Yakov's Moscow Circus Lacks Spectacle

While the animal tricks were intriguing to watch, the rest of the acts at Yakov's "Moscow Circus" left me unimpressed, to say the least...

While the show is primarily geared towards children, the performances in the show left most of the kids in the audience bored and wanting more.  The circus was rolled out as a story, with Yakov reading from a storybook as the pre-recorded narrator on the multi-media screens on either side of the stage.  The story itself didn't hold my interest at all, and some of the ties to the performers were pretty far fetched.  I would much rather have seen just the acts go one to another without some cheesy narrative about how Ivan the unicyclist needs to jump through the flaming hoops of despair to reach his one true love, Yvonne the circus ballerina.  It was too overdone and lacked entertainment value.

That being said, the two sets of animal acts were worth the wait.  The circus bears were outstanding and incredibly human-like.  Most walked on their back legs the entire act, and did everything from ride a bike to a full dance number.  The dog tricks were equally entertaining, and this act showed off a few tricks I have never seen in a dog circus act before.  Unfortunately they dressed the dogs like lions, which covered their entire heads in a plastic mask, and I felt so sorry for the dogs that I had trouble enjoying all their antics.

"Moscow Circus" comes complete with aerials, fire breathers, and a pretty entertaining opening act from a single clown.  The audience was asked to participate several times, including playing audience volleyball, throwing frisbees for the clown to catch around his head, and a few surprise tricks for the kids.  While your children may be mildly entertained, there are definitely cheaper ways to entertain your family than the $35 adult ticket and $15 child ticket.  The performance does come with a Russian dinner, but, again, better food for less money isn't hard to find in Branson.  The show runs every Tuesday - Saturday through August with 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows.  You can purchase tickets here, or by calling the Yakov theater at 800-728-4546.  Yakov's theater is located near the corner of Highway 65 and Shepherd of the Hills Expressway.