It's got a lot of singing, funky costumes and a dramatic set, all staged by the sure hand of Robert Lepage. No, it's not the Metropolitan Opera production of the Ring Cycle, it's Totem, the latest show of the Cirque du Soleil, in town through December 18th. That Lepage got involved is not surprising, as both he and the Cirque are Quebecois, worked together already on Ka, and Montreal ain't so big that they would never collide again. And if the reviews to Lepage's Ring were lukewarm and his heavy machinery somewhat underwhelmed the audience, Totem is on the other hand quite exhilarating and --outside of a sophisticated piece of equipment which turns into a bridge or a powerboat and some nifty video projections-- quite streamlined.

The one thing Lepage got rid of is the usual clownish skits with members of the audience. Good move, those drags for ever and for the price they charge, there's no need to put amateurs on the ring. Other than that, he took the usual Cirque formula and just zeroed in on its essence: amazing feat of (super)human strength and agility and acrobatics and poetics tied together by a narrative sauce thickened with hip live music. We thought for a second he had broken the no animal rules, but it was just an acrobat in a monkey suit.