You’ve known her all your life, but you still don’t know what to get Mom for Mother’s Day. Here are three events worthy of your matriarch …

• Mom will gaze wantingly at the lean, mean bods of the Cirque du Soleil troupe, which just last night opened its KOOZA show under the big blue top at the normally decrepit and deserted corner of Broad and Washington. A good number of seats remain for tonight’s show. The rest of the weekend, it’s fairly sketchy. But doable. If you want a primer on KOOZA, check out this Q&A with Cirque’s acrobatic coach.

• And you thought your mom was pushy and fond of the guilt trip? She’s got nothin’ on Mama Rose. Mother of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, Mama Rose’s completely over-the-top stage mother shenanigans are chronicled in the fabulous musical Gypsy. Sure, you could haul Mom up to Broadway, where Patti LuPone turns in a terrific performance. But the much cheaper and more convenient option would be the version going up this weekend at the Academy of Music.

• Just in case you’re not up on the history of Klezmer music in Philadelphia, a Ukrainian fellow by the name of Joseph Hoffman was at the epicenter of it way back in the days when Klezmer was a big enough thing to have its own epicenter. Hoffman’s granddaughter, drummer Elaine Hoffman Watts, is still around, still playing Klezmer drums. And this Sunday at World Cafe Live, she teams up with her Klezmer-trumpet-playing daughter, Susan Watts (the two are pictured above), for a concert of music from a 1920s songbook that Joseph assembled. Even if you wouldn’t describe yourself as a Klezmer fan, Elaine is a hoot and her concerts with Susan are always fun and memorable, which seems to be exactly what the perfect Mother’s Day present should be.

If you’ve seen (heck, if you’ve even heard about) Cirque du Soleil, you can’t deny those stunts are pretty damn superhuman. And this Thursday, the Big Top pops up in South Philly for Cirque’s KOOZA show. Acrobatic performance and coaching director Boris Verkhovsky — picture an affable version of the Rocky and Bullwinkle guy, not a looming Karloff — shared a bit about the show and the menacing Wheel of Death. — Cheryl McEvoy

You started off coaching acrobatics and gymnastics. Was Cirque du Soleil a big jump for you?
It was a very big jump, on many different levels. For me, to be able to perform acrobatics has always been an interesting, very involved, curious challenge. But it was in a sports environment, so [there was] a lot of preparation and then a “peak performance.” So that was one aspect of the challenge, because the [show] is done nine to 10 times a week.

Cirque isn’t the typical three-ring gig most Americans are used to. Why do you think it caught on?
It’s very surprising … they say it’s an example of where there is no market and then the market is created. It’s an honest performance. If we do a performance where the risk is too high, we don’t hide the safety elements. We make them visible. So there is no pretending that it’s flying without any aid. I think it’s a healthy attitude.

What’s the story behind KOOZA?
KOOZA, when the initial mandate was given, was to go in the direction of returning to the roots of what circus is. Very physical, risk taking, on the edge, in your face. That was for the acrobatics, and that was also for clowning, because that’s the original clowning in traditional circus, where it’s in your face. The name [KOOZA] stems from the reference to a treasure box. And if you think of the notion of a Jack-in-the-box, the show actually begins with a story of an innocent in this marvelous world, and then Jack literally pops out of the box. It’s a trickster who will run the show, who will play and tease an innocent without malice. So the type of emotions, all those behaviors or relationships that are being established there, are something that we face every day.

One of the acts uses a 1,600-pound Wheel of Death. Who comes up with these death-defying acts?
Well, in this particular case, it’s a discipline that has existed for a while now in traditional circus. We did not invent it. We present it differently than it’s usually done. It’s a lot closer to the public than usual. It actually, to some extent, feels like it’s over the public and, boy, if you’re in the first row, you will feel it. You’ll feel the wind of it … What’s very unique about it is its name and the way it’s performed, there’s an insinuation of an unbelievable level of risk. I’m not gonna say that it’s not risky, but I will say that, from an acrobatic perspective, it’s a fairly simple act. But even though you’re not doing phenomenal tricks, the room for mistake is very, very, very real. And the punishment for the mistake is grave.

Are the performers cliquey — like, contortionists versus clowns — or is it a big happy family?
Of course, you want it to always be a big happy family. You deal with a fairly great ethnic diversity. It’s multiculturalism from every aspect of it … If you and I came from the same country, that does not make us the same culture, because you may come from the South and I may come from the North. That’s already a different culture. If we are 15 years apart in terms of age, that’s already a different culture, even if everything else is the same. If you are male, female — that’s a different culture. If you come from the circus world and I come from gymnastics, that’s a different culture. So in that sense, multiculturalism has so many facets and so many colors that it makes it easier, because everybody is different.

So that you’re not trolling around on Craigslist at the last minute for overpriced and quite possibly counterfeit tickets to your favorite shows …

On Sale Now
Prediction: Philadelphia is about to be overrun by geeky guys who know the precise length of the X-wing fighter’s fuselage. This can only mean one thing: It’s the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination touring exhibit at the Franklin Institute. Tickets are moving quickly, but are still around for opening weekend, February 9th. (Oh, and the fuselage is 12.5 meters long.)

At some point, we’re going to get really tired of Cirque du Soleil. Hasn’t happened yet, but it will. In the meantime, the promoters just added dates to the late May run of Cirque’s KOOZA. Primo seats available now.