The Cast Photo by Errisson Lawrence

Like intricate ornaments hung upon a tree, 'Twas the Night Before... hangs its dazzling acts on a wispy narrative based on the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas," by Clement Moore, that famously begins, "'Twas the night before Christmas." After a front-of-curtain comedy routine involving three players costumed as mice (at least, that's what I believed them to be) decked out in holiday finery, the show begins in earnest.

Christmas is nigh and we find a girl, Isabella, costumed to look like an adolescent, fixated on her cellphone and whatever is playing through her headphones. Her kind-looking father tries to coax her away from those distractions and engage her in holiday spirit with a reading of "A Christmas from St. Nicholas." Isabella resists, even dismissing his gift of a shiny new bicycle, but father perseveres. Soon passages from the poem come to life in the form of those three mice, joined by others hiding under Isabella's bed, who kick off a lively dance number, then Santa Claus makes an appearance–not in his iconic red suit with white trim, but in a sooty-grey coat that looks like a patch of neglected shag carpeting. Santa is hard at work, after all, saving his "good suit" for the main event to come.

Cirque du Soleil does not provide a program (neither on paper nor accessed via a QR code), and their website provides no information about the performers in each of their productions, so I cannot cite their names, but I can tell you that the array of circus talent on stage at the Northrop is breathtaking. This is all the more incredible when taking into account that Cirque, having become a huge operation since its humble origins in Province de Québec, Canada in 1984, has four concurrent productions of 'Twas the Night Before... now running–in addition to Minneapolis, they are now in Boston, Salt Lake City, and New York City. The New York run continues through the month, while the others will pack up and move to Buffalo, Chicago, and Phoenix. This means that the talent on the Northrop's stage has counterparts in three other companies. Holy smokes!

The acts include several aerialists (one paired and three solo acts), a couple of fearless tumbling teams, a spectacular juggling act, a group that does something amazing I can't even name involving passing lights back and forth across the stage on elastic cords (you just have to see it) and between some of those acts, further visits from the playfully choreographed mice. Finally (spoiler alert here), Isabella comes around and joins in the Christmas spirit with a spectacular bicycling routine.

The colorful and imaginative costumes and the staging are geared toward adding good, humored comedy throughout the show, with a couple of interludes that approach the sacred aspect of the holiday season with balletic aerial performances. The fantastic lighting turns the immense Northrop stage into a veritable Christmas light display, with lights changing their colors and configuration for each routine. A raised ledge at the rear of the stage connects to the stage floor by way off a steeply sloped slide, giving the appearance of performers gleefully sledding down a snow-covered hill.

The entire show is performed to a soundtrack of music associated with Christmas, encompassing a range of styles, including familiar holiday tunes such as "Up on the Rooftop" and "We Three Kings" as well as some excerpts from "The Nutcracker Suite." In a couple of spots there is direct audience engagement–one for volunteers drafted from the assemblage and one that involves the entire audience in giddy playfulness.

Cirque du Soleil: 'Twas the Night Before... is a joyful, upbeat, and amazing 85 minutes of holiday entertainment. Many of the stunts performed on stage could be described as death-defying, and I defy anyone to see this show and not walk out full of holiday cheer

Cirque du Soleil: 'Twas the Night Before... runs through December 7, 2025, at Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church Street NE, Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please visit www.northrop.umn.edu/upcoming-events. For information on the show, visit CirqueduSoleil.com.