Magical Forest

What would you get if you combined the Big Apple Circus with Broadway’s The Lion King and wrapped it all up in the highly stylized Technicolor fantasy world of shows from Cirque du Soleil? The result might be something like Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, which invites audiences into a jungle world alive with music, color and larger-than-life critters dancing, tumbling and performing gravity- and reality-defying feats. The all-ages show features 25 aerialists, acrobats, contortionists and jugglers, transformed into lizards, spiders and even a jungle emu. The onstage menagerie includes one local performer, selected through a special audition, who will flip, fly, balance and contort across the mysterious rainforest backdrop. An 8 p.m. show kicks off a six-day run at the Music Hall (301 West 13th Street, 816-513-5000). Ticket prices range from $25 to $55.

Tue., Feb. 24, 8 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 25, 8 p.m.; Thu., Feb. 26, 8 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 27, 8 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 28, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., March 1, 2 & 7 p.m., 2009