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Cirque Italia’s Aquatic Spectacular enjoys five-day run at Orange Park Mall

By Bruce Hope bruce@opcfla.com
Posted 2/17/21

ORANGE PARK – Braving downpours during much of its five-day run at the Orange Park Mall, fans from the First Coast enjoyed the Cirque Italia and its Aquatic Spectacular.

The circus, which closed …

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Cirque Italia’s Aquatic Spectacular enjoys five-day run at Orange Park Mall


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Braving downpours during much of its five-day run at the Orange Park Mall, fans from the First Coast enjoyed the Cirque Italia and its Aquatic Spectacular.

The circus, which closed Monday, performed for the third consecutive year at the mall. It is one of three circuses in the world to make a water stage part of their act and the only one of the three that travels. The other two are located in Dubai and Las Vegas.

The water stage was initially brought over from Italy. It holds 35,000 gallons of water that were sprayed, drizzled and rained throughout different show portions. Meanwhile, the dancers, acrobats, jugglers and the rest of the on-stage contingent continued their show.

“I’ve been with Cirque Italia a couple of years now, since 2017,” said Abbey Lawley, on-site media representative. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful circus, and I really enjoy it.”

Originally a professional dancer, she met her fiancée, who is a performer in the circus, and joined him.

Lawley says the feedback she has received from the fans of the show has been fantastic.

“This year, we have a brand-new 2021 show, and the audience has loved it,” she said. “It’s so fun, energetic, lively, and it gets everyone in a very good mood. The acts are just fantastic. We have the wheel of death, we have jugglers, we have contortionists, we have so many fantastic acts, and the audience just loves to see them perform it, and obviously we have our water stage, which gives a very unique experience.”

The show typically runs for about two hours, with an intermission.

Children had their faces painted before the show and during intermission to add an extra bit of fun to the event. The regular spotlights mixed with laser lights in varying designs added to the show, sending the crowd into applause and cheers.

“It’s [the Cirque Italia] great,” said one first-time visitor to the show. “Great for the kids. It’s something new.”

The visitor said he found out about the show via Facebook and decided to come out and give it a try.

Fans of all ages seemed to enjoy the performance. They also give positive feedback, according to Lawley.

“After every single show, there’s always some families that come in and let us know how much they’ve enjoyed the show,” she said. “Also, on Facebook, they always leave such fantastic reviews for us as well.”