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T h e U n o f f i c i a l
C i r q u e d u S o l e i l N e w s l e t t e r
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E X P A N D E D I S S U E
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Issue #46e www.CirqueFascination.com October 2005
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CONTENTS
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* Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings
* CRQ.NET -- This Month in Cirque Club
* LA PRESSE -- Cirque in the Press [EXPANDED]
* Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information
* Special Engagement:
"Cirque du Soleil to Release the KA Soundtrack"
Press Release by Cirque du Soleil Musique
* Special Engagement:
"Rene Dupere, Composer - A Bio"
Press Release by Cirque du Soleil Musique
* Le Spectacle:
"A Conversation with Rene Dupere (Part 1)"
By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA)
* Télémagik:
"A Review of KA Extreme"
By: Rich Alford - Seattle, Washington (USA)
* Subscription Information
* Copyright & Disclaimer
=======================================================================
CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS
=======================================================================
Cirque Back in Ink With Zink!
-----------------------------
Z!nk Magazine, which featured Varekai in a photo essays last
year, has done it again. Their October, 2005 issue features,
along with a section celebrating 100 years of Las Vegas, photo
spreads from all four current Cirque Vegas shows, totaling 90
pages. The features:
"Oasis" - 18 pages - Mystere - Photos by Thiery van Biesen. Of
the four, this one is the least satisfying. The Mystere
characters pose in the desert, as much of the old Cirque
photography of the show had also done. Here, however, the
photos look artificial and many have the distinct look of
Photoshop-created constructs. The characters look plopped down
on the page, and not properly placed in their surroundings.
Some artists and props magically hang in mid-air, others rest on
rocks with impossible balance. But the articificiality does
help give it a sense of fantasy.
"Cold Fusion" - 22 pages - KA - Photos by Sinisha. These
photos, taken on a snowy mountaintop, convey much of the energy
of the show. Unlike the Mystere photos, they all look "real."
Some of the shots even capture the energy so well they look like
frames from a Kung-Fu movie. Very nicely done.
"Naked City" - 22 pages - Zumanity - Photos by Erik A. Lang.
Here are pictures inspired by acts in the show. The waterbowl
girls are placed in a sudsy bathtub, the "TV Dance" amongst men.
There are also some interesting shots of the cast (including the
departed Spy Monkeys) shot in a Vegas sign graveyard.
"Water World" - 22 pages - "O" - Photos by Howard Schatz. No
location shooting here, these all seem to be taken in the
Bellagio O pool. There is some time-lapse multiple imagery as
well, and a few pages of smaller images taken during a show,
capturing the brilliant imagery of the staging.
"Cirque After Dark" - 6 pages. These include pictures of
celebrities from the Zumanity premier and pictures of the
Zumanity and KA premiere parties. There is also a tear-out
poster included, with a shot from each show (from that shows'
photo spread).
If you're at all interested in high quality photos of Cirque
artists, especially if you'd like to study the costuming, this
comes highly recommended. For a page-by-page breakdown of
what's in the issue, an excellent summary by Rod Mariano can be
found on Cirque Tribune: <http://www.cirquetribune.com/forum/
viewtopic.php?t=1659 > [Source: Zink Magazine; Keith Johnson]
The Bar Has Fallen Off the Edge of the Earth
--------------------------------------------
After trumpeting their collaboration with Celebrity Cruises to
retrofit bar areas on cruise ships, we were hopeful Cirque was
finally beginning to expand on the concept of "themed
environments" they had always wished for. Sorry, not going to
happen, at least net yet. We had a summary all written up
before we found this article which appeared October 12 in the
National Post, a Canadian newspaper. It laid out the situation
so well we'll just excerpt it here.
"Cirque du Soleil's Big Top at Sea Not a Hit With Cruise-Goers"
by Graeme Hamilton, National Post
"The Cirque du Soleil, accustomed to winning over critics and
audiences with its cutting-edge shows, has encountered a crowd
immune to its charms: the shuffleboard set. A joint venture
between the Montreal-based Cirque and Celebrity Cruises,
announced with great hype last year, has been put in dry-dock
after disappointing passengers on the two Cirque-themed luxury
ships.
"Every guest is different. I guess their expectations just
weren't met," Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro
said yesterday. The cruise line says it is in discussions with
the Cirque "to develop a new evolution of the onboard
entertainment experience." Ms. Sierra-Caro said a timeline has
not been set for a return of the Cirque to the high seas.
Renee-Claude Menard, a spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil, said
passengers were expecting a traditional show of acrobatics from
the Cirque performers. "We have to conclude it was not for
them," she said. "The attitude on a cruise ship is very
different. Patrons of a cruise line lead a very organized life.
They would sit there and expect a show, because that's what you
do on a cruise line."
She said the Cirque is in discussions with Celebrity to provide
a more traditional on-board show, within the confines of a ship.
The Bar at the Edge of the Earth will remain, she said, but Pez
Erizo and the others have been eliminated. "We believe that it's
a great bar," she said. "Was it in the right place at the right
time? Maybe not."
Kenneth Wong, a marketing professor at Queen's University, said
a setback like the cruise-ship venture is to be expected for a
creative company like Cirque du Soleil. "It's a very difficult
business to be in because you're not really an act. You are
trying to be a broader experience, and when you start to think
about a product in those kinds of abstract terms, something that
is beyond just three hours sitting in a chair, you do have to
test the tangible frontiers of those boundaries from time to
time."
He said the flop will not have the same resonance as it would
have had it been a show under the big top. "This doesn't really
damage the brand. It was just one of those things they tried, it
didn't work, and if anything they had the good sense to pull the
plug earlier rather than later," he said."
In a news item posted on www.cruisecritic.com, Celebrity
spokeswoman Liz Jakeway suggested that the further tweaking will
result in what "our guests ... have told us they expect from a
program involving [Cirque]: acrobatic and artistic
performances."
The only part of the above coverage we would dispute is the
headline; Cirque never intended the Bar to be a "big top at
sea." And there will be something else in the offing, as the
six-year alliance only began in 2004. The extensive decorations
and technical installations made in both ships bars will remain,
as will the on-board Cirque boutiques selling shirts, masks, CDs
and DVDs.
We have to say we're not too surprised. Celebrity is an upscale
cruise line and as such attracts an older clientele. We
suspected that said customer would have a hard time getting past
the idea that this Cirque du Soleil "thing" isn't a "show" and
wouldn't have clowns/trapeze artists/strongmen/jugglers. Such
is the baggage the name Cirque du Soleil brings with it, and
part of the challenge of breaking out of that mold into other
forms of entertainment.
But, dear reader, don't fret. For those who didn't have the
chance to experience this special Cirque environment, we at
Fascination! are here to sacrifice time and money to make sure
you get the story! Keith and wife LouAnna took the Summit on an
Alaska cruise back in September, and documented the Bar at the
Edge of the Earth in excruciating detail. Look for our first
installment in a future issue.
And, if we can speculate, expect Celebrity to announce some sort
of Cirque du Soleil "collaboration" that would more easily fit
into their shipboard theaters at some point in the future.
[Source: National Post.com, Cruise Critic.com, Celebrity.com;
Keith Johnson]
Unconfirmed Corteo Dates
------------------------
Kit Chatham, Corteo's percussionist, has listed Corteo's future
itinerary. Please keep in mind these dates are unconfirmed by
Cirque du Soleil:
Phoenix, AZ -- March 16 - April 9, 2006
New York City, NY -- April 25 - June 25, 2006
Chicago, IL --July 14 - August 27, 2006
Boston, MA --Sept. 8 - Oct. 15, 2006
Santa Monica, CA -- Nov. 3 - Jan. 7, 2007
For more information about Kit Chatham, visit his website at
< http://www.kitchatham.com/cirque.html >.
In the Ring
-----------
According to MousePlanet, a leading Disney fansite, La Nouba
is having a tough time filling its seats. However, I will
point out that this time of year is generally slow for all
the theme parks in Central Florida.
Unconfirmed Varekai Cities: After Miami, Varekai is scheduled to
visit Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
And, due to difficult contract negotiations with Fuji (sponsors
of Cirque in Japan), Varekai will go Down Under ("Australia")
before visiting the Land of the Rising Sun ("Japan").
=======================================================================
CRQ.NET -- THIS MONTH IN CIRQUE CLUB
=======================================================================
(By: Keith Johnson)
Cirque Club is all over the release of the KA soundtrack (and so are
we, as our exclusive interview with René Dupéré starts below!). They
feature samples from all the tracks on the album, as well as a welcome
bonus; an interview with Dupéré and 17 minutes of audio commentary
about several of the tracks. There's also an article on the Tibetan
trumpets featured as props (though not heard musically) in the show.
News bits also include comments about Monterrey Mexico, and the second
generation of Alice, the snail prop from Mystère. And they have
another contest, this one to see La Nouba (but you have to be a
resident of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina or Alabama only).
Zumanity.com has switched things up a bit; they've given "Madame" a
section of her own for letters, comments and features. You can also
sign up to get Zumanity-specific news. And there's a featured
interview with several cast members about changes over the two years
of the shows production.
In addition to several new items in different categories, the Cirque
Boutique now has the KA soundtrack and KA Extreme DVD available.
In Cirque Club Marketing Messages:
Anne-Josée discussing Saltimbanco in Mexico:
"We are very happy to be in Mexico City and simply thrilled to have
been invited to participate in the upcoming las Lunas Del Auditorio
Awards Ceremony! For this very special event we will be showcasing
two acts from Saltimbanco performed by Andrei, Oxana, Dasha and Maxsim
Vintilov.
The Vintilov family has been with Cirque du Soleil for the past 10
years. When they first joined, Maxsim was not even born yet. Andrei
and Oxana have seen their children grow into wonderful artists and now
perform Adagio with their 5 year-old son, Maxsim, while their 15 year-
old daughter, Dasha, performs the Solo Trapeze.
This gala will be televised on Televista, TV Axteca or Canal 22 during
the week of October 3."
And Madame popped up to announce her new Zumanity.com section:
"Perhaps you have noticed that I now have my very own section outside
the Cirque Club. You can now manage your Zumail profile on
zumanity.com (and perhaps create a new persona with a new pseudonym)
and keep a separate profile in Cirque Club on cirquedusoleil.com."
Above text courtesy of Cirque Club.
=======================================================================
LA PRESSE -- CIRQUE IN THE PRESS [EXPANDED]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------
"Varekai: Singularity Cirque"
From: The Hartford Courant
-----------------------------------------------
When Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" opens in Hartford Thursday for a
multiweek run, it will introduce acts of spectacular acrobatic
agility, amazing strength and sublime clowning.
Of course, all of the acts of Cirque du Soleil (pronounced "sirk-doo-
so-LAY") are presented with great theatricality, employing music,
dance, song and theatrical effects to create a spectacular world
defined by style, imagination and execution, a world that is
singularly Cirque.
Hartford first saw a Cirque show in the summer of 2003 with "Dralion."
The organization has 11 different shows, six on tour, four in Las
Vegas and one at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Backstage interviews with several of the "Varekai" performers give a
peek into the high-flying world of Cirque from a down-to-earth
perspective. Without makeup, music and colored lights, these
performers show that to be Cirque may be divine, but hey, they're
human, too.
Andrew and Kevin Atherton shake hands with a solid grip, but it's
nothing unusual. It's a hearty, friendly shake, but nothing like the
vise-like clutch the identical twins from England need when they grab
onto their aerial straps - and each other - with their bare hands.
With no safety line or net, they swoop and spin around the stage with
breathtaking speed and grace. And when the spinning stops, the straps
launch them upward, making it seem they're taking an express elevator
to heaven.
The 30-year-old men came to Cirque from the world of gymnastics, where
they were major competitors and Olympic contenders for England. When
they visited a friend who worked in Cirque's "Alegria," the twins
immediately sensed that was destined to be for them. "We knew that
when the time came to finish gymnastics, that's what we wanted to do,"
says Kevin.
But what exactly would they do? A routine on a pommel horse works at
the Olympics, but is it theatrical?
"They threw us in the deep end of the pool," says Andrew of the time
they arrived in Montreal to train to be Cirque performers. "We were
told to go into a room - a dance studio with a mirror - and just work
on stuff, with no mandate. It was difficult at first because, coming
from the gymnastics world, we work as individuals, and for the first
few months, we did a lot of arguing where one of us would disappear
out of the room and then come back an hour later."
The free-form workout taught the men how to create things as a team.
"In gymnastics, you're told what to do - to do it exactly like this.
But here we could do whatever we wanted in whatever way we wanted,"
says Andrew.
One thing they avoided was playing off their twinship. "We didn't go
that route where everything is a mirror image," says Kevin, who
describes himself as the more logical one. Andrew, he says, is "the
more artistic type."
Life in the air is a breeze for them now, but not all family members
feel the same way.
"The first time our mother saw our act, she was very nervous," says
Kevin. "She's very fearful of heights, even small heights. Seeing her
two sons go up to that height with no safety net and just holding onto
each other's grip, well, it didn't go down well with her the first
time. She had to come back a few times just to be able to enjoy it."
"We're up there living our dream," says Andrew. "And the fact that
we're doing it together is something we thought would never happen."
But they're pragmatic men. "Both of us know that there's going to be
more in our lives," says Kevin. "We want more. We have this urge to
take things further and making it bigger and better."
Their outside interests include dabbling in real estate. They may know
the worthiness of soaring acrobatics, but they also know the value of
terra firma.
ONCE A CLOWN
Steven Bishop was a dentist in Australia. But he was always clowning
around. He knew the dental drill was not his first love, so he decided
to make a dramatic move and take off to Paris to study with a
celebrated mime and movement company. He also studied stilt-walking,
magic tricks, ventriloquism and, yes, even strait-jacket escapes. You
never know exactly what type of clowning you may be called on to do in
the circus life
Bishop toured France and later formed his own comedy troupe in
Australia with his wife. He still practiced dentistry but worked it
around his performing gigs. He sent a tape to Cirque, and the
organization auditioned him and hired him. When a clown who created a
role in "Varekai" left the show, Bishop nimbly stepped in and two
weeks later was clowning around before more than 2,500 people for each
show.
The act where he attempts to lip-synch a sang-froid Jacques Brel song
while frantically trying to find his wandering follow spot is an
exercise in hilarity and exhaustion.
Bishop tours with his wife and four children, ages 3 to 10, several of
whom are already vying for acts of their own.
In a Cirque show, says Bishop, clowns have a role to play that is not
strictly comic relief. "Most of the characters in Cirque shows are
almost animal-like and surreal. But the clowns are the human
connection for the audience."
TUMBLING FROM THE SKY
If "Verekai" were a Broadway show, Anton Chelnokov's name would be
above the title.
But Cirque goes out of the way to make the show the star, keeping
everyone humble - and affordable.
That's not to say the 20-year-old Chelnokov doesn't look like a star.
Handsome, elegant and supremely confident, he plays Icarus, who
tumbles from the sky at the start of the show and rises again in an
act of acrobatic dare while wrapped in a net high above the stage.
Chelnokov first performed at 5 with his parents in Cirque's
"Saltimbanco" as part of an acrobatic Adagio act. He played the part
for five years. Then he returned with his family to Moscow, where they
continued to work in their own circus.
He rejoined Cirque when "Varekai" was being created. The company, in
essence, "rented" the act that he and his father had devised in
Russia. "Varekai" was shaped around the character played by the
charismatic young man.
Chelnokov was 16 when he returned to Cirque and was away - and alone -
from his Moscow home for the first time in his life. "It was scary and
hard, and I had to deal with many problems that I didn't have to deal
with before."
Such as?
"Grown-up problems! Taking care of my own stuff, all the papers;
taking care of all the business. I was freaking out because I didn't
know how to do it. And there was a lot of pressure on me. I missed
home. I missed my family. But eventually I got used to everything and
everybody. It's a huge family here. But it's been a roller-coaster
ride for me."
What's in store for him after the show runs its course next year?
"Then I don't know," says Chelnokov. "It's been 1,206 `Varekai' shows
so far. Maybe I won't do this anymore. Maybe I'll decide I don't want
to be a Cirque performer, and I might want to do something else
completely. I started this life when I was 4, and it's been a long
time on the body. It all depends on how I feel. Life goes on, and you
have to explore yourself in new ways."
He says he loves being a DJ mixer at nightclubs.
THE SPINNING BROTHERS
Watching the Italian brothers Roni and Stiv Bello or the Spanish
brothers Javier, Pedro and Ramon Santos performing the "Icarian Games"
foot-juggling act makes one question gravity - but not centrifugal
force. With one brother on his back and his legs in the air, the other
hops his butt onto the feet, and then - we're not exactly sure how -
spinning commences. And goes on. And on. After 40 spins, you lose
count.
Interviewing the brothers is a bit awkward in the language department,
but this much we learned: The Bellos have been with the show for three
years, but they grew up in the circus near Verona, Italy.
"You go away from it for a week, and you start to miss it," says Stiv,
27. "Yes, there are tough days at the office. It happens. We're
brothers. We have some problems."
It was the Cirque creators' idea to put the two spinning acts from
Spain and Italy together. Double the pleasure, double the fun. "Nobody
did that before," says Stiv.
Stiv is always the catcher. "We don't switch. When I worked on the
trapeze, I could work with different fliers. But not in this act."
"Those feet are the only feet I can use," says Roni, 26.
Stiv's shoe size is 9½.
They communicate verbally, and it's the catcher who signals when to
stop spinning.
The most important part of the body in spinning? The legs, the soles,
the ankles, the calves, the thighs?
"The mind," says Stiv.
And how's his brother's butt?
"After 14 years of doing this, very flat," he says, laughing.
As for the Santos brothers, their family specialty was clowning, seven
generations' worth. When their spinning days are over, they will
return to their comic roots.
They just started fooling around with acrobatics, and one thing led to
another.
Usually the larger brother is the catcher. But a flier shouldn't be
too light. If the catcher pushes too hard, the flier on top will be
toppled.
"I only spin my brothers," says catcher Javier, 28. "Anyone else would
be much too difficult to work with."
Different techniques, he says.
"And yes, I sometimes know if my brother has partied a little too much
the night before," says Javier.
The feet know, says Javier, who wears a size 8½.
-----------------------------------------------
"Massive Damage Nixes Early Signs of Hope
for Beau Rivage Casino"
From: USA Today / Associated Press
-----------------------------------------------
When Hurricane Katrina finished pounding this seaside city, it
appeared the Beau Rivage hotel-casino had escaped serious damage.
It was built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, and initial reports
suggested the $800 million crown jewel of Gulf Coast casinos might
recover quickly, a bright spot in an economy desperate for some good
news.
But a closer look has revealed a gloomier picture. The chairman of MGM
Mirage, the Las Vegas-based company that owns the property, predicts
the Beau Rivage will be the single-biggest loss of any of the 13
casinos lining the Mississippi coast.
Company officials estimate fixing the 1,740-room resort could cost
hundreds of millions of dollars and take 12 to 16 months a
frustrating setback for the 3,400 employees who worked there.
The exterior walls appear largely unscathed by Katrina's powerful
winds, but the real damage is inside.
The MGM Mirage allowed a reporter inside the Beau Rivage for the first
time this week, giving The Associated Press a tour of the damage
caused by a tidal surge towering more than two stories a height the
resort's designers hadn't planned for.
The company has hired a small army to revive the Beau Rivage, but
debris remains visible in all corners of the expansive first floor,
the portion that was literally washed away and has since been gutted.
Large sections of the southern wall facing the Gulf have huge gashes
from the giant waves that crashed into them repeatedly, and the first
two floors of the parking garage were wiped away.
"When you look at it your heart kind of sinks," said Cindy Nieder, a
security supervisor and a Beau Rivage employee since the property
opened in 1999 one of the largest single investments ever made in
Mississippi.
What remains of the front desk is a pile of battered computers. The
atrium has been reduced to rubble thanks to the heavy equipment
tearing up the floors. The only people milling around are
constructions workers trying to piece the Beau Rivage back together.
The gamblers are gone.
"It was so pretty in here," Nieder said. "We had flowers and little
shrubs. It was beautiful."
MGM Mirage spent millions improving the Beau Rivage, recently adding a
nightclub and new restaurants. Those investments were flushed out to
sea. The new $4 million club is gone save the center bar and the coral
glass above it.
Many seats in the cavernous showroom that holds 1,550 people were
yanked out along with the slot machines on the casino floor. Nickels
are scattered everywhere.
The popular restaurants have disappeared. George Goldhoff, vice
president of food and beverage at the Beau Rivage, said his operation
was wrecked. A custom-made smoker for barbecuing the meat has
vanished.
"It's not there," he said. "There's no telling where it went."
The brewpub's gleaming, stainless steel beer tanks didn't survive, and
the four 10,000-gallon aquariums that held sharks and other marine
life were flushed out to sea. He had no idea what happened to the
creatures.
"Free Willy, baby," he said.
Architects who inspected the Beau Rivage say it's structurally sound
because the design helped mitigate and divert the force of the winds.
The barge on which the casino rested managed to remain in place.
Goldhoff knows he has a daunting rebuilding job in front of him.
The thought of it, he said, "makes the hair on my arm stand up."
-----------------------------------------------
"Costume Shop Work Never Done"
From: This Week News
-----------------------------------------------
The costume shop tent backstage at Cirque du Soleil's Varekai is not
your typical tailor's shop.
First, typical tailors aren't working on more than 600 outfits, made
primarily from Lycra, spandex or neoprene, dyed in such a wide array
of colors that the rainbow hasn't heard of many of them. Add to that
the fact that many of the outfits are given shape and form by applying
three-dimensional foam to the fabric, often in painstaking fashion,
and it becomes more evident. Specialized hats, wigs, masks and shoes
complete the atypical picture.
The exotic costuming is among the core elements of Cirque du Soleil,
an integral part of what defines the company in the public eye, what
gives it that certain je ne sais quoi.
Consider the large majority of the images used to market the company -
- the costumed performers have become immediately identifiable with
Cirque du Soleil.
All costumes for the multiple touring and site-based Cirque du Soleil
productions are made in the company's costume shop in Montreal.
Maintenance, a considerable undertaking, is done on site.
Varekai employs three full-time wardrobe specialists, augmented by an
additional three freelance staffers in each new city.
"If a performer wears it, we're in charge of it," head of wardrobe
Scott Harrington said.
"One of my objectives ... is to design costumes that will accentuate
and even reinforce the visual and emotional impact of the risks taken
by the artists, while ensuring their complete safety," costume
designer Eiko Ishioka said in her artistic statement.
The on-site wardrobe team's job is to ensure the continued achievement
of those goals.
"We watch the shows and take notes, see whether the costumes have
faded, if a movement has changed, that wigs and hats are in place,"
Harrington said. "On stage, under the lights is where you can really
see the difference."
In addition to this vigilance, the wardrobe team also depends on the
performers themselves to bring in damaged items or those in various
states of disrepair. Not surprisingly, gloves and shoes suffer the
most wear and tear for the majority of the performers.
"The costumes last maybe a month, a year if we're really lucky," said
Stacy Teague, one of two assistant heads of wardrobe, while stitching
up a damaged shoe. "It depends on how long a costume is on stage and
on the physicality of the act."
The process of maintaining the costumes is often "trial and error,"
added Genevieve Maranda, the other assistant head of wardrobe. This
day, she spent more than an hour trying a new product out on a wig
that refuses to hold its shape.
"Part of the challenge of maintaining (the costumes) is because it's
not normal clothing," she said. "We try to keep them looking good for
as long as we can."
But Harrington has a surprisingly normal secret for keeping these "not
normal" costumes clean.
"Cheer, no bleach," he said of one of the functions with which the
department's temporary employees are charged. "Machine wash cold, hang
to dry. The heat can make the colors really fade."
The temps are also responsible for helping dress the performers before
and during the show, freeing up the full-time staff to view the show
as needed and also to work during the days to maintain the costumes.
"Because the costumes help tell the story, it's our job to maintain
the integrity of the design and keep the costumes in good working
order, to stretch the budget while making sure the intent of the
design is met," Harrington explained. "We want to make sure no show is
substandard, that whether it's the first or last show in a city, every
audience member gets the same show."
=======================================================================
ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION
=======================================================================
[Touring Shows]
Alegría:
* Tokyo, Japan:
Oct 13, 2005 to Nov 27, 2005
* London, England:
Jan 5, 2006 to Jan 29, 2006
* Milan, Italy:
Feb 23, 2006 to Apr 16, 2006
* Rome, Italy:
Apr 27, 2006 to Jun 25, 2006
* Amsterdam, Netherlands:
Jul 14, 2006 to Aug 20, 2006
* Brussels, Belgium:
Aug 31, 2006 to Sep 28, 2006
Corteo:
* Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Sep 23, 2005 to Oct 23, 2005
* San Francisco, California:
Nov 11, 2005 to Jan 8, 2006
* San Jose, California:
Jan 19, 2006 to Mar 5, 2006
Dralion:
* Zurich, Switzerland:
Sep 8, 2005 to Nov 6, 2005
* Bilbao, Spain:
Nov 18, 2005 to Dec 4, 2005
* Seville, Spain:
Jan 12, 2006 to Jan 29, 2006
* Valencia, Spain -- TBA
Quidam:
* Hong Kong, China:
Nov 3, 2005 to Dec 4, 2005
* San Diego, California:
Jan 19, 2006 to Feb 26, 2006
Saltimbanco:
* Mexico City, Mexico:
Sep 22, 2005 to Nov 6, 2005
* Guadalajara, Mexico:
Nov 24, 2005 to Dec 11, 2005
Varekai:
* Charlotte, North Carolina:
Oct 27, 2005 to Nov 20, 2005
* St. Petersburg, Florida:
Dec 1, 2005 to Dec 18, 2005
* Miami, Florida:
Jan 20, 2006 to Feb 12, 2006
[Resident Shows]
La Nouba:
* Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm
* Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday
* Location: Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando (USA)
* 2005 Dark Dates:
-- October 9th - 12th -- December 4th - 13th
-- November 13th - 15th
Mystère:
* Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm/10:30pm; Sundays: 4:30pm/7:30pm
* Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark Monday/Tuesday
* Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA)
* 2005 Dark Dates:
-- November 13th
"O":
* Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm
* Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark Monday/Tuesday
* Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA)
* 2005 Dark Dates:
-- October 16th - 18th -- December 5th - 20th
Zumanity:
* Two Shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm
* Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
* Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA)
* 2005 Dark Dates:
-- October 10th - 13th -- December 7th - 22nd
KÀ:
* Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 10:30pm
* Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark Wednesday/Thursday
* Location: MGM Grand: City of Entertainment, Las Vegas (USA)
* Note: One show nightly at 8:00pm from Nov 26 to Dec 7.
* 2005 Dark Dates:
-- November 14th - 15th
=======================================================================
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT:
"Cirque du Soleil to Release the KA Soundtrack"
Press Release by Cirque du Soleil Musique
=======================================================================
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL MUSIQUE TO RELEASE THE KÀ SOUNDTRACK CD
Composed by René Dupéré,
KÀ features epic music reminiscent of classic movie soundtracks
[On] October 18th, Cirque du Soleil Musique will announce the release
of the KÀ soundtrack, its most ambitious musical project to date.
while remaining firmly rooted in Cirque du Soleil musical tradition,
the recording featuring a 57-piece symphony orchestra and 40-member
choir creates a unique musical universe both epic and lyrical.
The powerful percussion and distinctive sound invites comparisons with
classic movie soundtracks creating "a rich soundtrack that lives up to
the overarching eye-candy on display", says Variety. To create this
sound, KÀ was recorded at the renowned Paramount Studios in Los
Angeles and in Montreal, where Cirque du Soleil is based. Hollywood
veteran Simon Leclerc, the conductor for Star Trek: Voyager and
Enterprise, the play Les Misérables and the Quebec production Dracula,
conducted the orchestra in Los Angeles.
Composer René Dupéré has been part of Cirque du Soleil since the very
beginning. KÀ is the first work Dupéré has composed for Cirque du
Soleil since 1994's Alegría, the best-selling Cirque du Soleil
recording to date. Dupéré is proud of his new creation, currently
showing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "We pulled out all the stops in
the making of this album, and the result is, I believe, a record of
the highest quality," says Dupéré. The album KÀ is worthy of the show
that Time magazine called "bigger than Vegas."
Both the stage production and the soundtrack called for highly
innovative use of musical technology. Says Martin Lord-Ferguson, co-
producer of the recording: "Technological innovation, artistic
audacity and technical prowess are all features of KÀ that the
soundtrack had to reflect."
The KÀ CD is on sale now at www.cirquedusoleil.com and will be in
stores on October 18, 2005.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL MUSIQUE
Cirque du Soleil Musique handles the creation, production and sale of
music from Cirque du Soleil shows, and develops the international
careers of promising and proven recording artists.
Since its inception in 2004, Cirque du Soleil Musique has released
five recordings: Le Best Of, Tapis Rouge(tm) Solarium, ZUMANITY(tm),
Solarium/Delirium and Mouvement by Alain Vinet, and has re-issued the
soundtracks for the stage productions of Saltimbanco, Alegría,
Mystère, La Nouba, Dralion, "O", Quidam and Varekai. Cirque du Soleil
albums have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.
=======================================================================
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT:
"Rene Dupere, Composer - A Bio"
Press Release by Cirque du Soleil Musique
=======================================================================
René Dupéré, composer - Cirque du Soleil - KÀ
Transcending geographic and stylistic boundaries, composer René Dupéré
has sold over two million CDs worldwide. He composed the music for
several of Cirque du Soleil's best selling productions and recordings,
including Saltimbanco, Mystère and Alegría. After a ten year
absence, Dupéré returned to the Cirque du Soleil fold with KÀ, which
opened in February 2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.
A multi-faceted musician and composer, René Dupéré has developed a
musical style that weds classical structure with the modern sound of
synthesizers and the exotic flavors of world music. Equally
comfortable composing for live productions, film and television work,
and the recorded medium, he stamps his work with originality and
strong personality.
After the success of 1994's Alegría, which spent 65 weeks on the
Billboard World Music chart earning him a Grammy(tm) Nomination in the
U.S. and two Felix Awards in Canada, Dupéré was the subject of a
tribute at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, which was
attended by 200,000 people.
Since 1995 Dupéré has continued composing for recording artists, live
productions, advertising, film and television. His works have earned
many accolades, including a Golden Award for "Ismya Vova", composed
for an Air Canada ad campaign, the SOCAN Hagood Hardy Award (for
instrumental music), and an ADISQ (l'Association du disque et du
spectacle du Québec) nomination for "La belle est dans ton camp", the
second album which he composed, arranged and performed for former
Cirque du Soleil vocalist Élise Velle. He has also composed the
scores for the films OIO, and La Peau Blanche, the live productions
"Colours of Dance" (Holiday on Ice), "Xotika", as well as the score of
the celebration for the unification of Hong Kong with China in 1997.
Dupéré's compositions are timeless and without geographic limitations.
KÀ, the sixth Cirque du Soleil production for which he has composed
the music, features the most ambitious soundtrack produced yet by
Cirque du Soleil Musique. The storyline for KÀ reads as a live epic
film and Dupéré's music reflects this, featuring a 40-member choir and
a 57-piece symphonic orchestra. It was recorded (in part) at the
Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA.
KÀ is a resident show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. The KÀ
soundtrack, composed by René Dupéré, will be released on the Cirque du
Soleil Musique label on October 18, 2005.
=======================================================================
LE SPECTACLE:
"A Conversatin with Rene Dupere (Part 1)"
By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA)
=======================================================================
Before Cirque du Soleil, the world of circus music was populated by
brass bands and marshal music arrangements. Certainly there were
occasional forays into the unusual, but it was Cirque that pioneered
the concept of bringing more modern, more "world-music" sounds into a
circus context. Winning accolades and influencing countless others,
it is the music of Cirque du Soleil that, through the ears, prepares
the mind for the wonders about to unfold before the eyes. This is a
tribute not only to René Dupéré, Benoit Jutras, Violaine Corradi, and
other Cirque composers, but also to Cirque's ability to mesh all the
elements of circus and stagecraft into a magical whole.
Continuing on that tradition, and featuring a 40-member choir and 57-
piece symphonic orchestra, the soundtrack CD for KÀ, the latest
"resident" show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has been proclaimed by
Cirque du Soleil as their "most ambitious musical project to date."
It also marks the triumphant return to the fold of its first composer,
René Dupéré (Ren-ay Du-pair-ay).
Every Cirque fan with more than a few soundtrack CDs in their
collection knows Dupéré's name and have appreciated his music. His
sound, with its lyrical nature and ethnic music influences, set the
standard for Cirque shows to follow and gave the new circus its
distinctive flavor. He has also had quite a successful career outside
of the circus, with collaborations with his wife Élise Velle as well
as other work.
Recently he very graciously took the time to speak with us from a
secluded resort in Québec, where he and Élise were working on material
for a new project for Élise. In Part One of our two-part exclusive
interview, we talk about the new KÀ soundtrack CD, due to be released
in the US on October 18 and currently available in the Cirque du
Soleil Boutique (item #506615, $19.50 USD).
Mr. Dupéré started by explaining how he came to the KÀ project. "My
first career was as a teacher, the first job in my second career as
composer was for Cirque du Soleil. I worked ten years with Guy
Laliberté and the circus and left [after Alegría] in 1994. I wanted
to do something other than circus music. But I told [Cirque] that if
they had a special project, that wasn't under the big top and wouldn't
really include that kind of music that I [would be interested]."
"So I worked in different fields of music including movies, television
series, advertising, all that stuff. Around the end of March, 2004,
Guy Laliberté called and said they were looking for a composer for the
KÀ show in Las Vegas. When I asked him what kind of show it was he
invited me to a run-through the day after, just before the cast left
for Vegas. So I went to the studio in Montréal and watched the run-
through and realized that it was a huge show, a live movie on the
stage. The idea I had for the music was of a movie soundtrack, a mix
between Lord of the Rings and Matrix. I called Guy back and told him
my idea was to have the music treated as a soundtrack, and the
references to the Lord of the Rings and Matrix seemed to appeal to
him, so we agreed on that and I started working."
"I started the next morning, with the idea of a movie soundtrack. For
two months I stayed at home alone with my computers, composing.
Nobody heard a single note, not even [partner] Martin Lord Ferguson or
[show director] Robert Lepage. I wanted to propose at least half to
two-thirds of the show in terms of demos and sounds that they would
like to hear."
"I started writing very fast, because I came into the process very
late. Normally [the composer is hired] one year before opening night;
when I joined the show [in March, 2004] the opening night was supposed
to be the end of July. But it was later postponed to November, and we
were happy about that (laughs)."
Fast forward to May of 2004. "After two months, I had almost two-
thirds of the show written in terms of the themes that were used.
Then I sent the demos to Robert, and I had Guy and Martin listen as
well. The only thing Guy told me was to be careful not to be too
dramatic, because the show itself was dramatic. That was good advice,
but he had heard only the dramatic music, not the music for the
clowns. And there is some comic relief and poetic release in the
show. [In the end] it went quite well, and the show is quite balanced
in terms of emotion, [with] comic stuff and dramatic music, too."
"Then I moved to Vegas, and Robert and I would talk almost every day.
I'd adjust things, compose other things and cut things that I had
already composed [due to changes in the show]. Just working and
readjusting the music for the scenes with direction from the director.
And since Martin and I work very fast, we could propose something [new
in one or two days]. Then it was just a matter of putting it into the
machine and putting the music in the theater. We realized that in two
to six weeks we would be able to do any big change. Small changes
could be done with the musicians on the spot."
Many Cirque fans have been interested in what happens in that
maelstrom of activity, the creation process, especially with a show
whose scope and ambitions are so large. Dupéré explains, "It's always
a work in progress. The difficulty [comes in] making things happen
with the technology, because things are so big, you can't make changes
[quickly]. For example, if you want to change the lighting for one
scene and you have 2000 lights it's quite a chore, you can't do that
in two hours. For some people it was a little difficult to work in
that kind of "work in process." I had no problem."
And working with show director, Robert Lepage? "I've known Robert for
20 years. I saw his first show ("Circulations") in Québec City 25
years ago. I really had fun working with him because I like people
who are able to explain their demands. If they want something, and
they can give you the right explanation, they give you a direction,
like a movie director. And working that way with Robert was really
interesting."
Critical to the endeavor is Mr. Dupéré's partner, Martin Lord
Ferguson. "He's my co-arranger and mixer. He's a fantastic mixer;
he's been working with Pro Tools since he was a kid. I'm the composer
and arranger, and he co-arranges with me and makes the sound bigger
than I would have been able to. He's a very important person for me
because when you do this kind of show - even if the music is really
good - if it doesn't sound good, it shows."
In prior interviews, Dupéré has commented that Cirque du Soleil is
made up of 10% gamblers. We asked what gambles have been taken with
this show. "The gamble of putting on a $200 million USD show (the
theater and the show) and hoping that it will work is a big gamble.
On my side the gamble was to include pre-recorded music in a live
show. I wanted to include a choir and symphonic orchestra, with live
musicians playing along with those tracks."
"We have 32 tracks of audio on a hard disk running with the show, and
nine musicians playing live. [The tracks are loaded in] a machine
that allows you to move from one part of a song to another
[seamlessly]. That was the biggest challenge, because you don't want
the machine to crash in the middle of a show. It was really a
technical feat to accomplish, and it works very well."
To accomplish that feat, they first had to record the samples. "We
recorded the orchestra and chorus in two steps. The biggest part of
the music was done in Montréal in August, 2004. Then I realized I
could put more choir in the Forest and Cliff scenes. So I came back
to Montréal after the previews started (on November 26), and in
December we recorded more choir music which we put [into the show] in
January, just before opening night."
How are the 32 tracks of pre-recorded audio prepared for playing in
sync with a band in an unpredictable, live show atmosphere? Mr.
Dupéré explained the process. "We first recorded the symphonic
orchestra and choir on 32 tracks. Then we'd cut the songs into chunks
of music. We'd cut a chunk from Bar 1 to Bar 8, and from Bar 8 to Bar
10, and another from Bar 10 to Bar 27. If you have a melody that
lasts eight bars, you know you can't cut the melody in two. But you
can repeat the last two bars of the bridge after that section two,
three, four times depending on what's happening on the stage. So, if
at Bar 10 we have a problem, and we want to repeat Bars 8 to 10 [the
conductor pushes a button] and it goes back to Bar 8. Otherwise it
would continue non-stop."
"The hope is to not have to repeat any sequence because everything
will go fine. But if you want to improvise on a sequence you just
repeat that one chunk and when you're finished you just let the music
go. The beauty is that you can cross fade from one section to
another, from one bar to another, from one song to another, as long as
you have previewed it. We desperately needed that kind of
[technology] because we wanted to use those 32 pre-recorded tracks in
the show."
"The machine we use is called a Symphonia. It's already widely used
in musicals in New York." And it's versatile. "For instance, if the
oboe player is sick you can just replace him with a sampler. The
machine follows the music, it can slow down and speed up, and you can
switch from one section to another. In KÀ, we have a sampled
symphonic orchestra and a sampled choir. And we have a lot of
percussion played live by the band. And [we can be] flexible
throughout the show."
But when it came time to record the soundtrack CD, they didn't just go
back to those original 32 tracks of orchestra and choir. They
recorded entirely new tracks with a new orchestra and chorus, to be
mixed in with the already recorded samples. "The CD soundtrack was
recorded at Paramount [about mid-July to early-August, 2005]. We can
put these recordings into the show if needed, but the show sounds very
good with the very special samplings that I used. And we did a lot of
mixing between our samples and the [newly recorded] real orchestra so
[the CD] sounds bigger. We took the best of both worlds."
They did not use the shows live musicians or singers, however. "We
didn't have time to go to Vegas and add [them] to the CD. The opening
night was February 3rd, 2005, and we started working on the CD the
week after. With rehearsing in the afternoon and performing two shows
a night, five nights a week, they are exhausted. It would have been a
chore for them to do the CD."
"We wanted to do something else with the singers as well. The CD is
telling the story a certain way and the show is telling it another way
[with the added visual element]. We didn't really want the same
singers because we treated some songs quite differently; we even
transposed a couple of things."
Some fans have wondered, if a recording doesn't include the musicians
involved in the creation process, can it truly be representative of
the show? Dupéré notes that, "We didn't want to [replicate] the show
on the CD. Because the format is different we added things that were
intended more for the CD than the show, and the editing of the songs
is different. But the color is the same. So you have orchestra,
choir and percussion, and we added little spices on top of that."
Mr. Dupéré has said that soundtrack CD's should be "inspired by" the
shows yet be able to stand on their own. Fans have suggested that the
last couple of CDS releases, Varekai and Zumanity, have seemed to be
on the outer edge of that in terms of taking the original source
material and going in a somewhat different direction. Mr. Dupéré
agrees, noting, "We were aware of that, we knew that Zumanity and
Varekai were, I wouldn't say bizarre mixes, but were [different in]
the conception of the CD itself. I think it's even more obvious with
Zumanity, because "inspired by" is written on the CD cover. We didn't
want that to be written on the KÀ [CD cover]."
"Although there are 16 pieces of music [on the CD], there are 10 to 12
that are really in the color of the show. You can recognize not only
the color of the show but the moment where that music is used. And I
thought that was obviously the way to do it. This is a show
soundtrack, not a [pop soundtrack] with songs, a lot of airplay,
techno stuff. Maybe we could [alter the songs] for radio airplay, but
that wasn't our purpose. Not that we didn't want airplay. But
basically the format is a soundtrack so it has to reflect the color of
the show. Since the features of the music are the symphonic orchestra
and choir we couldn't avoid them (laughs). It was the only way to
treat the music."
There are also three "conventional" songs at the end of the CD. The
first one, "If I Could Reach Your Heart" is sung by wife Élise Velle,
and there are two additional "bonus" tracks, "We've Been Waiting So
Long", and "Reach for Me Now." "We realized there wouldn't be any
songs that would be [suitable] for airplay. So we tried to include
some songs without interfering with the concept we had for the
soundtrack. It was important for us that the CD goes from track 1 to
14, and the last song, sung in English and an invented language by
Élise, is the end of the CD, and it's sort of a turning point to go
somewhere else. Then [there are] seven seconds of silence and this
leads to the other two bonus songs that are in English. We really
wanted to treat those last two songs like bonus tracks, because that's
what they are."
"They don't reflect the show because their purpose is to [carry on]
themes that are in the show, but give another color. So the music has
another color and the singer is different. "We've Been Waiting So
Long" is based on the melody from "Shadowplay", and "Reach for Me Now"
is based on the melody of "Deep." When played with a piano, sort of a
Vangelis type of sound, it's the same song in a different musical
world."
In fact, it's wife Élise that brings the CD full circle by singing "If
I Could Reach Your Heart," which is based on the melody of the first
track she also sings, "O Makunde." "It "loops" the CD. And after
that there are two songs that are something quite different."
Is there any music missing from the CD that he wanted to include?
"There were a couple of things I would have liked to include. At the
very beginning of the show there's a sort of "once upon a time" music.
But we didn't know where to put it, because we really wanted the CD to
start with Élise singing "O Makunde", and ending with the English
version of that and the two bonus tracks. So I didn't really know
where to put this "once upon a time" song."
While that didn't fit the concept of the CD as it was envisioned, they
might still see the light of the laser. "We might do something for
the first anniversary of KÀ next February. We might do a sort of an
anniversary album and include two or three extra things, we haven't
decided yet. I would include that "once upon a time" music and maybe
a medley of different songs that are not used in the CD but are used
in the show."
What does Dupéré believe are the roots of KÀ's music? "I think this
is more of a soundtrack than anything else. The roots would be my
classical training and studies, and ethnic music. I've always been
crazy about ethnic music. And some modern influences like techno and
hip-hop, though they aren't really present, are in the show and are on
the CD as well."
And how would René Dupéré define his own music, what's his signature?
"Modernity and lyricism, I think. I've often said it's a mix of Pink
Floyd and Brahms. I also tell people that I'm sort of a romantic 19th
century musician with 20th century technology."
"And I must say that world culture is a part of my music, because I'm
really aware of cultures, music from around the world. [Beginning
when] I was seven my parents taught me about music. We had opera, and
we had Cuban music from the fifties; Perez Prado, Xavier Cugat, that
kind of mambo music. I remember being exposed to all kinds of music.
And when I went to college there were priests that were really aware
of different kinds of music, from Japan to Yugoslavia to Bulgaria, and
they had us listen to [it all]. So I've been in contact with a lot of
different musical cultures from early on and I think it shows in my
music. With classical structure, that's really important to me."
* * *
In Part Two of our exclusive interview, we get to the Cirque Du Soleil
fannish questions. We talk about Fanfafonie, the "new" Saltimbanco
soundtrack, song remixes, and how he would fill his own "Best of"
album. Don't miss it!
My sincere thanks go to: Mr. René Dupéré, for so graciously spending
time with us, Denis Barnabé, Sales and Marketing Manager (for the
initial contact), and Micheline Nalette, Media and Communications
Coordinator (for arranging the details), both from Cirque du Soleil
Musique, And my wife LouAnna for putting up with my sometimes
obsessive hobby.
=======================================================================
TÉLÉMAGIK:
"A Review of KA Extreme"
By: Rich Alford - Seattle, Washington (USA)
=======================================================================
Documentary time 46:25, UPC code: 4-0000506550-7
When asked to review this DVD at first I was thrilled. As I started
to actually write I found it was going to be much more difficult that
I thought. I wanted to give a moment-by-moment description (almost a
transcription) which, frankly, would have been a huge injustice to it.
Instead, I'll share a few highlights to give you an idea of what to
expect (and what not to expect).
For me, Cirque du Soleil's KA is far and away THE best Cirque show in
Las Vegas. I have a great affection for Mystere and "O" and feel they
are absolutely spectacular. Zumanity is what it is but, that's
another story. KA is something so different, inventive and moving
that it's taken the top spot as my favorite show. When the KA Extreme
DVD became available, I rushed to get it. My initial hope was that it
would be in the vein of "Fire Within." While it's not that, it IS (in
my opinion) very well done, very interesting and provides a lot of
insight from the directors, actors and acrobats. I found it to be
informative and interesting and has me wanting to see KA, yet again,
to look for little details that the DVD has brought to my attention.
The DVD has two main chapters, the KA Extreme documentary and "Bonus
Features". The KA Documentary is a compilation of discussions with
the Director and Creator of KA, Robert Lepage, and other creators,
"behind the scenes" folks, and artists from the show. We get insight
from Lepage as to how he came up with the vision of a show with
inverted worlds and anti-gravity. We hear from Mark Fisher, Theatre
and Set Designer for KA, how the theater came together and how
everyone worked to deliver a show performed not on a stage but in a
void.
We see the renovation of the KA Theater at the MGM Grand and get some
insights as to its design and function. One VERY interesting aspect
of the theater is the stage used in the void. The main stage, a 25X50
foot platform weighing more than 100 thousand pounds, can go
completely vertical, rotate, spin, raise, lower and move in almost
every direction. We see the moment the cast is introduced to the
stage and get a glimpse of their excitement as they see it all come to
life. We also see some of the particular safety measures and
challenges this show has given the designers and how, as usual, Cirque
has come up with innovative solutions. Jonathan Deans, Sound
Designer, speaks about how big a part sound plays in the production.
He mentions there are in excess of 2,400 speakers in the auditorium,
and how they can have sound come atyou, go through you, come from
you, come down from above, how there can be direct sound, direct
music, and on and on. I got the impression that the sound design for
KA was much more ambitious than the other shows. As a Software
Engineer, I found the comments of Holger Forterer, Interactive
Projections Designer, very interesting. I wasn't aware that the
visual effects, such as the bubbles and the textures of the stage were
interactive projections, very advanced technology. When he said, "...we
plugged in the numbers and it just worked, we're not sure why..." I was
amazed.
We hear from the designers and directors of every aspect of the
production, from lighting and rigging to costume, makeup and
technology, to name a few. We learn of the challenges they faced and
the innovative and creative solutions they came up with to create the
world of KA. I enjoyed hearing "tidbits" from these folks. I
learned, for example, the working name of the production (before KA)
was "Duality," and the creators insights into why that name was
meaningful (you'll have to watch the DVD). Much of this type of
history and information is scattered through the DVD.
We hear from several of the artists and acrobats talking about the
enormity of the production, how it feels to be a part of a show of
this size and caliber and how they had to overcome their own personal
fears to perform "in the void".
There are many excellent visuals from the production as well as
rehearsals. We see behind the scenes and learn a few of the secrets
that make this show so amazing. While no documentary could ever be
"complete", this one gives enough insight to provide a little more
understanding of the origins of the show as well as an appreciation
for the work you see (and the work that goes on behind the scenes). I
absolutely recommend this DVD to everyone. I believe it's totally
appropriate to see the DVD before seeing the show itself. Anyone who
sees the DVD and hasn't seen the show will find themselves even more
excited to actually experience KA. And if, like me, you've already
seen KA a few times, you'll be ready to back and experience it again.
The DVD also includes these Bonus Features:
The Creators of KA - 3 minutes - Basically a photo album of the people
who created, directed and supported the production. There are also
some interesting original concept drawings
Excerpts of the Music of KA. - There are two songs, "Cliff" (6
minutes) and "Baton" (3:30), both composed by René Dupéré and are
featured on the KA CD. (Note that the DVD states that the versions
are preliminary and may differ from the final CD version, so these
could be considered "early mixes.")
Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas - A preview video (similar to what's
played in the gift shops) from each of the Cirque shows in Las Vegas.
Each show gets about 1:30 to 2 minutes each, for a total of about
7:30.
Cirque on DVD - 4:45 - Previews of the current catalog of Cirque DVD's
available.
Cirque du Soleil Music - 1:00 - An advertisement for the current
catalog of CD's available.
Cirque Club - 0:30 - An advertisement to join with a cool
advertisement about the web site.
I felt my money was well spent by adding this to my Cirque DVD
collection. While there is never really enough, what there is I found
to be informative and enjoyable. Seeing the "behind the scenes"
efforts of the artists and crew, learning of the visions and dreams of
the creators and getting a glimpse of the work that went into this
production just makes it all the more special and "personal." Not
only did I get "my monies worth," I think I'll get more value and
enjoyment out of the next time I see KA.
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"Fascination!" is Ricky Russo, Keith Johnson, and Wayne Leung.
"Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (c)
2001-2005 Ricky Russo, published by Vortex/RGR Productions, a
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