Du Soleil

That Cirque du Soleil's show Dralion was inspired in part by the quest for harmony between nature and man makes the troupe's scheduled stop at Harbor Point, a former toxic waste site, seem all the more appropriate. "Not since the tall ships came here has there been such a spectacle on our waterfront," said Mayor Martin O'Malley yesterday in announcing the April 11-27 performances by the famed circus of acrobats, contortionists and clowns. O'Malley called the tour stop a perfect opportunity to begin showing off Harbor Point - a peninsula that was home to the former AlliedSignal chromium plant and the site of a $100 million cleanup operation.

Merry menopause The lowdown -- Take a girls' night out and laugh alongside women of all ages at Menopause the Musical, a play that takes a humorous look at "the change" that middle-aged women go through. Focusing on four women who meet at a lingerie sale and discover they share something in common -- menopause and all its dreaded symptoms -- this play also includes 25 baby-boomer hit songs with rewritten lyrics, including "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39." If you go -- Menopause the Musical runs Wednesday-Aug.

What began as a childhood game among three brothers now dazzles audiences in Varekai, the Cirque du Soleil show currently under the big top at Harbor Point. Javier Santos began learning the ancient art of foot-juggling from circus-performing family members when he was 5 years old, and was soon able to balance balls and chairs with his feet. As a teenager, the list of airborne objects expanded to include his 3-year-old twin brothers, Ramon and Pedro, who entertained themselves by jumping on Javier's feet.

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Cirque du Soleil meets Shakespeare in the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival's charming outdoor staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare's romantic comedy looks at love on three levels - in the ranks of the royals, among young people and in the fairy kingdom. In director Laura Hackman's breezy production, some of those fairies fly from the trees. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM -- Through July 23 -- Evergreen House Meadow, 4545 N. Charles St. -- $25 -- 410-366-8596 or baltimoreshakespeare.

Hauling enough equipment to stage two rock concerts, Cirque du Soleil brought its multimedia spectacular, "Delirium," to the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore for two dates over the weekend. The group's first traveling show transforms the arena into a dreamworld of ethereal IMAX-sized image projections, giant veils of many colors, electronic sound, dance, acrobatics and a character drifting through the universe in a hot-air balloon -- all of it set to what the troupe's Web site calls an "urban tribal beat."

1st Mariner Arena, which turns 50 next year, was unharmed after today's earthquake. Building inspectors toured the facility after the earthquake and found only a few cracks on the walls. "The building's infrastructure is in solid shape," said spokeswoman Jamie Curtis. Only Cirque du Soleil experienced a glitch as a result of the tremors. The circus was setting up for Wednesday, the first of five nights at the arena, and had to temporarily pause the installation for the building to be evacuated, like most everywhere downtown.  The circus's engineers also toured the venue after the earthquake and found scant damage.

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.

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.

The artistic director never dreamed of running off and joining the circus. Neither did the playwright he hired to put his vision of a circus on stage.For "Cirque Ingenieux," the show that opens Tuesday at the Lyric Opera House, that's probably a good thing, because this "cirque" is intended to have more in common with the theater than with the circus."It's a little bit of the 'Wizard of Oz,' a little of 'Alice in Wonderland,' a little bit of a lot of fairy tales," says Neil Goldberg, co-producer of "Cirque Ingenieux" and founder and artistic director of its Florida-based parent company, Cirque Inc.And, unlike the story of its creators, "It's the story of a little girl who decides she wants to join the circus, and by the end of the play she does, and her dreams are realized," explains Washington-based playwright Norman Allen, who wrote the libretto for "Cirque Ingenieux."