"Not another cirque show!"

That's a response producer-creator Neil Goldberg anticipates when he brings a show like "Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy" to a city like Reno.

"I know the reference people will make when they see another title with the word 'cirque' in it," he says.

"What they need to know is this is cirque-meets- Broadway, not only a feast for the eyes but also a great value for the money."

It's easy for a producer to say such a thing about his own show, but critics were equally enthusiastic when "Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy" played the Broadway Theater in New York for a 10-week engagement earlier this year. The New Yorker called it "pure talent on a stage" and "a breath of fresh jungle air." The New York Times said it was "dazzling" and to "waste no shekels on 'The Lion King.' This is the show for you."

"We sold 6 million tickets for those 10 weeks," says Goldberg by phone from his office. "The Shubert chain did not have enough booster seats at the Broadway (theater) and had to bring them in from other theaters. We followed 'The Color Purple' and that was hardly a family show. They should hold onto them because 'Shrek: The Musical' is about to open there."

"Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy" plays this coming weekend in Reno's Pioneer Theater for the Performing Arts. It will arrive from Texas and then embark on a 57-city tour. In its two years, it has taken in more than $25 million. It is part of Goldberg's quest to take the cirque formula of acrobats, music and dance, and add production and story elements that make it more theatrical in a traditional sense.

"It's truly more than a set of theatrical pieces. It has a very clear American Broadway point of view," Goldberg said.

It hasn't come to the point where the word "cirque" brings on automatic yawns, but it's getting close. The formidable Cirque du Soleil practically owns Las Vegas entertainment and tours its productions around the world. So far, they've been able to avoid simply Xeroxing shows, most recently revolving one show, "Love," around the music of the Beatles. But the question in the entertainment industry is how much further they can go before the allure wears thin.

Goldberg's not worried about Cirque du Soleil. He's been challenged by them and won.

"I commend Cirque du Soleil and commend their capture of the market, but I was in a legal battle with them for six years." he said. "I was producing a show called 'Cirque Imaginieux,' and it was in its second year. Soleil wanted to secure rights to the word 'cirque,' and I was at the top of their list to be taken to court.

"Most of the other producers folded or gave up their rights to the word. It was fighting Goliath, but I persevered and I prevailed."

He said the courts decided that the word "cirque" was basically just the French word for "circus" and nobody could have exclusive use of such a term. The amazing thing is it took them six years to decide that. The result is that Reno can get "Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy."

What exactly is it the city will get? Evidently not the traditional lineup of acrobats with weird accompanying characters, all performing to ethereal music sung in undistinguishable tongues.

"A young adventurer enters the jungle and encounters a wonderful singer, Mother Nature, who through original songs with English lyrics, takes him on a journey where he encounters different elements of life and discovers that everything lives and has a soul.

"Our acrobats naturally accommodate in their routines what living creatures in the jungle do," Goldberg said. "We have acrobats from eight countries and what they do here not only amazes but it also enriches. They play the roles of 150 plants and animals.

"The musicians are on stage and they have roles, too. We have a 6-foot-7-inch- tall young man from Orlando who is a violinist. He plays a tree and his branches become the violin.

"I'm especially happy with our drummer. He is from Russia and plays a frog on a lily pad. During the production he drops the drumsticks and juggles nine balls on the drums and symbols. I've never seen anybody like him, and it's the first time he's been in the United States."

Goldberg's brief stand on Broadway (the show was a hit, but in a limited run) excited him because he was directing a show on the same stage where his favorite musical, "Gypsy," played its first run with Ethel Merman. ("I was all goose-tingly.") It also whetted his appetite for more, and this last week he got his chance.

"My next show in 2010 is going to be 'Cirque Dreams: Gershwin.' I just reached an agreement with the George Gershwin estate and the show will reinterpret and reinvent his original Broadway music. I can then go to an even stronger Broadway theatricality with the basic cirque concept."