8 March 26 - april 1, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Big Top Makes Big Return Cirque du Soleil brings its contemporary take on the circus back to North Texas for the first time in six years. BY ALYSSA FIELDS F or 250 years, beneath the big top’s thick stripes, performers have entertained audiences with their flexibility, death-defying tricks and other feats in what we call the circus. But one circus, if you can call it that, has been redefining the industry by treating each performance as art. Montreal- based Cirque du Soleil, which has been blending theatre and circus for 40 years — notably without ever using animals — is re- turning to Dallas in April with its new thought-provoking show Echo. Echo features hair suspensionists, acro- bats, jugglers, balancing acts, high-stakes trapeze and otherworldly acts that you can’t describe in English. Like most Cirque shows, it is plot-driven, but the storyline isn’t Shakespearean. The show follows a little girl as she navigates the world, learn- ing that each of her actions has ripple ef- fects, both environmental and societal. The show has state-of-the-art technology, such as a building-sized cube that displays a pro- jection as the story unfolds, representing the future. “It is so beautiful. It brings tears to your eyes when you see it,” Penelope Scheidler, a hair suspension artist and contortionist in the show, tells the Observer. Echo includes seven musicians who per- form an original score and remain on stage throughout the 125-minute run. . “The band is also a character,” publicist Kevnin Albert says. “It’s an act … and they’re supposed to be the narrators of the show. So through the music, they’re telling the story.” Echo, which will set up its tent in Grand Prairie, is the first big-top show in the region in over six years. Cirque du Soleil, famed for its contemporary approach to traditional circus disciplines, has residency shows in select locations like Las Vegas, stages arena shows that can be produced anywhere, and tours internationally with traditional big- top shows. It is the latter that the troupe says is the most quintessentially Cirque. “Even for the audience, you can’t really compare,” Scheidler says. “Being in the tent, it’s magic.” Echo tours are much like the classic cir- cuses of yesterday, with a caravan of 72 semi- trucks transporting all the equipment. Scheidler says it’s like living in a portable vil- lage, but half the village has incredible hand- eye coordination. The show has 53 performers and another 60 or so staff representing 33 na- tionalities and speaking 19 languages. They even travel with their own plumber, though he’s not as impressive on a slackline. Conceptualizing a show takes years, and performers can tour for decades. But finding artists who can perform 6-10 shows a week for 2,500 audience members per show, and often gain new skills or heavily modify the ones they already have, is no easy feat. “There’s a lot of material that the artists bring in the show,” says juggler Phillippe Du- puis. “For me, I had all my technical back- ground in juggling, but I had to adapt all of this to the music, to the costume, to the setup of the stage. Some artists really bring the full act, but some acts learn a new discipline; they have to learn the new apparatus, and they have to create something from zero.” But the attention to detail, the artistry and the pure magic are what make Cirque du Soleil one of a kind. “That’s the secret recipe of Cirque,” Albert says. “It’s a mixture of acrobatics and theater.” The artists of Echo will perform under the big top in Grand Prairie from April 9 to May 9, with tickets starting at $60. ▼ FILM HORROR IN OUR HOMETOWN JOHN BURR USED DALLAS AS THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS CHILLING NEW THRILLER THE GATES, JAMES VAN DER BEEK’S FINAL FILM PERFORMANCE. BY PRESTON BARTA I t is not very often that Dallas residents get to sit in a dark theater and watch a film that actually unfolds in their home- town. Usually, if our city even warrants a passing mention on the big screen, the hometown crowd will holler with excite- ment, thrilled to see our little bubble ac- knowledged on a global scale. But in the new thriller The Gates, Dallas is not just a passing reference. It is the racing heart of the story. You will see the iconic skyline. You will spot the sweeping arches of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. You will even feel the fa- miliar, creeping dread of classic Dallas traf- fic. But the real dread in The Gates comes from something far more sinister, master- fully orchestrated by Dallas-raised director John Burr. Burr’s sophomore feature is a gripping, pulse-pounding thriller that is as thought- ful as it is intense. The film follows three college students — Derek (Mason Good- ing), Kevin (Algee Smith) and Tyon (Keith Powers) — on a road trip to Denton to meet college girls, but the journey takes a disas- trous turn. Seeking an ill-advised shortcut, the young men find themselves trapped be- hind the imposing walls of a remote, afflu- ent gated community after witnessing a brutal murder. Over the course of one terri- fying night, they are hunted and fractured by their own differing belief systems, des- perate to survive. For Burr, planting the roots of this night- mare in North Texas was a deeply personal choice. “I spent all of my formative years in Dal- las,” Burr tells the Observer. “In order to tell stories for a living, you have to live life. And I definitely lived life in Dallas.” His filmmaking journey began right here in the suburbs, running around town with a video camera, sneaking into the creepiest locations he and his friends could find to shoot homemade scary mov- ies. Those little movies eventually grew into a career. With The Gates, Burr returns to the very environment that shaped his creative lens, intent on showing the world a side of Texas rarely seen in mainstream cinema. “I took with me a desire to explore and sort of share what it really meant to live in this area and bring it onto a stage so that the rest of the world wouldn’t have these pre- conceived notions of what it meant to be from Dallas or from rural or suburban Texas,” Burr explains. He succeeds quite well. The film drops familiar suburban names like Richardson, Highland Park and Prosper, earning audible reactions from local crowds who under- stand the specific cultural connotations of those enclaves. But The Gates is more than just a geo- graphic Easter egg hunt. It is a sharp, ele- vated genre piece that tackles themes of race, privilege and perceived safety. Burr drew inspiration from the 1993 thriller Judgment Night, flipping the script on what constitutes a “dangerous neighborhood.” He poses a chilling question: What if the scariest place for a group of young Black men is actually a gilded, opulent gated community that prides itself on being a paragon of safety? The tension in that premise is anchored by stellar performances. Gooding (of Scream fame) carries the film with an incredible weight, playing Derek as a deeply calculated individual. It is genuinely thrilling to watch the gears turn in his head as he attempts to outsmart his hunters. The three friends feel entirely human, burdened by their own bag- gage and constantly challenging one an- other, refusing to fall into standard horror movie tropes. Standing in their way is the late, great James Van Der Beek in his final film role. As Pastor Jacob, the cunning patriarch who holds the entire community under his thumb, Van Der Beek delivers a terrifyingly menacing per- formance. He perfectly embodies the (sadly all-too-familiar) kind of manipulative leader who exploits the masses for his own gain. The actor shifts from charming to lethal in a frac- tion of a second, dropping his friendly facade without warning and making his character wildly unpredictable. Now, Burr reflects on the bittersweet re- ality of releasing the film following the ac- tor’s passing earlier this year. “Mixed emotions. Heartbroken to lose him. He was a wonderful person, wonderful to work with,” Burr says. “At the same time, I am very proud to be able to bring his final performance to screen.” The Gates easily could have been a stan- dard, throwaway thriller. Instead, it is a fun, intense and socially resonant ride that treats its characters — and its setting — with deep respect. It challenges our per- ceptions while keeping us firmly on the edge of our seats. If you want to support a homegrown filmmaker and witness a fantastic Dallas- centric thriller, you will have to make a slight commute.The Gates is currently playing just outside the city limits at Fris- co’s AMC Stonebriar, AMC DINE-IN Mesquite and AMC Grapevine Mills. Drive the few extra miles, because it’s ab- solutely worth the trip. Just be careful of any shortcuts. Jean-François Savaria ▼ Culture Penelope Scheidler and her partner are the only hair- suspension duo in all of Cirque Du Soleil’s 18 shows.
