Cirque Du Soleil

A circus featuring mind-boggling human achievements, spectacular performances and dazzling sets vs. beaten-down elephants, whipped tigers and creepy clowns?  Cirque du Soleil wins hands down.  Katie Moore, Baltimore

A Baltimore-bound United Airlines flight was diverted and a local family removed from the plane after the parents complained about the content of an in-flight movie. The February incident resulted in the passengers being escorted off the flight by police at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the family said, relaying the experience anonymously in a response to an article about air rage posted on The Atlantic Monthly's website . In a statement released to The Sun, United Airlines said Flight 683 from Denver to Baltimore was diverted to Chicago after the crew reported a disturbance involving a passenger.

This clip was probably on all the highlight shows this morning, so my apologies if you have seen it already, but check out this Cirque du Soleil performer throwing out the first pitch before a game in San Diego on Monday. Dude does some sort of 720-degree twist then fires a strike to the catcher. Take note, Orioles relievers.

And now here we are on our regular night with Los Angeles auditions. It always makes me so happy to see Cat interacting with the dancers waiting in line -- she is sunshine in high heels. Judges tonight: Mary Murphy, Nigel Lythgoe, and professional goof Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Love him, too. Mary Murphy warns them, "No lip syncing, no 'self-worship,' and no booty-shaking, unless you're really good at it. " Jesse gets on the mike and says he wants to see everything Mary just forbade.

A Baltimore-bound United Airlines flight was diverted and a local family removed from the plane after the parents complained about the content of an in-flight movie. The February incident resulted in the passengers being escorted off the flight by police at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the family said, relaying the experience anonymously in a response to an article about air rage posted on The Atlantic Monthly's website . In a statement released to The Sun, United Airlines said Flight 683 from Denver to Baltimore was diverted to Chicago after the crew reported a disturbance involving a passenger.

Rope-skipper extraordinaire Adrienn Banhegyi did not run away to join the circus. Cirque du Soleil came to her. The 27-year-old, Hungarian-born champion jump-roper was last seen in the Cirque du Soleil production of "Wintuk" in New York City. Locals can look for her as a headliner in the latest traveling edition, "Quidam," coming to Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena Aug. 24 to 28. Banhegyi will be taking the part in the show of another champion rope-jumper, who just happens to be her sister.

And now here we are on our regular night with Los Angeles auditions. It always makes me so happy to see Cat interacting with the dancers waiting in line -- she is sunshine in high heels. Judges tonight: Mary Murphy, Nigel Lythgoe, and professional goof Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Love him, too. Mary Murphy warns them, "No lip syncing, no 'self-worship,' and no booty-shaking, unless you're really good at it. " Jesse gets on the mike and says he wants to see everything Mary just forbade.

The acrobats are lining up at Camden Yards. The elephants will gather at 1st Mariner Arena. Clowns can be found at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore will become one big circus this winter and spring, with an unprecedented number of events celebrating life in, around and under The Big Top. The list includes a circus-themed exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art, a "perverse" circus show at Theatre Project, and touring productions from both the Cirque...

Baltimore and Washington's food-truck armadas will square off at A Taste of Two Cities a blow-out food-truck gathering on Saturday, June 23. A Taste of Two Cities will gather together 20 food trucks from each city at the Westport Waterfront, the venue for last spring's Cirque du Soleil. Organizers of the June 23 event are hoping to draw thousands of food truck-fans for the friendly competition, which is scheduled for the same weekend as the Washington Nationals visit to Camden Yards.

For its new album, Plain White T's looked to the circus for inspiration. The French-Canadian circus, no less. Before he started writing "The Wonders of the Younger," lead singer Tom Higgenson had gone to see "O" by Cirque du Soleil, a show that revolves around a million-gallon pool. Acrobats pull all sorts of synchronized stunts under and above the water. Higgenson was awed. "It flooded me with memories of my youth — it reminded me of movies like "The Goonies" and "Back to the Future" and that feeling of 'wow,'" he said.

Baltimore and Washington's food-truck armadas will square off at A Taste of Two Cities a blow-out food-truck gathering on Saturday, June 23. A Taste of Two Cities will gather together 20 food trucks from each city at the Westport Waterfront, the venue for last spring's Cirque du Soleil. Organizers of the June 23 event are hoping to draw thousands of food truck-fans for the friendly competition, which is scheduled for the same weekend as the Washington Nationals visit to Camden Yards.

Jonathan Phillip "Sugarfoot" Moffett can practically hear the King of Pop's voice in his head as he practices his drum licks for the Cirque du Soleil show based on the music of Michael Jackson. "Make it bigger than life," Moffett hears the Gloved One telling him, as he bears down on the beat in "Billie Jean" or "Heartbreak Hotel. " "My fans know my music. That's what they want to hear. Add some color, but don't stray too far. " In putting together "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," the creative team behind Cirque du Soleil drew upon the expertise of several musicians and dancers who worked closely with Jackson, including Moffett, Jackson's longtime drummer, and choreographer Travis Payne.

Yes, please Let Billy Crystal do his thing Sure, he may not be the hippiest host, but Crystal's an Oscar-host pro. He knows what he's doing and he's funny doing it. We're hoping for a classic Crystal opening monologue, hopefully one of those song medleys that humorously mentions the major nominees. Or a montage where he's inserted into films Crystal pierced and tattooed in a "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" shout-out? Totally would work. More Muppets We hear Kermit and Miss Piggy are presenters, but why stop there?

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If you'd like to save on tickets to Cirque du Soleil at the 1st Mariner Arena, TravelZoo's got a deal for you. Check out the TravelZoo Cirque du Soleil local deal for details about the discounts on adult tickets. Click through to buy from the site and you'll pay $48 for seats in the lower level (regularly $80) and $40 for those in the middle level (regularly $60). There are also $20 children's tickets for these performances: • Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. • Friday, Aug. 26 at 3:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. • Sunday, Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. Just to warn you, TravelZoo says you'll still have to pay fees of $7.30 to $8.80 per ticket and $4.50 per order --- so your total will end up being higher than the base price.

Rope-skipper extraordinaire Adrienn Banhegyi did not run away to join the circus. Cirque du Soleil came to her. The 27-year-old, Hungarian-born champion jump-roper was last seen in the Cirque du Soleil production of "Wintuk" in New York City. Locals can look for her as a headliner in the latest traveling edition, "Quidam," coming to Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena Aug. 24 to 28. Banhegyi will be taking the part in the show of another champion rope-jumper, who just happens to be her sister.

Yes, please Let Billy Crystal do his thing Sure, he may not be the hippiest host, but Crystal's an Oscar-host pro. He knows what he's doing and he's funny doing it. We're hoping for a classic Crystal opening monologue, hopefully one of those song medleys that humorously mentions the major nominees. Or a montage where he's inserted into films Crystal pierced and tattooed in a "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" shout-out? Totally would work. More Muppets We hear Kermit and Miss Piggy are presenters, but why stop there?

This clip was probably on all the highlight shows this morning, so my apologies if you have seen it already, but check out this Cirque du Soleil performer throwing out the first pitch before a game in San Diego on Monday. Dude does some sort of 720-degree twist then fires a strike to the catcher. Take note, Orioles relievers.

Just wanted to pass along a heads up about two great deals spotted on Baltimoreonthecheap.com : 1. Save 40 percent off Cirque du Soleil TOTEM tickets , via Travel Zoo, for shows tonight and next week; 2. Sign up for eight Argentine tango lessons at Centerstage and pay only half price --- just $10 per class.