Northwest presents fanciful 'Birdhouse Factory'

Looking for something that will add a new twist to your life? The next installment of Northwest Missouri State University's Encore performing arts series could be just the ticket.

Cirque Mechanics, an American acrobatics troop in the tradition of Cirque du Soleil, will prevent "Birdhouse Factory" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

Adult tickets start at $23. Tickets for children age 12 and under start at $13. Purchase tickets by calling (660) 562-1212 or in person 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday at the Student Services Center on the first floor of the Northwest Administration Building.

"Birdhouse Factory" has attracted enthusiastic audiences worldwide and recently won critical acclaim during an extended off-Broadway run in New York.

Northwest Director of Campus Activities Angel McAdams Prescott said the production is unlike anything the university has offered previously and should appeal to audience members of all ages, but especially to children.

"Bringing your child to an arts experience like Cirque Mechanics will expose them to a whole new world," McAdams said.

Created and directed by Chris Lashua, who has also worked with Cirque du Soleil, the show features former members of the Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco and Russia's Moscow Circus.

Lashua has said the production's inspiration is drawn from such wide-ranging elements as industrial murals by famed Mexican artist Diego Rivera, the whacky mechanical illustrations of cartoonist Rube Goldberg and Charlie Chaplin-style slapstick.

In essence, the performance aims to create an alternate universe in which "assembly workers become ecstatic with aerial ambition, crane operators twist and transmute into strange and silly shapes, and gravity-defying mechanics ignite endless 'oohs' and 'aahs.'"

Lashua earlier won acclaim for the German Wheel, an acrobatic act featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Rosie O'Donnell Show and the Academy Awards telecast.

To watch video excerpts from "Birdhouse Factory," go to www.cirquemechanics.com.

Looking for something that will add a new twist to your life? The next installment of Northwest Missouri State University's Encore performing arts series could be just the ticket.

Cirque Mechanics, an American acrobatics troop in the tradition of Cirque du Soleil, will prevent "Birdhouse Factory" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

Adult tickets start at $23. Tickets for children age 12 and under start at $13. Purchase tickets by calling (660) 562-1212 or in person 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday at the Student Services Center on the first floor of the Northwest Administration Building.

"Birdhouse Factory" has attracted enthusiastic audiences worldwide and recently won critical acclaim during an extended off-Broadway run in New York.

Northwest Director of Campus Activities Angel McAdams Prescott said the production is unlike anything the university has offered previously and should appeal to audience members of all ages, but especially to children.

"Bringing your child to an arts experience like Cirque Mechanics will expose them to a whole new world," McAdams said.

Created and directed by Chris Lashua, who has also worked with Cirque du Soleil, the show features former members of the Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco and Russia's Moscow Circus.

Lashua has said the production's inspiration is drawn from such wide-ranging elements as industrial murals by famed Mexican artist Diego Rivera, the whacky mechanical illustrations of cartoonist Rube Goldberg and Charlie Chaplin-style slapstick.

In essence, the performance aims to create an alternate universe in which "assembly workers become ecstatic with aerial ambition, crane operators twist and transmute into strange and silly shapes, and gravity-defying mechanics ignite endless 'oohs' and 'aahs.'"

Lashua earlier won acclaim for the German Wheel, an acrobatic act featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Rosie O’Donnell Show and the Academy Awards telecast.

To watch video excerpts from "Birdhouse Factory," go to www.cirquemechanics.com.