Cirque du Soleil opens a one-month run of "Quidam" under a 2,500-seat blue-and-yellow big top at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va., tonight. The new show marks the French-Canadian theatrical circus' return to the Washington area after a three-year absence.

"Quidam," in the words of its director and author, Franco Dragone, "integrates performance and theatricality to a greater degree than previous [Cirque du Soleil] productions, and draws on the emotional relationships between the performers in the troupe." The show's theme is the facelessness of society, the anonymous man in the crowd. Its international cast of 50 includes performers aged 12 to 40 whose acts range from aerial contortion to hand-balancing and, of course, clowning.

Cirque du Soleil's tent is at Tysons Galleria at Tysons II, Route 123 and Tysons Boulevard (off Capital Beltway exit 11-B), in McLean. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Fridays; 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 18. Tickets to "Quidam" are $20.25-$46.25 for adults and $10.25-$32.50 for children. Call 1-800-678-5440.

Pub Date: 9/17/98