Cirque du Soleil: ‘Corteo’

This lively Cirque production loosely follows life after the death of a clown. After a brief run at the Forum during a 2019 tour, the spectacle returns to L.A. for a significantly longer stint at the Microsoft Theater. Though traditionally staged in the round, the staging here lends a more theatrical look to the action, aided in part by highly detailed curtain designs. Despite the name, expect Corteo—an Italian word for procession—to be anything but funerary, with swinging chandeliers, bouncing beds and a balloon-borne clown among its most whimsical, turn-of-the-century–inspired acts. There’s some edge-of-your-seat entertainment to behold, whether while watching a pair of aerialists glide through the air or a performer balance on an impossibly tall ladder, but there’s also a surprising amount of life-affirming beauty to the story that unfolds.