Around the Rivers: North Hills Juggler Returns, Performs in Cirque du Soleil's Quidam

Pat McGuire began juggling seriously at age 14 while living in Franklin Park in the North Hills. 

"I just picked up the balls out of boredom and started playing around," he said. "I had a book that came with the bean bags and I started flipping through the book, and I taught myself some tricks. . . Eventually, I found out about a juggling club at CMU." 

One thing led to another, and two weeks after graduating high school in 1993, he joined the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's production of Mystere. 

Now, he's back in Pittsburgh to perform in the troupe's show, Quidam, playing the role of "Papa," an introverted businessman lost behind his newspaper. 

The show is about a bored little girl with inattentive parents who finds herself transported into an imaginery world after she meets Quidam—"a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past and swallowed by the crowd," according to the troupe's description of the show.

Quidam "could be anyone, anybody. Someone coming or going at the heart of our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all. This is the 'quidam' whom this show allows to speak," the description says. 

McGuire attended the North Allegheny School District beginning in the third grade and stayed through the 10th grade before moving with his parents to Arizona, where he finished school. 

He said he was the "lone wolf" in school. 

"No other kids in school were into juggling," he said. "That was my own thing." 

In addition to Cirque du Soleil, which he has been with off and on since graduation, McGuire has performed in the Festival Mondial Du Cirque de Demain in Paris, the Chameleon Variete in Berlin and Festopera in Tokyo.

He has also appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Rosie O' Donnell Show and the Today Show. 

McGuire lives now in Portland, OR. 

In videos, he talks with Patch about his background and the show and shares tips on how to get started juggling. You can also watch him juggle Terrible Towels and hockey pucks around the city of Pittsburgh. 

Cirque du Soleil's Quidam is being shown at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday at the Peterson Events Center in Oakland. 

Reviews: The Pittsburgh-Tribune Review says the show "dazzles."  

Tickets — $45-$90 for adults, $36-$73 for children and $40.50-$76.50 for military, seniors and students — are available at www.cirquedusoleil.com/quidam or by calling 1-800-745-3000.