is their very first holiday show. It's based on Clement Clarke Moore's poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicolas".
The runtime is approximately 90 minutes without an intermission.
The main plot involves a young girl rediscovering the magic of Christmas (though as you can probably guess, the narrative structure is not a key feature here). The show is family-friendly, full of holiday music (or rather Cirque du Soleil's version of classic holiday tunes), bright and energetic.
The show was conceived and is directed by Cirque du Soleil's Senior Artistic Director James Hadley.
Performances
There are 10 main performances in 'Twas the Night Before. I'm afraid I didn't take any more photos of the show as I didn't want to distract the performers or any audience members near me.
The Warm-Up. The crowd are warmed up by jesters/elves who dance, joke, and perform some light acrobatics.
Duo straps. Two aerialists glide and balance through the air held up by straps.
Sharing the spark. The elves dance with Isabella around her bed.
Acro table. Naughty children who've stayed awake to catch Santa's arrive jump and perform high energy acrobatics over and around a table.
Hotel cart. A ballerina casts away her many gifts until she is left with only the hotel cart upon which they came. She dances inside of the hotel cart, which flies around the stage.
Roller Skaters. A duo of skaters perform high-risk moves on a small platform.
Aerial Hammock. A aerialists dances while attached to an aerial hammock by her neck.
Diabolos. Four performers play with glowing diabolos performing tricks.
Aerial lamp. Isabella's father performs an aerial act, while hanging from a lamp.
Hoop diving. Santa's 'reindeers' jump and dive through rings and hoops in fun and creative ways.
Highlights
The whole show is packed with holiday touches that will make both kids and adults smile. Think toy soldiers and sugar plum fairies, but with a circus twist. Instead of just dancing across the stage, these characters flip, soar, and spin in ways that'll make your jaw drop.
The absolute highlights? Keep your eyes on the aerialists. The various performers float through the air with incredible skill, making you believe that maybe Santa's reindeer aren't the only things that can fly during Christmas.
My favorite was the ballerina in the hotel cart - just such precision, balance, and control. Turning a hotel trolley into a contemporary, aerial piece is magic all by itself.
The duo straps performance was my second favorite, thanks to the beauty and spectacle (and yes, the element of danger!).
The aerial hammock was very popular, and most of the audience members we chatted with after the show mentioned the performance as their favorite.
The colors alone are worth mentioning – they went all out with rich reds and greens that really pop against sparkly silvers. It's like they took everything you love about Christmas decorations and turned it into a living, breathing performance.
Weaknesses
Overall, the show lacks some of the memorable moments and feelings that some others have. While there's always a great energy coming from the performers, some of the performances are very forgettable: the Diabolos and the elves dancing around Isabella's bed being the weakest.
The clowning jesters (in this case, elves) in Cirque du Soleil shows are usually something I look forward to. The elves in 'Twas the Night Before... felt like more of afterthought. The primary elf was charismatic, while I've already forgotten the others.
There are some moments of audience engagement (including bringing a couple of audience members on to stage for one trick), but it's nothing you haven't experienced before.
It was unfortunate that there were several failed stunts during the performance we attended. This is always a possibility, and didn't impact our enjoyment of the show much. But given that the mistakes were almost all in the hoop diving performance, I'm not sure if the production may want to swap out parts of that performance with something with a lower risk of error (more so because it's not really a standout performance).
Final thoughts
While the 'Twas the Night Before... is definitely worth seeing, it might not stick in your memory quite like some of Cirque du Soleil's other productions. Don't get me wrong – it's still spectacular, but it's more about creating an energetic, festive mood than leaving you with those lingering "how did they do that?" moments that other shows are famous for. (Alegria is still my personal favorite.)
But here's the thing: that's totally okay. Not every show needs to be deep and philosophical. Sometimes you just want to be entertained and filled with holiday spirit, and that's exactly what this show delivers. The performers bring so much enthusiasm to the stage that you can't help but get caught up in the Christmas excitement.
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