Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Fascination Issue 062 expanded
=======================================================================
______ _ __ _ __
/ ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / /
/ /_ / __ `/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ `/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ /
/ __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/
/_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_)
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
------------------------------------------------------------
E X P A N D E D I S S U E
------------------------------------------------------------
=======================================================================
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 6 NOV/DEC 2008 ISSUE #62e
=======================================================================
Bonjour et bienvenue! Greetings, and welcome to another addition of
Fascination!, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. As we bring
yet another calendar year to a close, we'd like to take a moment to
reflect back on this fascinating year of Cirque.
As such weve prepared a special Cirque History list this issue
entitled "This YEAR in Cirque History". Youll also find a wonderful
peek into the world of ZED, Cirque du Soleils first resident show in
Japan, from Fascination alum Wayne Leung. We've also put together a
retrospective piece on Rich Alford and Ricky Russo's gathering of
friends we like to call Celebri. You'll find all three in our Features
section this month.
And if you're interested in becoming part of our next set of
historical issues, please drop us a line (richasi@azlance.com), we'd
love to have your perspective on Cirque du Soleil related topics that
interest you!
As always be sure to check out the Itinerary section for any last-
minute changes and extensions to tour stops; however, these dates
are subject to change.
That about wraps up this issue. Until next time!
Join us on the web at:
< www.cirquefascination.com >
Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed:
< http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 >
- Ricky "Richasi" Russo
===========
CONTENTS
===========
o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings
o) Compartments -- Information on Tour and Behind the Curtain
* Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information
* Didyaknow? -- Facts About Cirque
* Historia -- Cirque du Soleil's History
o) Fascination! Features
*) "My Thoughts on ZED"
By: Wayne Leung - Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
{As Published on Cirque Tribune}
*) "No Limits on Adventure - Celebri!"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
*) "This YEAR in Cirque History"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
*) LA PRESSE: "BELIEVE - The Reviews" [EXPANDED]
A Special Collection of Reviews in the Press
o) From the Fascination! Archives...
*) "Taiko - the Heartbeat of Cirque "
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Originally Published: Issue #02 - October 2001}
o) Copyright & Disclaimer
=======================================================================
CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS
=======================================================================
Koozå on Oprah
{Nov.14.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Fans, tune in to Oprah on Monday, November 17th!
The contortion act from Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA will be
featured. The performance is part of Oprah's "Amazing Kids" show
that was taped on November 6th at her Chicago studio.
Check your local listing for times and channels!
Mystère performs for Ellen DeGeneres
{Nov.28.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Tune in to TBS this Saturday, November 29th, at 9 p.m. (8 p.m.
Central) to see a performance of the Mystère teeterboard act on
Ellen's EVEN BIGGER Really Big Show at this year's Comedy
Festival in Las Vegas.
Check your local listings for channel and show times.
"Dancer finds her Feet" [EXPANDED]
{Nov.28.2008}
----------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil performer Neelanthi Vadivel may not know how to
fly the trapeze or juggle but she is still mesmerizing to watch.
Vadivel is one of four dancers in Dralion, Cirque du Soleil's
latest show to arrive in Brisbane.
The production, which fuses traditional Chinese circus acts with
contemporary stagecraft, opened on Thursday in the company's
signature blue and yellow big top, known as the Grand Chapiteau.
The dancers play the four elements of earth, water, fire and
air, with Vadivel taking on the character of Oceane, Goddess of
Water.
Dressed in a deep green costume inspired by middle-Eastern
fashion, complete with elaborate headwear and soft-flowing
fabric that reaches from the end of her skirt to her wrists,
Vadivel executes her high energy and skillful dance moves,
shaking, gesturing and leaping across the stage.
The dancers playing the water and earth elements use moves from
different cultures, with earth dancing African style and water
Indian style.
On stage, the water and fire elements clash in heated dance-
offs, their opposing natures setting the floor alight with drama
and intensity.
While fire is a largely acrobatic part, the air element often
floats from wires above, touching the ground to perform pretty
pirouettes.
It's no coincidence that Vadivel trained as a contemporary
dancer and also with the Kala Bharati School of Bharata Natya, a
form of east Indian dance.
The part of Oceane was created for someone with a strong
background in contemporary and classical Indian dance, with five
other dancers having played the role before Vadivel since
Dralion first opened in Montreal in 1999.
"It's changed quite a lot," she says. "I was given the last
video of the dancer previous to me, so it was based a lot on
what she had developed as a choreographer and then I was also
given free rein with some steps to open it up. There is some
improvisation involved because the acts aren't always exactly
the same - with the acrobatics the timing can change, so you
have to play with that."
Vadivel was born in Mandeville, Jamaica, in 1976 but raised in
Montreal, Canada, the home of Cirque du Soleil since it started
in 1984. She remembers going to see their shows in the big tops
and being whisked away by the magical world before her. "I was
awestruck by the acrobatic acts, it was breathtaking. I really
appreciated the acrobatics and the artistry," she says.
But dance was Vadivel's true calling and, after studying
classical ballet from the age of five, she trained in other
styles from jazz to modern, flamenco and ballroom. Vadivel
signed her first professional contract in 1995 with the
classical Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and stayed for three
seasons.
In 1998 she joined contemporary dance troupe Les Ballets Jazz de
Montreal, a dream come true for the young dancer, and didn't
leave until 2005.
After working freelance in contemporary and commercial works and
having her first son, Xavier, Vadivel decided it was time to
begin a new chapter in her life, setting her sights on Cirque du
Soleil.
"I've seen Cirque and I've seen tours before, but I didn't
really see where I could fit into the company until a few years
ago when some friends started working on the creation of
Zumanity. They were involving dancers more in some of the roles,
so I sent my tape in," she says.
After auditions, she scored the role of Oceane, joining the
company in December 2006 and travelling to Germany, Japan and
now Australia. "It's completely different to being in a
contemporary dance company where I'd do about 70 shows a year.
Here I do about 500 well actually about 360 but it feels like
500," she says.
Although the technique involved in the dancing isn't as
grueling, the part of Oceane demands a heightened theatricality
and endurance. "The degree of difficulty in this show is less
for me because we have to do it so often," she says.
"In the contemporary dance company I was performing for an hour-
and-a-half with 12 other dancers and that's it. Here I have
breaks; it's not as challenging cardiovascular work, but I'm
working for a company that so many people love and genuinely
appreciate. You can see that in the audiences' reactions at the
end of the show."
Performing eight to 10 shows a week, keeping fit is a top
priority for Vadivel who suffers chronic injuries from overuse
of her lower legs. But she grits her teeth and gets through it,
doing dance training each morning for an hour and exercising
continuously throughout the day on gym equipment, backstage in
the artistic tent, to keep the injuries at bay.
She also eats lots of small meals from the daily changing menu
cooked up by Cirque du Soleil's touring chefs. "I don't want to
feel ill on stage so I try to eat lots of little meals
throughout the day," she says.
She misses her son desperately when she's away, but manages to
get back to Montreal every three months to see him and also
spends the Canadian summer with him. In the small amount of free
time the artists have, Vadivel likes to chill out, have a meal
with friends on the tour and spend time exploring the cities
they visit.
"They do become like your family when you're so far away from
your actual family. You do get very close," she says.
{SOURCE: The Courier-Mail}
Mystère: Timeless [EXPANDED]
{Dec.01.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun recently took a moment to reflect
on one of Mystère's most boggling milestones: it's 15th
anniversary on the Las Vegas Strip - proclaiming it's still a
treasure.
* * *
Mystere is Cirque Classique.
The first Cirque du Soleil spectacle to make a permanent home on
the Las Vegas Strip, its still No. 1 in many hearts. Mystere
celebrates its 15th anniversary this month, and it hasnt been
dated in any essential way. Id go so far as to call it
timeless.
When it opened at Treasure Island, in 1993, Mystere
established a new standard for Las Vegas and anywhere for an
all-enveloping theatrical experience. A quantum leap for circus
artistry and production shows in general, the surround sound-
and-spectacle unfurls within an elegant indoor interpretation of
a classic Big Top tent.
It always pays to arrive a bit early for a Cirque show, if only
to get snacks and absorb the atmosphere. The Mystere stage is
saturated in Carnaval hues of green, purple and gold, beneath a
graceful canopied ceiling that carries out TIs treasure map
theme.
You also dont want to miss a moment of the now customary
preshow playing with the audience. A mischievous clown ushers
unsuspecting patrons to their seats, leading them on goose-chase
journeys that can end in a baptism by popcorn. I had an
evenings worth of big laughs before the show even officially
started.
Like most Cirque shows, Mystere follows a somewhat pretentious
story line of sorts. With Mystere, the framework is an
allegory of the origin and evolutionary ascent of humankind (but
you neednt know that to enjoy what follows).
Accordingly, it all begins with a Big Bang an enormous double-
headed Japanese Taiko drum sensationally suspended over the
audience, played by two drummers, who, even more sensationally,
pound out a primal heartbeat while hanging upside down.
Mystere is marked by its array of entrancing entrances,
including the appearance of a baby carriage glowing from within,
introducing a big baby toying with an even bigger ball and the
audience. Its one of the shows most delightful recurring bits.
But the entrance that stays in my memory is the lizard-like
creatures who clamber head first down the walls. They lead into
a fluid sequence of physics-defyng acts, including a muscleman
who juggles a gleaming cube, moving within and without the
geometric figure, recalling Leonardos drawings of the human
figure.
Gravity is apparently suspended within the Mystere
environment, with precisely in-sync athlete/artists moving in
every direction on the Chinese poles, Korean plank (or
teeterboard) and bungee. There are also multiple acts of mass
trampolining, with acrobats ricocheting around like human
popcorn and executing a Soul Train line of intricate leaps,
bounds and loop-de-loops.
Directed by Franco Dragone, who went on to create the
unprecedentedly successful A New Day for Celine Dion,
Mystere may just be the most relaxing of the six resident
Cirque shows. The music soothes and stimulates, a primordial
soup of early Pink Floyd, pan flutes and Irish reels, performed
by a 10-piece orchestra (including two vocalists) positioned
above the stage in twin balconies.
And the dance, puppetry and acrobatics are wondrous and even
somehow comforting: While watching the cooperative artistry of
14 aerialists swinging from a great height, it may occur to you
that if humans can do this, were all going to be OK.
The sole element of Mystere that betrays the productions age
is the video projections, which look a bit primitive by todays
Cirque standards.
But from its Big Bang beginning to the pulse-pounding finale,
Mystere had me clapping and cheering just like the 5-year-old
kid sitting in front of me.
So happy birthday, Mystere. Long may you run.
{SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun}
Cirque Expands into Russia
{Dec.03.2008}
---------------------------------------------
MOSCOW, December 2, 2008 - Cirque du Soleil, one of the world's
most important producers of live entertainment, has unveiled
today a long term plan to establish the brand in Russia. Cirque
du Soleil will develop many forms of entertainment in the
Russian Federation. This could include big top and arena touring
shows, special events, media partnerships and eventually a
permanent show.
"We are excited about the Russian market." said Daniel Lamarre,
President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil. "Russians are some of the
world's most sophisticated cultural citizens. The opportunities
are limitless to create and provide high quality entertainment
throughout Russia. We are seeing a bold cultural renaissance in
Russia and we are committed to helping take this renaissance to
the next level. From small and intimate special events to multi
million dollar permanent shows, we are interested in finding
ways to bring world class entertainment to many Russians."
Cirque du Soleil has partnered with George and Craig Cohon to
create Cirque du Soleil Rus., a Russian LLC company having the
exclusive rights to the Russian territory. George is the Founder
of McDonald's in Canada and Russia and Craig built Coca-Cola's
first operations in Russia in the early 1990s.
"We see a fantastic opportunity to partner with many
organizations throughout Russia." said George. "Cirque is an
international company that just happens to be headquartered in
Canada. The international appeal of this one-of-kind brand is
sensational. It is at the forefront of the entertainment scene
and building the business with Russians in Russia will help take
Cirque du Soleil to the next level."
Since its beginnings in 1984, over 80 million spectators in over
250 cities on five continents have been thrilled by Cirque du
Soleil. In 2008, 17 shows are simultaneously presented around
the world. Many Cirque du Soleil shows have been greatly
influenced by Russian talent and specific know-how.
Gilles Ste-Croix, Senior Vice-president of Creative Content at
Cirque du Soleil explains: "We began working with the artistic
and circus community of Russia as early as 1989. At that time we
were just a very young company and we had just one production
touring in North America only and we were creating a new
production for 1990. We had noticed the great talent of both
acrobatic and circus artists from Russia at a festival in Paris
and we wanted to integrate and show case this unique talent in
our upcoming show. That is how it all began. Today, we have 400
artists from Russia and many others contributing throughout the
company. ".
Cirque du Soleil Rus is a Russian Company, and will be lead by
Russians for Russians.
Craig Cohon, Vice Chairman of Cirque du Soleil Rus. is currently
establishing the operation in Moscow. "Natalia Romanova, our
experienced General Director and I are building a business
locally that will last", he says. Our first step will be to
bring VAREKAI, an incredible touring production to Moscow in the
fall of 2009. This flagship touring show will showcase the
Cirque du Soleil brand and serve as a stepping stone to further
our business and community development in Russia."
{SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil}
An ACE award for Alegría
{Dec.05.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Alegría, which visited Argentina at the beginning of the year,
was recently honored with the ACE award for best foreign show.
This distinction is bestowed by Argentina's association of
performing arts columnists (Asociación de Cronistas del
Espectáculo).
Congratulations!
The awards were announced on November 26th.
"O": Just Add Water [EXPANDED]
{Dec.08.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun struck again this week, taking a
moment to reflect on 10 years of Cirque du Soleil's aquatic
show, "O".
* * *
How do you follow an act that forever changed the face of
entertainment in Las Vegas?
Just add water.
After the success of Mystere, which continues to this day,
Cirque du Soleil and writer/director Franco Dragone dreamed up
an entertainment thats like an unexpected oasis in the desert.
The elegant enterprise is O, and now that it has achieved the
10-year mark, the beloved spectacular is as permanent as
anything gets around here.
The show is internationally famous, but its entirely possible
that you may not know that O is a play on eau, the French
word for water. And upon entering the elegantly appointed jewel
box theater, you still might not figure out right away that the
substance of O is 90 percent water (although there is a
telltale whiff of public-pool chlorine in the air).
When the sumptuous crimson stage curtain is raised, its one of
Os most phantasmagorical images and not just because the
stage is revealed.
Possibly the ultimate water park, the stage is the true star of
O. Given apparently unlimited license and resources, Cirque
created a shape-shifting pool that reconfigures itself to
conjure a puddle, a bathtub, an African watering hole, an
island, a maelstrom at sea. The 1.5-million-gallon pool
accommodates splashdancing as well as plunging dives from
terrifying heights.
If Bette Midler were working this stage, they could have called
it Beaches.
Having summoned such a stage, Cirque set itself to imagining
ways to get every drop out of its ocean of possibilities. So O
is a panoply of the life aquatic. Playing with the elements,
mostly fire and rain, it brings forth a fluid sequence of
vignettes, populated by humans and chimeras, uncorking a flood
of dream-logic associations.
Put another way, O is a sensory hot tub. Stop making sense:
just let yourself sink into it and go with the flow.
The shows circular structure sets a cast of recurring
characters, in procession around the perimeter of the pool a
pair of salty nautical clowns, cadres of bewigged, red-coated
footmen, a bridal party (its a nice time for a wet wedding),
carousel horses that become bathtub toys ... and a literally
burning man.
Central to the scenario is a squad of synchronized swimmers,
acrobats and aerialists, but thats a rather dry way of
describing these water-workers, who meld aesthetics and
athletics, taking wild, wet choreography way beyond Busby
Berkley and Esther Williams (one stunt was inspired by a
Williams flick). Many of the O performers have competed in the
Olympics.
The acts are impressive and exhilarating, expressing the sheer
joy of moving freely through water and air. Like kids showing
off dives at the pool, a series of divers seems to swim through
the air, and its impossible to count the twists and tucks they
make before splashdown.
Zebra-striped tropical fish climb then plummet into a sliver of
a pool. A ghostly galleon (doubling as a jungle gym) hovers over
the waters, precariously trailing its occupants over the abyss.
Perched upon a lily pad, four lovely contortionists arrange and
rearrange themselves like human origami, suggesting iridescent
dragonflies or a cluster of fuchsia blossoms.
And then, the biggest splash: An aerial rig rises from the
roiling depths, hoisting with it a lengthy chain of sky-diving
aerialists.
With the skintight costuming, augmented by masks and makeup,
this is a sexier Cirque, considerably more European in style and
sensibility than its predecessor. The score, performed by a 10-
piece ensemble, is akin to chamber music, with an emphasis on
cello and accented by Chinese violin and African kora and
percussion.
At the best Cirque shows and O is one of the very best you
can truly forget where you are, brought back at the end waves of
applause, which sound like a sudden shower, or the surf.
After 10 years in the pool, it would be understandable if O
suffers some sogginess or pruning, or displays at least a bit of
bathtub ring. But the crown jewel of Las Vegas still sparkles
and surprises. Long may O wave.
{SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun}
More Cirque du Soleil on the Web
{Dec.12.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil is turning up in a number of places in
Cyberspace these days besides their own Cirquedusoleil.com and
Facebook groups. This month you'll find them here:
Corteo in Japan:
< http://www.corteo.jp >
Alegria in Dubai:
< http://www.cirquedusoleil.ae >
Cirque in Russia:
< http://www.cds.ru >
Each of these sites are provided in their native language
(Corteo in Japanese, Dubai in Arabic and Rus in Russian), which
not only serves as a launching point for the respective tours,
but also a unique way to bring Cirque du Soleil to these
regions.
KÀ: An Adventure for the Eyes [EXPANDED]
{Dec.15.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun continues his series on Cirque du
Soleil this week by touching on Cirque du Soleil's fourth Las
Vegas production, KÀ at MGM Grand.
* * *
What would contemporary Las Vegas be without Cirque du Soleil?
Fortunately we dont have to dwell on that dreary thought. The
Strip is home to five enduring resident shows (and one dud), and
crowning them is Ka, Cirques most epic entertainment, which
added heroic adventure and cinematic scale to the Cirque canon.
When it opened at the MGM Grand in 2005, Ka marked another
stunning technological and artistic advance from Cirque, which
had turned the showbiz world on its ear with the aquatic opus
O.
Combining visual and thematic elements from Japanese anime and
manga comics, Flash Gordon and The Lord of the Rings, massive
multiplayer games and mixed martial arts, Ka takes the SFX
techniques of movie blockbusters and makes them come alive on
stage, in every imaginable dimension, two shows a night. Kas
panoply of jaw-dropping, heart-stirring effects and imagery was
surpassed only by the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.
All of these effects serve a story, and Ka is the one Cirque
show where its really important to know whats going on. Heres
a sketch of the story:
A pair of royal twins, brother and sister, are celebrated by the
court at a pageant, when the court is attacked by a band of
marauding archers and spearmen. They attempt to flee in a boat,
but are separated during a storm at sea, and in their quest for
reunion, they confront characters and events representing the
opposing forces of good and evil. The main villain, it should be
noted, has invented a diabolic machine (it looks like a
multilevel hamster wheel) that grinds bones to unleash
firepower.
Audiences are immersed in Kas otherworldly experience from
the moment of entry. Ticket takers are costumed as ragtag
gypsies or pirates and remain in character. Ten minutes before
the performance begins, a pair of performers play an enormous
harp suspended over the lobby, coaxing beauty from a web of
strings. Try not to miss this.
And leave time to take in the majesty of the Ka theater, the
most splendid of the Cirque showcases. Glowing in amber light,
burnished bronze fittings and weathered wood, it looks at once
ancient and modern, as if Jules Verne had drawn up architectural
plans for a sea- or space-going vessel.
The open stage is a gaping abyss, filled with fog and belching
seriously startling fireballs, which hover in the air. You will
feel the heat. One of the Ka characters delivers the most
effective turn off your cell phone warning in theater history.
The opening of the show is deceptively serene and distanced. A
royal barge introduces the characters, then melts into a
stylized procession and pageant, a stylized mix of Bjork videos
and Japanese theater.
This happy scene is stalked by marauders (you may find one
crouching next to you). Suddenly, arrows fly, the stage goes up
in flames, and were plunged into our tale.
Facing villainy in the form of a mad scientist and warriors who
look like grown-up Mutant Ninja Turtles, the twins episodic
adventures take them from a violently rocking ship (one of
Cirques most inventive set pieces to date) to the depths of the
sea, from a supersized jungle to an icy aerie at the pinnacle of
an arctic mountain.
And that brings us to the central innovation that makes Kas
most impossible moments possible. Cirque has created an enormous
hydraulic stage platform, which rotates 360 degrees, from level
to perpendicularly vertical. This stage will enable an ocean
rescue, a cascade of sand, and an awe-inspiring aerial ballet on
a vertical wall that outdoes video game graphics and CGI special
effects.
Its hard to pull off a movie-style chase scene on a static
stage, but Ka solves that even outdoing the movies sending
characters clambering up a sheer rock face and an icy cliff,
dodging a rain of arrows and bouncing off the wall like balls in
a giant pachinko game.
Set to a live score that haunts but really rocks, too, Ka was
created and directed by Robert Lepage, and his visions are
poetically hyper-realistic, with a bold theatricality recalling
Martha Clarkes Boschian Garden of Earthly Delights and Robert
Wilsons The Black Rider.
Its safe to say you wont soon forget many of these truly
dangerous-seeming images or the explosive finale.
Yet amid all this spectacle there are quiet, subtle moments a
poignant bit of shadow puppetry, a sweetly comic dance by
seashore creatures, a breath-stopping baton-twirling dance that
may remain with you longer.
Its this cherishing of these simplest of theatrical elements
that is the essence of Cirque shows.
And you can see them only in Las Vegas.
{SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun}
MGM/Mirage to sell T.I.?
{Dec.15.2008}
---------------------------------------------
This comes as a surprise - MGM/Mirage is selling one of its
flagship properties: Treasure Island, or better known these
days as just T.I. From the Press Release:
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - MGM MIRAGE (NYSE:
MGM) and Ruffin Acquisition, LLC today announced that they have
entered into an agreement whereby MGM MIRAGE, through its
wholly-owned subsidiary The Mirage Casino-Hotel, will sell
Treasure Island Hotel & Casino ("TI") to Ruffin Acquisition, LLC
for $775 million. Ruffin Acquisition, LLC is wholly owned by
Phil Ruffin.
The purchase price is to be paid at closing as follows: $500
million in cash and $275 million in secured notes bearing
interest at 10%, with $100 million payable not later than 175
days after closing and $175 million payable not later than 24
months after closing. The notes, to be issued by Ruffin
Acquisition, LLC, will be secured by the assets of TI and will
be senior to any other financing.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions
contained in the purchase agreement, including receipt of
necessary regulatory and governmental approvals. The parties
expect the transaction to close by the end of the second quarter
of 2009. MGM MIRAGE expects to report a substantial gain on the
sale.
We wonder, with this sale, since Cirque du Soleil has an
agreement with MGM/Mirage, what will happen with Mystère?
{SOURCE: PRNewswire}
Guy Laliberté invests in Prestige Telecom, Inc.
{Dec.16.2008}
-------------------------------------------------
According to The Canadian Press, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy
Laliberté is taking a stake in Prestige Telecom, a
telecommunications company based in Quebec, Canada. From the
release:
Novare Holding Inc., an arm's-length private company controlled
by Guy Laliberte, will buy 18 million shares and invest $4.5
million in a convertible note for a total investment of $9
million and a 15 per cent stake in the company.
Laliberte will nominate a member to Prestige's board of
directors to replace Brian McFadden, who will resign his seat.
"I have chosen to privately invest in this Canadian company
during these difficult financial times because I believe that we
need to ensure a solid future for entrepreneurs and Canadian
assets," stated Laliberte, a 49-year-old billionaire.
{SOURCE: The Canadian Press}
Cirque2009 is... ?
{Dec.17.2008}
---------------------------------------------
On December 9th, Cirque du Soleil and its legal staff applied
for a new service trademark. It did so on many varieties of
goods and services ranging from media to paper goods,
collectibles, clothing and other forms of merchandise and in the
following category, which makes us sit up and take notice. This
category:
Entertainment services, namely, conception, creation,
production, and presentation of theatrical performances
featuring artistic acts, comical acts, choreography and/or
dance, set to music and/or song
So, what was registered?
[ Ovo ]
Keep in mind that this is not official until Cirque du Soleil
announces it!
La Nouba Celebrates 10th Anniversary [EXPANDED]
{Dec.19.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Tod Caviness, Staff Writer at the Orlando Sentinel, recently
spent "thirty seconds" with Alexander Daniltchenko, a
trampolinist for La Nouba, which is celebrating its 10th
Anniversary on Tuesday, December 23rd.
* * *
It's an artistic and acrobatic achievement every time the lights
go up on La Nouba, Downtown Disney's very own piece of the
Cirque du Soleil phenomenon. Tuesday marks a particular
milestone: The show celebrates its 10th anniversary here in
Orlando. By their reckoning, that's 2,094,484 feet walked on the
high wire; 9,486 people jumped over by mountain bikes; and
853,740 minutes of leaping for Alexander "Sasha" Daniltchenko, a
trampolinist whose particular claim to fame is never having
missed a show since La Nouba's inception. We sat down before the
show last month with Daniltchenko to see what keeps him on (and
off) his feet for so long.
Q. I can't go a year at my desk job without missing a day. How
do you go 10 years of trampolining?
Eat healthy food? No, I'm joking. I would call it an accident,
maybe. The first time I was sick I went to the doctor's office.
I took a note from the doctor to bring to the theater, but I
didn't realize it was my day off. In the beginning, we had a
little competition going [with the other performers], but. . .
Q. That's one thing that surprised me, to hear that you have had
a lot of people here from the start.
I believe it's about 35 percent of the artists working here
since the beginning.
Q. What do you do in your off hours?
I have a family. I have a little one. She really misses me, and
I like to spend time with family.
Q. What is your history before Cirque du Soleil?
I was a trampolinist. I mean, I'm still a trampolinist, but I
was on a national team. I got five gold medals. I'd say I was a
professional trampolinist, but the professional people make
money. Now, trampolining is in the Olympic games, but I quit
before it was included.
Q. How hard was it to make the transition to this kind of work,
where there are so many other people and objects to interact
with?
You have to be very observant. You practice every day, and you
can only see your partner a little bit. But you can feel him,
and you can hear him. You use all your senses.
Q. Seems like this show alone has created an entire new job
market. Any advice for budding jumpers, aside from buying a
trampoline?
No, don't buy a trampoline. It's better to go to a gym and be
supervised by a professional coach who can spot you. Lots of
people have a trampoline in their backyard to have fun, and so
many injuries happen. Better to be supervised when you do this,
and afterward you can have some fun. It becomes routine, and
your brain starts working with your body.
{SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel}
Inside Cirque's Mystique [EXPANDED]
{Dec.20.2008}
---------------------------------------------
For one of the most instantly recognizable, globe-bestriding
brands ever invented, Cirque du Soleil is a notoriously fierce
defender of its privacy. The closest you'll ordinarily get to
its performers is the front row of one of its shows. Crew
members you won't even see. But ahead of a UK tour of Quidam,
one of its best-loved shows, it issued a very rare invitation to
The Times to experience a little of life à la Cirque, backstage
at its Barcelona big top, and offering a tutorial in a circus
skill or two.
Down by the Barcelona docks, the burly Spanish security guards
aren't buying it. Manning massive iron gates, behind which
Cirque's standard flaps proudly in the sea breeze above an
iconic, multi-colored big top, it takes ten minutes of walkie-
talkie conference, in three languages, before they will let us in.
First experience the show, a twinkly-eyed press officer says.
Then ask the questions. Watching Quidam, the only question
consistently springing to mind is How? A leering, dreadlocked
man turns himself into the spokes of a giant aluminum wheel, and
propels himself at lightning speed across the stage. Skipping-
ropes transform from a recognizable children's game into an eye-
watering blur of hemp, hands and feet. Four small Chinese girls,
sprayed entirely gold, do such improbable things with the
diabolo that you begin to question whether they are in fact the
mechanical dolls they're trussed up as. Quidam's show-stopper is
Statue, in which a couple slowly meld their bodies into one
gravity- defying, flawlessly balanced whole. The clowns cannot
be dispensed with in any Cirque show. They provide the only
moments in which the audience is able to exhale.
It's a neat demonstration of the immediately identifiable form
of circus (no ring, no animals) that has become such an
unstoppable cultural phenomenon. Guy Laliberté, Cirque's founder
and CEO, knew from his youth as a travelling street performer
that there was an untapped global talent pool of these
outlandishly gifted artists already in existence. And, Laliberté
understood from the off, circus is wordless, and therefore pan-
cultural. Precisely the same show will work from Macau to
Moscow. It delivers the same endlessly seductive message, no
matter what narrative puff is placed around it: that with years
of training, and an astonishing degree of trust, the human body
is capable of feats of jaw-dropping athletic prowess, grace and
skill. The more sedentary we get, as a culture, the greater our
appetite for such live demonstrations grows.
Billy Smart presumably knew that, too. But it's Cirque that has
revenues of £350 million a year, and is now valued at £1
billion, with six resident shows in Las Vegas, which attract
more than 10,000 people a night, every night of the year. The
company has grown from a rag-tag assembly of 73 Quebecker street
performers in 1984 to today's formidable, sleek corporation of
4,000 employees. And Cirque is the only entertainment company in
the world to have secured the much-coveted rights to create
shows from the back catalogue of the Beatles and Elvis.
Backstage in Barcelona, some inklings of why and how appear.
They have the pick, says Alessandro Sblattero, a jolly clown
turned tent master, born in a trailer in Umbria 31 years ago,
the fifth generation of circus performers. The very best acts
in the world want to work at Cirque. Why? They take care. In a
normal circus, if you get sick, you had better get well again.
If you marry someone not from the circus, they had better find
what they can do there. They cannot afford any other way. With
Cirque you can bring your wife, your kids, on tour. Cirque take
care of you. They take care of everything.
With constant logistical back-up from its international
headquarters in Montreal, and an international insurance company
primed to provide cast and crew with local masseuses, doctors,
psychologists or dentists as required, Cirque's touring site is
almost eerily well oiled.
Jamie Reilly, Quidam's tour services director, is responsible
for making sure it stays that way. She explains: I think of
this as a village. There are 160 people, more or less. I'm the
bank and I run the school. We have a gym and right now we're in
the restaurant. Though the cast and crew live either in five-
star hotels or rented apartments, they're on site most of the
time. We're very close, Reilly adds, when you're touring, the
people are the one thing that doesn't change in your
environment.
Everyone in this travelling village appears inordinately happy.
They know how fortunate they are, says Roland Richard, a
flamboyant 65- year-old stage manager who has been with Cirque
for 14 years. Some of the artists work too hard, but they know
conditions are very hard for street performers; they want to
make sure they stay here.
But there's also something slightly strange about it. Ella Bangs
is a 12-year-old American on tour with her parents and little
sister, and one of three child performers in the show. I love
it here, she says. Do you miss your friends back home? No.
How's school here? I get lots more attention, so I learn
faster. There's two teachers for seven kids. At home it was one
teacher for 31 kids.
Is it normal, I wonder, for a 12-year-old to be able to recite
her teacher-pupil ratio? But if Ella is likely to graduate from
Cirque school, smiling roundly but coming across as a little
peculiar, she's not alone. Every adult employee, whether artist
or crew member, has been through a two-month training process at
Cirque's HQ in Montreal. They emerge quoting the company mission
statement to invoke, to provoke, to evoke at will, and
unanimously agreed that Cirque's shows and its working
environment are the envied acme of live entertainment companies
everywhere.
They might be right. Eighty million people worldwide have
experienced a Cirque show. The company has just extended its
forthcoming Albert Hall run by a week, because of demand.
Protecting this unflinching commitment to the company, however,
means that any hint of negativity is banned from the backstage
area. You cannot mention to anyone that some English critics
find Cirque shows corporate and soulless, and ask for a
response. Bring it up, I'm told, and my interviews with
extremely genial, intelligent artistic directors and aerialists
alike will come to an untimely end. Ditto what anyone gets paid.
When you do ask, the Argentinian clown or Chinese diabolo girl
in question will politely tell you they are not allowed to talk
about it. Neither can you bring up the ethics of luring punters
into vast casino complexes in Macau or Vegas. There's a Cirque
way of doing things, Reilly says proudly, and then there's the
way everybody else does it.
Which brings us to the contortionism workshop. It seems a
perverse choice of circus skill to impart. All Cirque know about
me is that I'm English and a journalist. We're not renowned, as
a tribe, for our limber athleticism. Don't worry. A tiny,
boneless 19-year-old Antipodean, whom I last saw dressed up as a
doll in a white wig, balanced upside down on the accommodating
hands of a large Russian, smiles at me. We'll warm up first,
she says, before diving into the splits. The splits, it seems,
is the warm-up. Can't you do that? she asks, amazed. Oddly
enough, no.
This former acrobat, Veronica Gravolin, remains dauntlessly
encouraging, despite my persistent inability to perform such
basic moves as a back-flip. Watching her wrap her feet so far
around her head that she could blow her nose on her own socks, I
ask if she ever worries about arthritis. Gravolin is so shocked
she can't answer. Do I what? We don't talk about that stuff.
Isabelle Vaudelle is a 36-year-old French aerial contortionist,
who has been with Quidam on and off since its inception in 1996.
A former street performer, Vaudelle is made of sterner stuff.
She's also made entirely of muscle. In an aerial act, she
explains, the weight of the body is really important, because
you must pull your own weight up. In a balancing act, the other
person takes care of the weight and you have only to push. It is
different work. Someone who is able to do one is not able to do
the other. Some people, it transpires, are entirely unable to
do either. With Vaudelle issuing precise commands, and her
compact muscle power winching me up, I pull myself up about 2ft
of red silk and flip upside down, before testing the give of the
custom-made backstage flooring.
So you see? the sparkly press officer smilingly concludes,
these artists are like Olympic athletes. What I'd first
gleaned in conversation, I've just had confirmed in the ache of
my bones. Even if you could excise all trace of anti-Cirque
sentiment from your mindset, it would be impossible for any
vaguely normal person to run away with this circus. If you're
lucky, as I did, you'll hobble away from it. Very gingerly
indeed.
{SOURCE: The Times UK Online}
Kohl's, La Nouba Giveaway
{Dec.20.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Cirque su Soleil has teamed up with Kohls, Inc to present the
"Present Perfect Sweepstakes". You can enter here until December
28th: < http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/ourbrands/
lanoubasweepsintro.jsp >.
The grand Prize is $10,000 cash. The First Prize winner will
receive A family vacation package for four, to see La Nouba at
Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The 4-day, 3
night trip includes:
o) Airfare and hotel accommodations
o) Four Tickets, plus a behind-the-scenes tour to La Nouba
o) Tickets to select parks, attractions and shows
o) $1,000 spending money, plus a $500 Kohl's Gift Card
They are also giving away Ten Daily Prizes of $50 Kohl's Gift
Cards every day. Click here to view the tv commercial featuring
La Nouba performers, produced for this promotion:
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSnXaqSC1IY >
CDS Holiday Offers & Discounts
{Dec.20.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Cirque Du Soleil launched a holiday deals and discounts web-
page, where you can scroll over your city on the US map to view
different offers including discounted tickets for upcoming
shows. They are also offering up to 20% on multiple items + FREE
shipping on orders of $75 or more, in their online boutique.
Visit the page here:
< http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/holidays/2008/en/touring.htm?
icid=email/xmas/map/imglink&rmid=20081211_xmas_na_map_sample2&rr
id=%7B58A66291-370B-41AD-A917-8A44C89FB200%7D >
They have also brought back their popular virtual cards web-
page! So click here http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/
CirqueDuSoleil/en/clubcirque/xmas_club_login.htm?nrcs_nexturl=%2
FCirqueDuSoleil%2Fen%2Fecard%2FXmas2008%2Fcompose%2Ehtm) to
spread some Cirque Du Soleil Holiday Magic with your friends and
family. (The ecard feature is exclusive to Cirque Club members
but its free to join...)
Angel on Larry King
{Dec.21.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Criss Angel, star of Criss Angel BELIEVE by Cirque du Soleil in
Las Vegas will be on Larry King Live December 22nd for an hour
long interview. You'll find Larry King on CNN and the interview
at 9:00pm Eastern Time, 6:00pm Pacific.
Zumanity Sates the Senses [EXPANDED]
{Dec.22.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun continues his series on Cirque du
Soleil this week by touching on Cirque du Soleil's third Las
Vegas production, Zumanity at Zumanity:
* * *
Maybe Zumanity isnt Cirque du Soleils best-selling resident
show on the Vegas Strip.But it certainly is the best-smelling.
Near the opening of the show, a performer sweeps through the
center aisle, trailing an enormous billowing cape and a
captivating fragrance. Zumanity is an arousing, amusing appeal
to each of the senses.
A contemporary burlesque, the 18-and-over revue at New York-New
York is Cirque du Softcore, a risque, frisque kinky-winky at the
multiracial, pansexual human menagerie and our assorted desires.
Americans can be so serious and squeamish about sex it
sometimes seems were partisan about our pleasures, puritans
versus libertines. Other parts of the world (Im looking at you,
Brazil and Western Europe) know that sex can be fun. And funny.
And friendly.
Subtitled The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil, the
anatomically correct Zumanity is not a sex show its a
variety show inspired by sex in all its variety. Its not nearly
as nekked as some might fear (or hope). Yes, theres lots of
toplessness, female and male, but no nudity in the genital
sense. The costumers work ingenious variations on pasties and
thongs and codpieces (oh my!) and one very comical dangly
prosthetic.
Humans have bodies, some of them extraordinary, and luckily,
many of these end up employed in Cirque shows. Zumanity
playfully parades a panoply of body types tiny, towering, big,
small. Bulges and curves are exaggerated and emphasized
everybody in this ensemble is stacked, jacked and packin.
Performers interact occasionally with willing audience members
(you can discreetly decline), and if youre the sort thats
inclined to play along, heres a word to the wise: Wear nice
shoes (and clean undies, of course).
Ideally, you want to arrive at New York-New York about an hour
before curtain, allowing time to explore the nooks and crannies
(and peepholes) of the remarkable theater. Styled as a Viennese
cabaret, with art nouveau flourishes and metalwork, it invites
touch: The walls are soft, curvy and plushy, and one of the bars
is situated in a boudoir. The ticket-takers and ushers wear
sheer-backed dresses revealing black lingerie, and the gift shop
is stocked with amusing stuff such as Spank Me coupons,
panties, thongs and masks.
Along with aerialists and acrobats, clowning with the audience
is a Cirque standard, and the preshow for Zumanity (lets call
it what it is: foreplay) is not to be missed, as it warms and
loosens up the crowd until the place feels like a particularly
sophisticated bachelor/ette party. The racy fun is presided over
by an unctuous gigolo who flirts with anything that moves, and
two sister clowns, rounded like women painted by Botero, who
squeeze through the aisles proffering strawberries and more than
a little body contact.
Other than the abundance of flesh, Zumanity differs from
other, nearly wordless Cirque shows in that it is spoken and
sung in English (with a liberal sprinkling of polyglot naughty
phrases).
A series of 14 acts appears on the tongue-shaped thrust stage
(thats the technical term for it), each introduced by a
ringmistress, the statuesque hostess Edie, in a black bouffant,
spangled minidress, fishnets and strappy heels. Shes a
classically sassy glamour gal, in the mode of Rosalind Russell,
with perhaps a few extra inches. Lets just say thats Edies a
far better illusionist than the other one more famously in
Cirques employ even Edie was amused when some audience
members clearly didnt get what makes her so special.
There are multiple variations on the classic striptease, of
course, but there are plenty of Cirque-ular specialties. Two
sleek women splash and slip around each other in a transparent
goblet. Wearing a schoolgirl outfit that has obviously shrunk in
the wash, another minx shimmies silvery Hula-Hoops up and down
her torso like an armload of bangles. A very fit gent clad only
in boxer shorts and gartered socks elastically twists himself
into impossible shapes.
The aerialists bring new twists to the word swingers, in
particular, a fiery redhead who entwines herself in a web of
bondage ropes, accompanied by a soundtrack of moist whispers.
Zumanity makes a point of offering multiple combinations of
genders and colors. A man-on-man duet in black and white is
played out in a cage (or playpen), a battle/ballet which, among
other things, makes explicit the subtext of mixed martial arts.
Its all about voyeurism: While were watching the performers,
they in turn are watching each other and us from balconies
and sinuously spiral staircases. Its all very Eyes Wide Shut,
but in a good way.
Theres a lot of laughs in Zumanity, where the clowns resemble
such vintage Vegas bawdy blue comics as Rusty Warren. Playing
on a movable bridge above the stage, the musicians create a
surround-soundscape that throbs and pulses with techno rhythms
and occasionally gets a bit over-saxed, like the soundtrack to a
Skinemax late-night movie.
Zumanity received mixed reactions when it opened in 2003, but
in the meantime Cirque seems to have fixed whatever wasnt
working. Or perhaps, and this is more likely, some critics
werent open to the idea of a sexed-up Cirque on the Strip. So
caveat emptor: If you know yourself to be rigid or frigid about
sex, do yourself a favor and pick another Cirque show (or Donny
& Marie thats what theyre here for) and spare the people
seated near you your flinching and grunts of disgust and huffy
walkouts. We get it: You would never do that. Not that anyones
asking you to.
Or you could unclench or unbunch, maybe learn a new trick or two
and enjoy yourself and others. Thats what Zumanity means.
{SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun}
Criss Angel NOT on Larry King Tonight
{Dec.22.2008}
---------------------------------------------
Due to more recent developments, Vice-President elect Joe Biden
will bump Criss Angel's appearance slated for tonight's Larry
King LIVE on CNN. The hour long interview is now scheduled to be
broadcast on New Years Eve.
{SOURCE: CNN}
FOX Does New Years Eve in Vegas
{Dec.24.2008}
---------------------------------------------
According to Cinema Blend, the FOX Television Network has
announced their plans to spend New Year's Eve rocking Las Vegas
directly from the famous Las Vegas Strip. Besides featuring
performances by today's hottest groups and spots by the hottest
celebrities, special correspondent Chrissy Russo of KSWB/FOX 5
in San Diego will slip behind the curtain at three of Cirque du
Soleil's Vegas spectacles - Zumanity, LOVE and BELIEVE - for
interviews and a behind-the-scenes look.
New Year's Eve Live will air on Wednesday, December 31 at 11:00
PM - 12:30 AM ET live!
{SOURCE: Cinema Blend}
=======================================================================
COMPARTMENTS -- INFORMATION ON TOUR AND BEHIND THE CURTAIN
=======================================================================
o) ITINÉRAIRE - Tour/Show Information
o) DIDYAKNOW - Facts about Cirque
o) HISTORIA - Cirque du Soleil History
================
ITINÉRAIRE
================
NOTE: The information presented below is for historical purposes only.
For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts,
please visit our website < http://www.CirqueFascination.com/ >.
Alegría:
Rio de Janerio, Brazil -- Dec 27, 2007 to Jan 27, 2008
Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Feb 7, 2008 to May 4, 2008
Porto Alegre, Brazil -- May 15, 2008 to Jun 8, 2008
Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Jun 20, 2008 to Jul 27, 2008
Santiago, Chile -- Aug 8, 2008 to Sep 21, 2008
Seoul, South Korea -- Oct 15, 2008 to Dec 28, 2008
Taipei, Taiwan -- Jan 14, 2009 to Feb 22, 2009
Dubai, UAE -- Mar 5, 2009 to April 5, 2009
After Dubai, Alegría becomes exclusively an Arena-based show.
See further scheduling in the Arena Shows area.
Cirque 2009 (Ovo):
Montreal, QC -- Apr 23, 2009 to Jun 14, 2009
Quebec, QC -- Jul 30, 2009 to Aug 23, 2009
Toronto, ON -- Sep 3, 2009 to Oct 4, 2009
Corteo:
San Diego, California -- Jan 11, 2008 to Feb 3, 2008
Portland, Oregan -- Mar 1, 2008 to Apr 13, 2008
Seattle, Washington -- Apr 24, 2008 to Jun 1, 2008
Vancouver, BC -- Jun 12, 2008 to Jul 20, 2008
Calgary, AB -- Jul 31, 2008 to Sep 7, 2008
Ottawa, ON -- Sep 16, 2008 to Oct 26, 2008
Miami, Florida -- Nov 13, 2008 to Dec 28, 2008
Tokyo, Japan -- Feb 4, 2009 to May 5, 2009
Nagoya, Japan -- May 21, 2009 to Jul 12, 2009
Osaka, Japan -- Jul 29, 2009 to Sep 30, 2009
Dralion:
Tokyo, Japan -- Jan 25, 2008 to Apr 6, 2008
Fukuoka, Japan -- Apr 23, 2008 to Jun 15, 2008
Sydney, Australia -- Jul 17, 2008 to Aug 17, 2008
Canberra, Australia -- Oct 23, 2008 to Nov 16, 2008
Brisbane, Australia -- Nov 27, 2008 to Jan 11, 2009
Perth, Australia -- Jan 29, 2009 to Mar 29, 2009 (*)
Melbourne, Australia -- Apr 10, 2009 to Jun 14, 2009 (*)
Auckland, New Zealand -- Jul 9, 2009 to Aug 24, 2009 (*)
Koozå:
San Francisco, California - Nov 16 to Jan 20, 2008
San Jose, California -- Jan 31, 2008 to Mar 16, 2008
Hartford, Connecticut -- Apr 1, 2008 to Apr 27, 2008
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 8, 2008 to Jun 15, 2008
Chicago, Illinois -- Jun 26, 2008 to Aug 24, 2008
Boston, Massachusetts -- Sep 4, 2008 to Oct 19, 2008
Washington, DC -- Oct 30, 2008 to Dec 14, 2008
Atlanta, Georgia -- Jan 2, 2009 to Mar 1, 2009 (*)
Baltimore, Maryland -- Mar 12, 2009 to Apr 5, 2009 (*)
New York, New York -- Apr 15, 2009 to Jun 21, 2009 (*)
Minneapolis/St-Paul, Minnesota -- July 2, 2009 to TBA
Denver, Colorado -- Aug 21, 2009 to TBA
Los Angeles, California -- TBA
Orange County, California -- TBA
Quidam:
Mexico City, Mexico - Nov 16, 2007 to Jan 13, 2008
Monterrey, Mexico - Jan 17, 2008 to Feb 10, 2008
Veracruz, Mexico -- Feb 27, 2008 to Mar 16, 2008
Lisbon, Portugal -- Apr 20, 2008 to May 25, 2008
Màlaga, Spain -- Jun 5, 2008 to Jul 13, 2008
Alicante, Spain -- Jul 24, 2008 to Aug 31, 2008
Barcelona, Spain -- Sep, 11, 2008 to Oct 19, 2008
Brussels, Belgium -- Oct 30, 2008 to Dec 21, 2008 (*)
London, UK -- Jan 4, 2009 to Feb 22, 2009 (*)
Liverpool, UK -- Feb 26, 2009 to Mar 1, 2009 {ARENA}
Belfast, UK -- Mar 4, 2009 to Mar 7, 2009 {ARENA}
Newcastle, UK -- Mar 12, 2009 to Mar 15, 2009 {ARENA}
Birmingham, UK -- Mar 18, 2009 to Mar 22, 2009 {ARENA}
Manchester, UK -- Mar 25, 2009 to Mar 27, 2009 {ARENA}
Dublin, Ireland -- Mar 31, 2009 to Apr 5, 2009 {ARENA}
Sheffield, UK -- Apr 9, 2009 to Apr 15, 2009 {ARENA}
Glasgow, Scotland -- Apr 16, 2009 to Apr 19, 2009 {ARENA}
Fortaleza, Brazil -- Jun 4, 2009 to Jun 28, 2009 (*)
Recife, Brazil -- Jul 9, 2009 to Aug 2, 2009 (*)
Salvador, Brazil -- Aug 13, 2009 to Sep 6, 2009 (*)
Brasilia, Brazil -- Sep 18, 2009 to Oct 11, 2009 (*)
Belo Horizonte, Brazil -- Oct 23, 2009 to Nov 22, 2009 (*)
Curitiba, Brazil -- Dec 4, 2009 to Dec 27, 2009 (*)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- Jan 8, 2010 to Feb 7, 2010 (*)
Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Jul 23, 2010 to Aug 29, 2010 (*)
Santiago, Chile -- Sep 11, 2010 to Oct 31, 2010 (*)
Varekai:
London, UK - Jan 6, 2008 to Feb 3, 2008
Amsterdam, NL -- Feb 28, 2008 to May 25, 2008
Berlin, Germany -- Jun 5, 2008 to Jul 13, 2008
Oberhausen, Germany -- Jul 31, 2008 to Sep 14, 2008
Vienna, Austria -- Sep 25, 2008 to Nov 9, 2008 (*)
Madrid, Spain -- Nov 20, 2008 to Jan 18, 2009
Seville, Spain -- Jan 29, 2009 to Mar 14, 2009 (*)
Bilbao, Spain -- Mar 26, 2009 to May 3, 2009 (*)
Hamburg, Germany -- May 22, 2009 to Jul 5, 2009 (*)
Oostende, Belgium -- Jul 16, 2009 to Aug 23, 2009 (*)
Moscow, Russia - TBA (Fall 2009)
[Arena Shows]
Delirium:
Oberhausen, Germany - Feb 1 & 2
Hanover, Germany - Feb 5 & 6
Bremen, Germany - Feb 9 & 10
Stockholm, Sweden - Feb 13 & 14
Turku, Finland - Feb 16 & 17
Zurich, Switzerland - Feb 25 & 26
Budapest, Hungary - Feb 29 & Mar 1
Berlin, Germany - Mar 6
Nurnberg, Germany- Mar 8 & 9
Milan, Italy - Mar 11, 12 & 13
Turin, Italy - Mar 15, 16 & 17
Birmingham, UK - Mar 22 & 23
Liverpool, UK - Mar 25 & 26
Paris, France - Mar 31 & Apr 1, 2
Antwerp, Belgium - Apr 5 & 6
Glasgow, UK - Apr 9 & 10
Belfast, UK - Apr 12
London, UK - Apr 17, 18 & 19
(Delirium's final curtain call was in London)
Saltimbanco:
2008
------
Quebec, Quebec - Jan 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
Chicoutimi, Quebec - Jan 16, 17, 18 & 19
Detroit, Michigan - Jan 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27
Cleveland, Ohio - Jan 29, 30, 31 & Feb 1
Memphis, Tennessee - Feb 20 & 21
Charlottesville, Virginia - Feb 26, 27, 28, 29 & Mar 1
Little Rock, Arkansas - Mar 4, 5, & 6
Shreveport, Louisiana - Mar 8 & 9
San Antonio, Texas - Mar 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16
Laredo, Texas - Mar 18 & 19
Corpus Christi, Texas - Mar 21 & 22
Wichita, Kansas - Mar 26, 27, 28, 39 & 30
Omaha, Nebraska - Apr 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Des Moines, Iowa - Apr 10, 11, 12 & 13
Moline, Illinois - Apr 15, 16, 17 & 18
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Apr 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27
Alberquerque, New Mexico - May 14, 15, 16 & 17
Boise, Idaho - May 21, 22, 23, 24 & 25
Victoria, BC - May 29, 30, 31 & Jun 1
Kelowana, BC - Jun 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
Kamloops, BC - Jun 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15
Edmonton, Alberta - Jun 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Jun 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29
Regina, Saskatchewan - Jul 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Winnipeg, Manatoba - Jul 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13
Kansas City, Missouri -- July 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20
Newark, New Jersey -- Aug 7, 8, 9 & 10
Toronto, Ontario -- Aug 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24
Hamilton, Ontario -- Aug 27, 28, 29, 30 & 31
Amherst, Massachusetts -- Sep 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
Buffalo, New York -- Sep 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14
Trenton, New Jersey -- Sep 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21
Minneapolis/St-Paul, Minnesota -- Sep 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28
Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- Oct 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
Highland Heights, Kentucky -- Oct 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12
Honolulu, Hawaii -- Oct 30, 2009 to Nov 16, 2008
Prescott Valley, AZ -- Nov 20, 20089 to Nov 23, 2008
Tuscon, AZ -- Nov 26, 2008 to Nov 30, 2008
Oklahoma City, OK -- Dec 3, 2008 to Dec 7, 2008
Tulsa, OK -- Dec 10, 2008 to Dec 14, 2008
Hidalgo, TX -- Dec 17, 2008 to Dec 21, 2008
2009
------
Tupelo, MS -- Jan 8, 2009 to Jan 11, 2009
Biloxi, MS -- Jan 14, 2009 to Jan 18, 2009
Hoffman Estates, IL -- Jan 21, 2009 to Feb 1, 2009
St. Charles, MO -- Feb 4, 2009 to Feb 8, 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana -- Feb 12, 2009 to Feb 15, 2009
Batton Rouge, LA -- Feb 18, 2009 to Feb 20, 2009
Rockford, IL -- Feb 24, 2009 to Mar 1, 2009
Youngstown, Ohio -- Mar 4, 2009 to Mar 8, 2009
Louisville, Kentucky -- Mar 11, 2009 to Mar 15, 2009
Mobile, AL -- Apr 2, 2009 to Apr 5, 2009
Nashville, Tennessee -- Apr 9, 2009 to Apr 12, 2009
Huntsville, Alabama -- Apr 15, 2009 to Apr 19, 2009
North Charleston, South Carolina -- Apr 22, 2009 to Apr 26, 2009
Lakeland, FL -- Apr 29, 2009 to May 3, 2009
Gainesville, FL -- May 6, 2009 to May 10, 2009
Tallahassee, FL -- May 13, 2009 to May 17, 2009
Jacksonville, FL -- May 20, 2009 to May 24, 2009
Sunrise, FL -- May 27, 2009 to Jun 6, 2009
Tampa, FL -- Jun 25, 2009 to Jul 5, 2009
Estero, FL -- Jul 8, 2009 to Jul 12, 2009
Alegría:
2009
------
Halifax, Nova Scotia -- May 27, 2009 to Jun 7, 2009
St. John, New Brunswick -- Jun 10, 2009 to Jun 14, 2009
St. John's, Newfoundland -- Jun 19, 2009 to Jun 28, 2009
Hamilton, Ontario -- Jul 29, 2009 to Aug 2, 2009 (*)
[Resident Shows]
NOTE: (*) Prices are in United States Dollars (USD) unless otherwise
noted.
(*) Price reflected in brackets [] is inclusive of 10% Las Vegas
Entertainment Tax where applicable, but does not include
Sales Tax.
La Nouba:
Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA)
Performs: Tue through Sat, Dark: Sun/Mon
Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm
2008 Ticket Prices (adults) / (child 3-9):
o Category 0: $121.41 / $96.92
o Category 1: $105.44 / $84.14
o Category 2: $86.27 / $69.23
o Category 3: $69.23 / $55.38
AS OF OCTOBER 7, 2008:
o Category 0: $117.00 / $94.00 (+tax)
o Category 1: $102.00 / $82.00 (+tax)
o Category 2: $83.00 / $67.00 (+tax)
o Category 3: $67.00 / $54.00 (+tax)
o Category 4: $53.00 / $43.00 (+tax)
2008 Dark Dates:
o January 22 to 26
o March 25
o May 20 to 24
o May 27 to 312
o July 29
o September 23 to 27
o November 18
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
Mystère:
Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday
Two shows Nightly -
o Saturday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm
o Sunday: 4:30pm & 7:00pm
o Monday - Wednesday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm
2008 Ticket Prices:
o Category 1: $95.00 [$104.50]
o Category 2: $75.00 [$82.50]
o Category 3: $60.00 [$66.00]
2009 Ticket Prices:
o Category 1: $109.00 (+tax)
o Category 2: $99.00 (+tax)
o Category 3: $95.00 (+tax)
o Category 4: $79.00 (+tax)
o Category 5: $69.00 (+tax)
2008 Dark Dates:
o January 3 to 18
o February 3
o March 12
o May 1 to 9
o July 9
o September 4 to 12
o November 5
o December 24
2009 Dark Dates:
o January 10 - 21
o January 29
o February 1
o March 11
o May 2 - 6
o July 8
o September 5 - 9
o November 4
"O":
Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday
Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm
2008/2009 Ticket Prices:
o Orchestra: $150.00 [$165.00]
o Loggia: $125.00 [$137.50]
o Balcony: $99.00 [$108.90]
o Limited View: $93.50 [102.85]
2008 Dark Dates:
o February 10
o April 7 to 15
o June 8
o August 11 to 19
o October 12
o December 8 to 23
2009 Dark Dates:
o January 21
o February 1
o April 8 - 12
o June 7
o August 5 - 9
o October 4
o December 9 - 20
Zumanity:
Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm
2008 Ticket Prices (18+ Only!):
o Sofas: $129.00 USD [$141.90 USD] (Sold in pairs)
o Seats: $99.00 USD [$108.90 USD] (Lower Orcestra)
O Seats: $79.00 USD [$86.90 USD] (Upper Orchestra)
o Balcony: $69.00 USD [$75.90 USD]
o Stools: $69.00 USD [$75.90 USD]
2008 Dark Dates:
o Feburary 3
o February 19 & 20
o April 6 to 14
o June 9 to 11
o August 3 to 11
o October 14 & 15
o December 1 to 16
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
KÀ:
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Fri through Tue, Dark Wed/Thu
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 5-12):
NOTE: Category locations change based on Early vs Late Show
o Category 1: $150.00 [$165.00] / $75.00 [$82.50]
o Category 2: $125.00 [$137.50] / $62.50 [$68.75]
o Category 3: $99.00 [$108.90] / $49.50 [$54.45]
o Category 4: $69.00 [$75.90] / $34.50 [$37.95]
2008 Dark Dates
o January 13 to 28
o March 16 to 19
o May 11 to 19
o July 13 to 16
o September 7 to 15
o November 2 to 4
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
LOVE:
Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 10:00pm
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2009, PERFORMANCE TIMES FOR LOVE CHANGE
TO THE FOLLOWING: NIGHTLY - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
2008 Ticket Prices:
o Lower Orchestra: $150.00 [$165.00]
o Upper Orchestra: $125.00 [137.50]
o Lower Balcony: $99.00 [$108.80]
o Middle Balcony: $93.50 [$102.85]
o Upper Balcony: $69.00 [$75.90]
2008 Dark Dates:
o February 3 & 4
o February 11
o April 1 to 9
o May 12
o June 12
o July 29 to August 6
o October 9
o December 2 to 17
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
Wintuk:
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark Monday/Tuesday
Multiple Shows Daily -
Wednesday: 2:00pm, 7:30pm
Thursday: 11:00am, 7:30pm
Friday: 2:00pm, 7:30pm
Saturday: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm
2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 2-12):
Wednesday & Sunday:
o Category 1: $99.00 / $89.55
o Category 2: $65.00 / $59.95
o Category 3: $40.00 / $36.45
Thursday, Friday & Saturday:
o Category 1: $200.00 / $180.45
o Category 2: $110.00 / $99.45
o Category 3: $75.00 / $67.95
o Category 4: $50.00 / $45.45
Information regarding the 2008 season is not yet available.
ZAIA:
Location: VENETIAN, Macao (China)
Performs: Tuesday through Sunday, Dark Monday
One to Two Shows Daily -
Tuesday: 8:00pm
Wednesday: 8:00pm
Thursday - Saturday: 7:00pm & 10:00pm
Sunday: 4:00pm & 7:00pm
2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 0-12):
o Category 1: MOP$ 1288 / No Child
o Category 2: MOP$ 788 / MOP$ 688
o Category 3: MOP$ 588 / MOP$ 488
o Category 4: MOP$ 388 / MOP$ 288
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
ZED:
Location: TOKYO DISNEYLAND, Tokyo (Japan)
Performs: Varies
One to Two Shows Daily - Varies
2008 Ticket Prices (all):
o Category 1 ("Premium"): ¥18,000
o Category 2 ("Front"): ¥15,000
o Category 3 ("Regular"): ¥9,800
o Category 4 ("Overview"): ¥7,800
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
BELIEVE:
Location: Luxor, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark Wednesday/Thursday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 10:00pm
NOTE: Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by
an adult. Children under the age of five are not permitted
into the theater.
2008 Ticket Prices (all):
o Category 1: $150.00 +tax
o Category 2: $125.00 +tax
o Category 3: $99.00 +tax
o Category 4: $79.00 +tax
o Category 5: $59.00 +tax
2008 Dark Dates:
o September 8 & 9
o September 13
o November 5 to 13
2009 Dark Dates:
o Not Available
=================================
DIDYAKNOW? - Facts About Cirque
=================================
o) DidYaKnow that according to Franco Dragone, "Nouvelle Experience
was inspired by a book by Jules Verne called La Chasse au Météore,
about this meteorite made of gold that was going to hit earth,
which meant that everybody would try to find where it fell? I took
that idea, and told myself that, if a meteorite was going to hit
the earth, it would break into a thousand pieces, and each piece
would be a little jewel somewhere. Our show would be a trip across
the planet to find these little jewels."
o) DidYaKnow that at one time Cirque du Soleil was planning to present
a resident show in Berlin, Germany? Cirque du Soleil even announced
it on March 26, 1996 on their website: Cirque du Soleil is pleased
to announce that it will be presenting a permanent show in Berlin.
An agreement in principle with developer Dr. Peter and Isolde
Kottmair will provide a theatre for Cirque du Soleil in a large
real estate complex that will be constructed on Leipziger Platz, in
the heart of Berlin. The hall will seat an audience of 1,600 and
will be built in consultation with Cirque du Soleil at a cost of
DM70 million. The architect will be Aldo Rossi, winner of the 1990
Pritzker prize. The show is scheduled to premiere in the year 2000,
and this project will enable Cirque to ensure its Berlin activities
until the year 2015.
o) DidYaKnow the set of Mystere "suggests Ulysses, and the mythical
obstacles he had to overcome on his own journey? According to
Michel Crête, set designer, the two towers represent Scylla and
Charybdis, two of the perils Ulysses faced. This is a thematic
leftover from the earlier pitch to Caesars Palace by Cirque du
Soleil.
o) DidYaKnow that over 110 bounces on the trampoline and over 65
teeterboard jumps are executed during a single performance of
Mystère?
o) DidYaKnow that during the creative process of La Nouba, Guy
Laliberte made a radical last-minute change? After watching a
rehersal, Guy decided the show was not dynamic enough and insisted
an acrobatic cylcing act be added. This became the BMX act we see
today.
o) DidYaKnow that the name Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in
Asia - ZAIA - is inspired by a Greek given name meaning "the life"
and points out mythical Gaïa, the Greek goddess of the Earth and
symbol of Planetary ecological balance?
====================================
HISTORIA: Cirque du Soleil History
====================================
[November]
* Nov.01.1996 -- Alegría opened Hong Kong
* Nov.01.2004 -- "20 Years Under the Sun" Book Published
* Nov.02.2004 -- Region 01 DVD Release: Fire Within and La Nouba
* Nov.02.2006 -- Saltimbanco opened Rio de Janiero, Brazil
* Nov.03.1999 -- Quidam opened Madrid, Spain
* Nov.03.2005 -- Quidam opened Hong Kong
* Nov.04.2001 -- Dralion wins 3 Emmys:
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special
Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Musical
Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program
* Nov.04.2004 -- Quidam opened Brisbane
* Nov.04.2004 -- Varekai opened Dallas
* Nov.05.2002 -- Varekai CD released in Canada (BMG/CDS Musique)
* Nov.05.2002 -- NBC purchased BRAVO, the Official Network of Cirque in US
* Nov.05.2004 -- Dralion celebrated its 2000th performance [Madrid, Spain]
* Nov.06.2003 -- Alegría opened San Francisco
* Nov.07.1996 -- Saltimbanco opened Frankfurt
* Nov.07.1997 -- Alegría opened Dusseldorf
* Nov.07.2002 -- Varekai opened San Francisco
* Nov.07.2002 -- Varekai canceled in San Francisco due to Wind Gusts
* Nov.06.2002 -- Quidam opened Tampa Bay
* Nov.08.1987 -- Cirque Réinventé (Vol 1) CD Released (Nâga)
* Nov.08.1994 -- Cirque Réinventé CD Released in US (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.08.1994 -- Mystère CD released in US (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.08.2007 -- Corteo opened Orange County, California
* Nov.09.1999 -- Dralion CD released in US (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.09.2006 -- Varekai opened Brisbane
* Nov.10.1992 -- Nouvelle Expérience opened in Las Vegas
* Nov.10.1995 -- Saltimbanco opened Vienne
* Nov.11.2005 -- Corteo opened San Francisco
* Nov.12.1996 -- Mystère Live CD released in US (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.12.1998 -- Alegría opened Frankfurt
* Nov.13.2002 -- Dralion opened Phoenix
* Nov.13.2003 -- Cirque presented at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto
to Honor Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
* Nov.13.2008 -- Corteo opened Miami
* Nov.15.1993 -- "Cirque du Soleil" 10th Anniversary Book Published
* Nov.16.1995 -- Alegría opened Atlanta
* Nov.16.2001 -- Dralion opened Dallas
* Nov.16.2007 -- Quidam opened Mexico City, Mexico
* Nov.16.2007 -- Koozå opened San Francisco, California
* Nov.17.2005 -- Saltimbanco opened Guadalajara
* Nov.18.1993 -- Saltimbanco opened Atlanta
* Nov.18.2005 -- Dralion opened Bilbao
* Nov.19.1991 -- Nouvelle Expérience opened Atlanta
* Nov.19.1998 -- "O" CD Released in Canada (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.19.2001 -- Region 01 DVD Release: Inside La Nouba
* Nov.19.2002 -- Alegría premiered on Bravo at 8:00pm EST
* Nov.20.1989 -- Cirque Réinventé opened San Diego
* Nov.20.1997 -- Quidam opened Houston
* Nov.20.2006 -- Diesel Marketing (Cirque Website) becomes Sid Lee
* Nov.20.2008 -- Varekai opened Madrid
* Nov.21.1993 -- Nouvele Expérience closed in Las Vegas
* Nov.21.2006 -- LOVE CD Released in US (Capitol Records)
* Nov.21.2008 -- ZED Celebrated 100th Performance
* Nov.22.2001 -- Quidam opened London
* Nov.22.2005 -- Saltimbanco opened Mexico City
* Nov.22.2007 -- Alegría opened Belo Horizonte, Brazil
* Nov.24.1998 -- "O" CD Released in US (RCA/Victor)
* Nov.25.1999 -- Saltimbanco opened Singapore
* Nov.25.2004 -- Saltimbanco opened Lille
* Nov.26.2004 -- KÀ Premiered (Preview Performances Begin)
* Nov.27.2008 -- Dralion opened Brisbane
* Nov.28.1989 -- Cirque Réinventé opened Phoenix
* Nov.28.2002 -- "Run Before You Fly" documentary premiered on BRAVO
* Nov.28.2003 -- Saltimbanco opened Valencia
* Nov.29.1991 -- Nouvelle Expérience opened Atlanta
* Nov.30.2000 -- Dralion opened Atlanta
* Nov.30.2002 -- "Fire Within" premiered on ArTV in Canada
* Nov.30.2003 -- "SOLSTROM" premiered on CBC
* Nov.xx.1999 -- Region 01 DVD release: Alegría: Le Film
* Nov.xx.2001 -- Quidam celebrated 2000th performance [Zurich]
[December]
* Dec.01.2005 -- Varekai opened St. Petersburg, Florida
* Dec.02.1999 -- Dralion opened Irvine, California
* Dec.02.2008 -- Cirque announces Russian expansion
* Dec.03.2002 -- Cirque abandoned "Complexes Cirque" project
* Dec.04.2001 -- NY-NY announced as next new Cirque show site.
* Dec.04.2003 -- Varekai opened Ponoma
* Dec.04.2004 -- Varekai celebrated 1000th performance [Saturday/Dallas]
* Dec.05.2001 -- Alegría opened Perth, Australia
* Dec.07.2006 -- Dralion opened Neuss, Germany
* Dec.10.2006 -- Curtain fell on Saltimbanco - Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
* Dec.15.2000 -- Quidam opened London
* Dec.15.2006 -- Corteo opened Atlanta
* Dec.15.2008 -- MGM/Mirage announces sale of TI, home of Mystère
* Dec.16.1999 -- Alegría: Le Film premiered in Singapore
* Dec.16.2001 -- Dralion celebrated its 1000th performance [1:00pm/Dallas]
* Dec.16.2008 -- Guy Laliberté invests in Prestige Telecom, Inc
* Dec.17.2002 -- Varekai Split-Track CD Released (BMG/CDS Musique)
* Dec.19.2005 -- "O" wins "Best of Show" at "The Trippies - 1st Annual
Readers Poll Awards" at Las Vegas travel guide site
VegasTripping.com
* Dec.20.2004 -- "Dreams of the Solo Trapeze" Book Published
* Dec.20.2005 -- "A Taste of Cirque du Soleil" entertainment showcase for
Celebrity Cruises announced
* Dec.23.1998 -- La Nouba premiered at WDW (Preview Performances)
* Dec.23.2008 -- La Nouba quietly celebrates 10th Anniversary
* Dec.24.1993 -- Mystère premiered at Treasure Island
* Dec.24.2008 -- Mystère quietly celebrates 15th Anniversary
* Dec.24.2003 -- Quidam opened Tokyo, Japan
* Dec.26.2001 -- Dralion celebrated 1000th performance [Wed, 1:00pm/Dallas]
* Dec.27.2000 -- Region 02 DVD Release: Quidam
* Dec.27.2007 -- Alegría opened Rio de Janiero, Brazil
* Dec.28.1989 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened Phoenix, Arizona
* Dec.31.2004 -- Quidam opened Auckland
=======================================================================
FASCINATION! FEATURES
=======================================================================
Within...
o) "My Thoughts on ZED"
By: Wayne Leung - Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
{As Published on Cirque Tribune}
o) "No Limits on Adventure - Celebri!"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
o) "This YEAR in Cirque History"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
o) LA PRESSE: "BELIEVE - THE REVIEWS" [EXPANDED]
A Special Collection of Reviews in the Press
-------------------------------------------------------
"My Thoughts on ZED"
By: Wayne Leung - Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
{As Published on Cirque Tribune}
-------------------------------------------------------
This review may contain some minor spoilers.
For those of you who don't read long reviews I'll cut to the chase;
It's a great show, there are parts of it that I absolutely loved, and
though it isn't as high-concept or well-drawn out in terms of story,
characters and emotional arcs as the Dragone-era shows, the imagery in
Zed is stunning and for the most-part the acts are framed in
breathtaking theatrical tableaux and accompanied by a lush, musical
score.
Now for some more details.
Zed's aesthetic and structure alternately reminded me of La Nouba and
Mystère. It isn't as high-concept with the integration of the circus
acts as say Quidam or "O" but the director, François Girard, is able
to compose some breathtaking images and the show is really captivating
visually and musically.
There are many characters in the universe of Zed, although they're not
fleshed out as fully as I'd like them to be: Zed (the main character
with the crazy anime-style hair-do, played by Reda Guerinik, the
Shaman (David Baartman), Djinn (The Baton Twirler, Seishi Inagaki),
The bungee girls re-appear periodically throughout the show as these
aquatic-alien type characters who dangle from aerial hammocks.
The set is visually stunning; the thrust has a center-trap that
descends and rotates as well as a rotating outer ring. The backdrop is
a quarter sphere that looks like a quarter of a globe, the set
designer said he was inspired by the astrolabe an ancient navigational
instrument for the set and stars are also a repeated design element.
The quarter sphere has three levels of catwalks between which wires
are strung in a haphazard web. The director places characters on the
backdrop to stunning effect at various points in the show.
The costumes are very well-done. Some are highly reminiscent of
Mystère's costumes and some also remind me of the styles used in
Dralion and La Nouba.
The music was the highlight of the show for me. The score is a fusion
that the programme described as influenced by the Mediterranean, the
Caucasus and Ireland. It's moved along by a driving rock-beat and is
really unlike any of René Dupéré's previous work. It is somehow
familiar as "Cirque du Soleil" style music but also very fresh
sounding.
The show's musicians are top-notch and appear on-stage at several
times during the show. A standout is violinist Paul Lazar and his airy
celtic-sounding violin riffs infused throughout the score. The band
also performs a musical piece as an Entr'Acte which features amazing
solos by the violinist, along with the bassoonist and the guitarist
(Paul Hanson and Patrick Kelly, respectively).
I'll say this right now I LOVE the show's two singers. Johanna Lillvik
has this gorgeous expressive soprano voice with the lilting, lyrical
quality that is unique to Scandinavian sopranos. She reminds me a lot
of Zara Tellander. She plays this ethereal fairy-like character and it
looks stunning when she periodically descends from the rafters in this
gorgeous fibre-optic infused dress to spread her wings.
Kevin Faraci is a revelation! His character is fierce, he looks like a
male version of the Evil Queen from Disney's Sleeping Beauty but it
doesn't look as ridiculous as that sounds and it somehow really works;
whenever he's on stage you can't help but watch him. He has this
commanding stage presence and I was absolutely captivated by his
performance. His voice is amazing, he has a strong tenor, with a
quality that is somewhat of a hybrid of pop and musical theatre, his
voice has also has a warm, youthful quality that belies his evil
overlord costume but it also has a richness and fullness in the lower
range that lends depth to a lot of the songs. Frankly, I don't think I
could ever tire of watching or listening to him.
Some of the acts and moments in the show made a particular impression
on me:
The show opens with the most jaw-dropping reveal of the set since the
"O" curtain. It was a gasp-inducing transportive moment that really
draws the audience into the show, it sent chills down my spine.
I'll never forget the first time I saw Johanna descend from the
cuppola, spread her wings and start to sing as four bungee artists in
full body suits glowing in black light performed, one of them
literally over my head.
The lassos act is lifted from the traditional Chinese circus, and like
Dralion, there isn't much difference in the way the act is performed
in Cirque as opposed to its traditional setting, however the highlight
of the scene was watching Kevin singing at the top of the stairs,
four flowing capes radiated from his costume and at the end of the act
as he held the final note the capes flew off into space, it was such a
grand-opera moment, I loved it. In fact the second time I saw the show,
I all but ignored the lasso performers and focused on watching the
dancers in the back ground and Kevin.
Continuing the Cirque du Soleil tradition of combining circus
disciplines to create new acts there is an amazing combination Chinese
Poles and Trampoline act, four poles are placed around a central
trampoline embedded in the stage. The tramp allows the performers to
mount and dismount from the poles in stunning new ways. And it's also
refreshing to see Cirque still working on developing new concepts in-
house when they've recently stuck to buying acts off-the-shelf for the
majority of their shows acts.
My least favourite act was the high wire act. It is very difficult to
stage a high wire act in a way that is interesting artistically, this
one was no exception. It was another one of those "death-defying" acts
that had no real artistic integration or presentation quality, it was
much too "Kooza" for my taste.
Likewise when the group of four jugglers in stylized harlequin
costumes came out I thought, "Great, another run-of-the mill juggling
act" and I was half right, the act is a standard juggling act with few
surprises, much of it is similar to the juggling number in Corteo. But
then the staging of the act took a dramatic turn when the performers
switched to juggling flaming clubs; Kevin rises from the floor of the
stage wearing a costume that looks like a creature out of Pan's
Labyrinth, complete with moving tentacles and brandishing the flaming
clubs. Characters then fill the catwalks of the stage and manipulate
flaming clubs of their own, it was an awesome image.
The Banquine act is technically dazzling and as good as (if not
slightly better than) the Quidam version in terms of degree of
difficulty. I'm not entirely sold on the staging of this version. The
Quidam banquine choreography and staging is so ingrained into my mind
as the pinnacle of everything that Cirque du Soleil has ever created
that it's hard for me to objectively look at this new staging. There
definitely isn't as much of a context to the Zed version as there is
in the Quidam version so it's less engaging in that respect but
technically the act is jaw-dropping, the standard version includes the
pendulum toss and the two-person cross over (previously only seen in
the Royale version of Quidam's Banquine). And it was definitely a
treat to see so many former Quidam cast members performing this act.
Conversely, when Yves Decoste and Marie-Laur Mesnage came up on the
center trap, my first thought was . . . "Oh, this act, which I've seen
dozens of times, again" and while it is basically the same act they
performed in Quidam the staging for Zed created one of my favourite
scenes in the show. Firstly, the music is gorgeous, the act is
performed to the song released in the Audition kit as "The World
Meets" and I actually wasn't too fond of the demo version, but tonight
when I heard it as a duet between Kevin and Johanna it was so
beautiful I was practically moved to tears. It sounds like a sweet,
comforting lullaby. The scene also includes dozens of performers on
wires descending from the rafters (very reminiscent of scenes from Le
Rêve) and after the entire cast gathers on stage they perform as a
chorus on the last verse of the song (lip syncing I'm sure but a
gorgeous image nonetheless).
Continuing with the traditional circus acts, the show closes with a
flying trapeze number. The safety net descends from the ceiling in a
similar fashion as in La Nouba so I thought the act would be very
similar but the pacing of Zed's version is much faster. It's like a
fireworks display with the big tricks happening in rapid succession
and this version held my attention a lot better. It's performed to the
"Charivari" song from the audition kit although the song has been
significantly reworked since the demo. It has a much harder edged rock
sound and more of driving beat now.
As this is the beginning of the show's run, the performance quality
has some room for improvement; I'd really like to see more character
development, more dramaturgical integration of the disparate acts and
more of a chemistry amongst the cast members. Hopefully these things
will improve as the cast has a chance to get comfortable with the show
and I'd love to come see it again in a few years.
Regardless, the show is apparently selling well, both shows today were
completely sold out and when I went to buy a ticket to another show
this week, I was told there were only a few single seats available for
next Friday's show and that next Thursday's show was completely sold-
out. I did manage to snatch a seat on Friday so I can see it one more
time before I leave Tokyo.
Obviously, Cirque picked a good market for a resident show in Tokyo.
And it's no surprise the show is selling out, with its high calibre
acrobatic acts, stunning imagery and gorgeous score it's not hard to
enjoy Zed, it's definitely worth the trip to Tokyo to come see it.
-------------------------------------------------------
"No Limits on Adventure - Celebri!"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
-------------------------------------------------------
You may have heard about it in passing but just what is a Celebri?
From the Italian, Celebri! is a coming together of friends to
celebrate Cirque du Soleil in various geographical settings. By
supporting a small reunion multiple times a year, Celebri! desires to
ensnare the jubilant, ecstatic, and euphoric feelings that well up
inside each avid Cirque du Soleil fan and nurture that festivity into
a joyous and wonderful occasion with friends and fellow fans alike.
And for just over a year now, Rich Alford and I have hosted five such
Celebri's around the world. Each event is different, complete with its
own soul and tale to tell. Experience with us now the tales of the
first five Celebri outings in New York City, New York; San Francisco,
California; Seattle, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Seoul, South
Korea.
# # #
Celebri! NYC: "Au Noveau Yorque "
=================================
WHERE: New York City, New York (USA)
WHAT: Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk & More!
WHEN: Nov.09.2007 - Nov.12.2007
Celebri's genesis found its ignitive spark a few short weeks prior to
its inaugural run in another Cirque-oriented gathering that both Rich
and I are part of (and coordinated): CirqueCon 2007: Orlando!
CirqueCon, as you may or may not know, is an assembly of "Cirque
Passionates" that found its light on Saturday, May 22, 2004 when 30-
plus fans of Cirque du Soleil, from across North and Central America,
descended upon the city of Vancouver to celebrate the return of Quidam,
which had just delighted audiences in Japan for more than a year. The
meeting was so successful that CirqueCon continued and visited
Montreal in 2005, Las Vegas for 2006, Orlando in 2007 and Tokyo for
2008.
It was during CirqueCon 2007: Orlando that whispers of getting
together again soon in a smaller, more intimate fashion began to find
its voice. And thus Celebri was born. We chose New York City for its
food, for its sights, for its people and most importantly, for Wintuk
- Cirque du Soleil's newest resident production (at the time). It was
perfect.
So, on November 8, 2007, we descended upon the Big Apple and what an
amazing time it was! Rich, Nicole (my girlfriend) and I boarded the 7-
train at Lowry/41st-Street from Long Island City the following morning
and made our way into Manhattan to begin a day of discovery and
exploration.
Our day started down at the Circle Line docks for a little journey to
the Statue of Liberty. If theres one thing you have to see when
visiting the Big Apple, it is lady Liberty. Many know that the Statue
of Liberty was a gift to the United States by France in 1886 to
commemorate the centennial of the United States Declaration of
Independence from Great Britain and the friendship our two nations
established during the American Revolution. She stands triumphantly
out there in New York Harbor, lighting the way to the land of
prosperity, and if you miss the opportunity to see her (whether in
good weather or bad), youll be really disappointed. So, even though
the weather was not the greatest (it wasnt too cold and windy like
last time I visited the island - man, I nearly froze my lips off! -
but it wasnt clear blue skies and sunny either), I just had to take
Rich and Nicole over. And with monument passes in hand, we even got an
inside peek! It is unfortunate though that you can no longer make the
trek to the observation gallery at the crown.
After Ms. Liberty, it was no holds bars for the rest of Manhattan.
Continuing our adventure northward, we made a stop in the financial
district - Theres Wall Street itself, which is both a street and a
neighborhood, thats the home to Americas financial industry. Youll
find the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the NASDAQ index, American
Stock Exchange (AMEX), the Mercantile Exchange (MEX) and The Board of
Trade for New York all within the area. Of course the most famous (or
infamous) is the New York Stock Exchange building at the corner of
Wall and Broad streets and the Federal Hall. Historians may know that
it was on this very spot that George Washington, our first President,
was inaugurated and just a few months later, where the Bill of Rights
was passed. Even Wall Streets name can be traced back to the original
New Amsterdam settlement where the road served as its boundary and
then later as the location of an actual fortified wall!
Fans of Disney/Touchstones "National Treasure" film starring Nicholas
Cage may recognize the phrase "Heere at the Wall" and follow the clues
to Trinity Church, which sits on the corner of Broadway and Wall
Street. Like much of New York City, the church is steeped in rich
history. It is a full service Episcopalian parish that began services
on site in 1698; however, the church you see today is not the original
- its actually the second reconstruction! The first burned down in
the Great New York City Fire of 1776 and the second was demolished
after the structure buckled under heavy snowfall in 1839. Todays
church was built in 1846 and has stood since (believe it or not, at
one time this was the highest building in New York City!). If you
stick around long enough you may even hear its bells chime. There are
23 of them in its tower, each weighing 2700 pounds. And, no, theres
not a secret passage to huge underground chambers containing large
amounts of treasure... not that I can say, really.
Part of the Financial District legacy is, of course, Ground Zero - the
site of the World Trade Center tower remains. Its a story that
virtually everyone knows so theres no since in re-iterating it again;
however, suffice it to say, its always a solemn reminder of that
ghastly day and seeing it was important.
After a brief walk-by of the famous Brooklyn Bridge, we descended
beneath the city to traverse the subway lines through to Rockefeller
Center. Its a massive complex of buildings located in Midtown
Manhattan between 48th and 51st streets, and between 5th and 7th
avenues. Founded in 1939 by John D. Rockefeller Jr., it is here youll
find the home of NBC with many of its famous studios right on site.
Atop this building is an observation deck (open to the public) called
"Top of the Rock", which offers commanding views of Midtown, Downtown
and Central Park. Radio City Music Hall (home of the Rockettes) is
nearby as is Carnegie Hall, the citys prestigious concert venue.
Although exciting in their own right, these pale in comparison to the
main attraction at Rockefeller Center during the holidays - the
Christmas tree and ice skating rink.
Here at 42nd Street and Park Avenue is the reverent and ever popular
Grand Central Station, or should I be exactly correct and say Grand
Central Terminal. One of the more recognizable landmarks in this vast
City, Grand Central Terminal is a wonder of size (it occupies an area
of 48 acres!). It is the largest train station in the world by
platform count (youll find 44 platforms beneath the bustling streets
consisting of 67 tracks), and has about 103 inhabiting businesses (the
oldest of which is Oyster Bar, which opened there in 1913. Grand
Central is a busy thoroughfare throughout the day, but if youre ever
through, take a moment to stop in. The ceiling offers a breathtaking
view of the universe via Skyscape (as painted in 1912 by French artist
Paul César Helleu), and the four-faced clock - each of the faces is
Made of Opal! Step outside and look over the façade facing 42nd Street
and youll find the worlds largest example of Tiffany stained glass.
And, like the Statue of Liberty, no trip to New York City is complete
until youve stepped foot in Times Square amongst the flashing lights,
busy streets and humanity that is The Big Apple. Its one of the most
recognizable landmarks in the entire city and truly doesnt need an
introduction. As you can see, by the end of the afternoon I had Rich
and Nicole dizzy from all the sights and subway rides.
We calmed things down later on in the evening when we and the rest of
the Celebri group all assembled at the corner of 6th Avenue and 36th
Street for a wonderful meal at Keen's Steakhouse, a chophouse as
famous for its muttons as it is for its collection of clay smoking
pipes on display in every nook and cranny of its ceiling. Keen's
turned out to be a fantastic, classy establishment that teetered just
on the edge of eclectic (just the way we like it!). And while they
might be famous for their muttonchops, it was the Prime Filet Mignon
that had my mouth watering. MmmmMmm!
Then we hit Wintuk at Madison Square Garden - our reason for coming to
New York City in the first place. WINTUK is an enchanting winter tale
about a boy and his quest for snow and adventure. The boy lives in a
city where the arrival of winter has brought long shadows and intense
cold - but no snow! He interacts with a cast of high energy urban
street characters; but when the snow does not arrive, he embarks on a
quest with three companions - a female shaman whos lost in the city,
a shy man destined to discover his courage and the shadow of a young
girl - to find the snow and bring it back to where it belongs. Through
Charivari, Slack Wire, Juggling, Rola-bola, Rag Doll, Inner Tubes, Cyr
Wheel, Hoops, Acrobatic Swiss Balls, Aerial Straps, and Russian Bars,
we sat astounded (or confused, you pick). Two and a half hours later,
Wintuk came to a snow-filled close. By then it was late in the evening,
but who said we had to call it a night? New York is the city that
never sleeps, right? So we hit Times Square for an after-show dessert
and coffee party!
Even though the stagehands union strike put the kybosh on our plans to
see Disney's "The Lion King" on Broadway, Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk
still tickled our hearts. Everyone seemed to have a grand time at
Keen's steakhouse (and we must all thank the Metzger's for picking up
the tab for us), at Wintuk and at Junior's afterwards for cheesecake
(yum, yum, yum!). I also like to extend my personal thanks to Heather
and Jim for their kindness in inviting us out to dinner Sunday night
and for taking the time out of their personal lives to be our
nighttime tour guides (driving us from Uptown to Downtown and from the
Bronx to Queens). It was great fun!
Celebri! SFO: "Koozå Palooza"
=============================
WHERE: San Francisco, California (USA)
WHAT: Cirque du Soleil's Koozå & More!
WHEN: Nov.30.2007 - Dec.02.2007
"Turn here!"
"Where?"
"Right here!!"
It's been a right, full day here in the "City by the Bay", and it
seems sad that it must come to an end so soon. Less than 20 days after
holding our first event in New York City, Rich and I touched down on
the west coast of the United States for "Koozå Palooza", the moniker
given to our gathering of friends in San Francisco for Cirque du
Soleil's newest touring production, Koozå. While it's mostly been just
the two of us, our friends Rafael & Angelica Serrano (and kids) from
Tijuana, Mexico came out to join us for dinner. And we've had a blast
since!
Of course, we've had our trials too.
Touring the city with a flummoxed GPS system tends to do that. And
Rich is not too fond of my quick navigational changes, as the above
conversation snippet attests to. But beyond that we've really had a
great time here in San Fran - touring the sights, enjoying each
other's company, having good times with friends and taking in Cirque
du Soleil. That's what Celebri is all about!
Of course, Cirque du Soleil isn't the only draw here - there are at
least three things you must do when you come to San Francisco: 1)
Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, 2) Take a ride on a Cable Car and
3) Visit Fisherman's Wharf on the Embarcadero. And we did all three.
The Golden Gate Bridge is a monumental testament of know-how and
ingenuity that has become the quintessential symbol of the city itself
since it was completed in 1937. Naturally a traveler such as me would
want to gaze upon its deep orange hues and marvel at the sheer beauty
of its construction - as close up as possible. On my last visit to San
Francisco (which happened to be my first), I came no closer to the
famed bridge than the waterfront near Fisherman's Wharf - there just
wasn't enough time! - So this time I wanted to be sure I got a close
up look. And took Rich on a ride in the hills! Psst, here's a little
secret: while getting a glimpse of the bridge from its designated
viewing platform on the San Francisco side provides great views of the
bridge, drive over to Marin County side and take trip into the Marin
Headlands. This region is part of the Golden Gate National
Recreational Area and while you may find the roads small and winding,
the vistas commanded here are so spectacular, I am at a loss for words.
Another secret: drive up there at night!
The Cable Cars too offer a unique treat for visitors and it's probably
my most favorite feature of San Francisco. There's just something
about hanging out the side of the car as it speeds down Hyde Street,
air rushing past your ears, with Alcatraz looming off in the distance,
that's thrilling beyond words. Ding! Ding! Did you know there are
three lines in operation today? The Powell-Hyde line, the Powell-Mason
line and the California Street line are the only ones left in public
use. The most ridden, and perhaps the most famous of these lines, is
the Powell-Hyde line, which runs from Powell/Market Street down to the
waterfront near the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Here tourists (like
us) can take this line through the heart of downtown to such sights as
Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world), Ghirardelli's
(world-famous Chocolatier), Hard Rock Café (which is a favorite of
Rich's) and Fisherman's Wharf.
Fisherman's Wharf is probably the quintessential tourist destination
in San Francisco because anything you want can be found there: from
seafood to sea-salts and everything else in between. Especially on
Pier 39, where you can shop for puppets, sea salt soaps, Babushka
dolls from Russia, socks, herbs, crystal, taffy and fudge. I highly
recommend the fudge at Chocolate Heaven; it's to die for. And the
little chocolate cable cars are cute too! Oh, and don't mind the seals
-- they like it there (even if the establishment's owners don't!)
We caught up with the Serrano's here at the Wharf, sat down and had
dinner at Hard Rock Café before heading off to Koozå. It was the first
time we had met the shy Serrano children, but it was warming to see
Rafael and Angelica again. They're such classy people and good friends.
Sharing a meal with them is like being with family. You just can't go
wrong with that!
Before long it was time to enter the grand chapiteau for Koozå. Koozå,
whose name is inspired by the Sanskrit word "koza," meaning "box,"
"chest" or "treasure," tells the story of a melancholy loner (The
Innocent) in search of his place in the world taken on a journey
through strength, fragility, laughter, turmoil and harmony. "Koozå is
also about human connection and the world of duality, good and bad,"
says the show's writer and director David Shiner. "The tone is fun and
funny, light and open. The show doesn't take itself too seriously, but
it's very much about ideas, too. As it evolves we are exploring
concepts such as fear, identity, recognition and power."
Consequently, it was our third time catching the show since its
inception; Rich and I had traveled to Montréal the previous April to
see the show take its first tentative steps. While in this French
enclave of Canada, we had a few crapes, met a couple friends, and even
chatted with the director of the show: David Shiner (we even gave him
one of Rich's signature buttons, which Mr. Shiner proudly wore!) While
we'd likely not see anyone special at the show or have interactions of
any kind with the cast and crew, we had a great time never-the-less
and answered some of our most pressing questions about the show in the
process -- would it be as fun a few months later?
The answer? An overwhelming yes!
Celebri! SEA: "un funerale a Seattle!"
======================================
WHERE: Seattle, Washington (USA)
WHAT: Cirque du Soleil's Corteo & Teatro Zinzanni
WHEN: May.02.2008 - May.04.2008
Any time Cirque du Soleil rolls into the Seattle area, Keith Johnson
and Rich Alford, good friends and fellow CirqueCon conceptors who live
in the area, get a group of friends and family together to see the
show. Usually one or the other hosts a pre-show party at their house
before-hand, inviting Cirque fans and friends over for drinks and
tapas to kick-start a festive mood. For Dralion in 2002 and Alegría in
2004, Keith hosted the gathering at his place; for Varekai in 2006 the
party shifted to Richie's Le Petite Chapiteau. And when Corteo rolled
into Seattle in May 2008, Rich once again hosted at his yellow-colored
bachelor pad in Bothel, north of the site in Marymoor Park. There he
had set up for us a wonderful menu of Tapis Rouge proportions! It was
the promise of a wonderful adventure...
On Friday, I spent most of my time with Heather and Jim (CirqueCon
alums from New York's Long Island) GeoCaching around the city (my
first experience) and seeing the sights this town had to offer. Our
first search took us to Kubota, a Japanese gardens in a residential
area of town. There we hunted (and found) a multi-cache by gathering
the information requested from the gardens' guide and using those
answers to calculate the cache's final location GPS coordinates. With
the flowers in bloom, and a crisp, cool morning air, meandering around
the gardens was definitely a treat. And I took some good pictures to
boot! The second cache was a quickie along side the highway, which
ended up being more trouble than it was worth (for me that is, Heather
and Jim loved climbing in the underbrush on the hill-side and
traipsing through the woods...). We found it, though, and made our way
back to the car virtually unscathed. The third, another multi-cache,
was hidden at Olympic Sculpture Park, and I must say that I preferred
exploring the park in this way. It made the time there very
interesting and fun. The sculptures are very abstract (for me) but
viewing the pieces while also solving the puzzle was the best way to
experience it.
There are many different metallic sculptures down at the park, but a
small handful stood out. One, called "Wake", is a 300-ton structure
spanning 125-feet composed of curved steel set within a small
rock/sand garden. Although at first you might think of a ships
looming hull upon first glance, upon closer inspection you might find
yourself in the middle of a mountain ridge or perhaps lost in a
strange, new world. Youre encouraged to walk amongst the warped
structure but dont touch (although others most certainly have), as
this artists wishes for us to participate in his undulating metallic
creation. Another, called "Typewriter Erase, Scale X" is exactly as
described: an overblown piece of equipment that may have come from our
deepest, darkest nightmares (at least of those who may have had to use
one of these in the past and remember it "fondly", smaller version of
course). But dont let the horrors of past usage come to mind, instead,
look upon this pop icon fondly: as a harbinger of whimsical folly
"like a wild-haired kid on a runaway unicycle" according to the
Seattle Times. I like that much better! In "Love and Loss", you might
first be attracted here by spotting by a rotating ampersand ("&")
symbol and attempt to ascertain what connection it has to the tree,
bench and stone tables laid out around it. But if you stake a step
back and follow the strips of white paint with your eye, youll find
the place where love and loss intersect. Its a poignant piece to
reflect on.
Heather, Jim and I even stopped by ground zero of the geo-caching
movement - Groundspeak - for an intimate and private tour of the
facility, a chance to get at their private stash, and meet one of the
founders. Boy was I thrust into the Geocashing world, or what? But I
loved it!
The evening was capped off by a wonderful performance of Teatro
Zinzanni whereby most sat in attendance, including: Rich, Jim, Heather,
Eric, Keith, Lucy, Barb, Shelly, and myself. "A Suitcase Named Desire"
was the theme of the show, and heres a little bit about it: Master
illusionist Voronin returns to the tent, his travel-stained trunk
bursting with new secrets and surprises. With the help of two
mysterious cohorts - the perfectly Parisian contortionist Aurelia Cats
and the sexy, snakelike juggler Viktor Kee, Voronin slowly enchants
the entire tent. Join us as Madame ZinZanni (Londons West End singing
sensation Melanie Stace) and her merry band of waiters, clowns and
acrobats including audience favorites trapeze artists Duo Artemiev,
rally to defend Teatro ZinZanni in the name of Love, Chaos and Dinner!
Wait, Viktor Kee?
The same Viktor Kee, master juggler, from Dralion?
Yes! And he came over to our table for a while and chatted!
Saturday was spent in and around the Emerald City with Heather and Jim.
In the early morning we made our way down to Pike Place Market to
catch the flying fish. While there wasn't any fish-a-flying, I did get
a chance to grab an espresso drink at the very first Starbucks store.
It was busy, yes, but well worth the time and effort. I'm a fan, what
can I say? Later on we took Bill Spidel's famous Seattle Underground
Tour, a trip into the subterranean passages that were once the main
roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle. It was
actually very interesting and informative. Who knew Seattle and Walt
Disney World had so much in common -- it's built on the "Second Floor"
too! Then it was down to the site of the 1962 World's Fair - Seattle
Center - and the Pacific-Northwest's most prominent landmark: The
Space Needle. While neither Heather, Jim or I went up to the
observation deck this go-round (I've been up before), we did have a
good time in the shop trying on funny sun-glasses and taking pictures
of ourselves, and wandering about the grounds looking for other micro-
caches. (Of course!)
By late afternoon, we were rolling into Rich's driveway for a wake, er,
I mean the Corteo Pre-show party. Master Chef Rich Alford dazzled our
taste buds and enlightened our souls with his original, masterful
tapas concoctions. Just what was on the menu? Behold! Garlic and
Mustard Grilled Filet Mignon, Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Ginger
Dipping Sauce, and Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast with Dijon Dipping
Sauce, Thai Chicken Bite with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Filet Mignon Bite on
Crostini with Bleu Cheese Sauce, Cream Cheese Empanada with Puff
Pastry, Garlic Shrimp Shots, Cream Cheese Brownies, and more!
And food wasn't the only surprise on the menu -- Quidam astonished
everyone by making an unscripted, personal appearance! (Hint: It was
me!) For Keith Johnsons Cirque-themed wedding back in August 2002 I
played costumed character Quidam, which was as great representation of
Cirques version. And we like to get him out every now and then...
Many of the CirqueCon crowd were on-hand: Keith Johnson and LouAnna
Valentine (from Seattle, Washington), Barb Houde and Shelly Blakeslee
(from Missoula, Montana), Rolf and Karen Mogster (from Seattle,
Washington), Eric Meadows (from Atlanta, Georgia), Heather and Jim
(from Baldwin, New York), and a hand-full of others I had never met
before! After feeding heartily, we made our way to the blue-and-
yellow swirled Grand Chapiteau where many of the group would be taking
in Corteo for the first time.
Excitement coursed through the group the moment our eyes fell upon
Corteos canvas home. Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian,
combines the craft of the actor with the prowess of the acrobat to
plunge the audience into a world of playfulness and spontaneity
situated in a mysterious area between Heaven and Earth. Corteo is a
grand procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. Juxtaposing
the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic
of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the
strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and
kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of
us. The clown is Everyman, a cunning idiot, a colorful loser who
shines a light on all that is difficult and beautiful in life. Corteo
evokes the full spectrum of emotion and experience: love, friendship,
pain, joy, wisdom, beauty, life and even death. Corteo, a timeless
revel in which illusion teases reality.
By the end we were all singing with friendship, love and joy! The
weekend was closed out with a fabulous brunch buffet at Salty's on
Alki Beach with Rich, Heather and Jim. It was yummmmmmmmmmmmy!
Celebri! LAS: "beLIEve it!"
===========================
WHERE: Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
WHAT: Criss Angel BELIEVE & More
WHEN: Sep.12.2008 - Sep.14.2008
When Cirque du Soleil announced the premiere date for their newest
spectacle in Las Vegas - Criss Angel BELIEVE - Rich and I were all
about grabbing tickets to this and other Cirque du Soleil shows as
quickly as we could and organize the next Celebri! What better reason
do you need to get together with friends and other Cirque du Soleil
fans than the premiere of a brand new show, right?
Of course, Rich and I had an ulterior motive - we already had an
invite to BELIEVE's Gala Premiere and after-show party being held on
September 12th (which Rich won during CirqueCon 2006 in Las Vegas - I
was his "date"), so why not just stay in town and take in other shows?
That was the plan when we began the endeavor; however, as you may know
delays at BELIEVE pushed the premiere off our weekend and later delays
even pushed off the previews -- so we never even got to see the show!
(We were compd Carrot Top instead, who needs no kind of
introduction.)
But that doesnt mean good times werent had.
We made the best of some of the more unique attractions that the Las
Vegas area had to offer.
Over at the Wynn, which is a fabulously appointed casino-hotel by
mogul Steve Wynn (he previously owned Mirage Resorts, which built The
Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio), youll find its flagship
Ferrari-Maserati car dealership. While you have to have a lot of money
to own one of these sports cars, it only takes $10 to take a peek at
them. They are truly magnificent machines, but dont touch! Hell,
dont even breathe on them. But if you are so inclined, take a seat in
one specially set aside for public use... and smile: youre on candid
camera! While the Wynn is a departure from the Mirage and Treasure
Island, youll still find a little bit of the Bellagio here. And if
you plan to stick around, try Sugar and Ice over in the Esplanade. It
has a great selection of comfort foods for lunch (and, yes, gelato
too!) Delicious doesnt even begin to describe this little café!
In an attempt to "get out of the city", Rich and I took a little road
trip to nearby Valley of Fire state park, located 50 miles northeast
of Las Vegas. As Nevadas oldest state park, it offers a wealth of
history and intrigue for the casual explorer. Many come for the red
sandstone formations that give the area its name, but did you know
that the area was once inhabited in prehistoric times? The ancient
Pueblos (the Anasazi) once called Valley of Fire home, which youll
find evidence of all around. Including, but not limited too their rock
art, which you can view at various pull offs and locations within.
Its a great little day trip to make, and quite picturesque if you
like desert locales. Consequently, Valley of Fire state park is often
used by the Motion Picture industry. Captain Kirk fell to his death
here in Star Trek: Generations and Autobots were seen driving along
roadways in Michael Bays Transformers film. For a Cirque du Soleil
connection, programme photos of Mystères characters were shot here
and its a location where huge cast parties are sometimes held.
Back in town, Madame Tussauds at the Venetian is a cool way to spend
an hour or so. At this museum, you can wax poetically with your
favorite celebrities, including: the Rat Pack, Diana Ross, Cher, Elton
John, Elvis, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland, Liberace,
Pavarotti, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Wayne Newton,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, The Rock, Humphrey
Bogart, Hugh Hefner, Jenna Jameson, Patrick Stewart, The Blue Man
Group, Sean Connery, Harrison Ford (as Indiana Jones), Buzz Aldrin,
Neil Armstrong, and Siegfried & Roy, amongst many, many others. And
unlike many other museums where their hands-off policy is strictly
enforced, here youre encouraged to browse, touch and get involved in
the scenes. Madame Tussauds at the Venetian truly is a unique Las
Vegas attraction.
Looking for something a little more controversial? Try BODIES, the
Exhibition at the Luxor if you canstomach it. Rich and I were given
free tickets to the presentation due to the BELIEVE schedule debacle,
and although Rich chose not to use his, I couldnt resist - Id always
wanted to see what this was like! For the uninitiated, BODIES
showcases dissected human bodies and its multiple systems in various
ways preserved through a special polymer process that prevents decay.
These are real human specimens, not fakes, which convey the
controversial nature of this exhibit; but its fascinating! Youll not
only learn about, but see our skeletal system, muscular, nervous and
circulatory systems; digestive, respiratory and urinary systems; and,
yes, the reproductive system (including fetal development in its
various phases). Through successive rooms youll find specimens
arranged performing various activities (such as basketball, tennis,
discus throwing, running, and the like), intestines stretched out from
end to end, skulls and skeletons showcasing various medical procedures,
the polluted lungs of a smoker, the brain and various arteries and
veins. It really is an enthralling display.
And last but not least, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit over at
Tropicana offers an interesting experience for those who are fans of
the ill-fated ship and its journey. There are more than 300 authentic
artifacts on display that have been brought up to sea level from the
Titanic herself. Youll have to traverse a huge portion of the casino
and the hotel to get to it, and Jack and Rose wont be there to greet
you upon arrival, but you can see a 1st class cabin, check out a re-
creation of the Boiler Room, see sections of the ships hull, and go
out on deck the evening of the infamous iceberg strike. For a personal
connection, youre handed a boarding pass with a passengers name on
it that matches your birthday.
Of course, we attended Cirque du Soleil shows as well.
Rich and I had an interesting time over at Zumanity. Neither one of us
could get into Eddie, the shows newest emcee. Eddie took over the
role from phenom Joey Arias earlier this year replacing Joeys raw and
sometimes flamboyantly raunchy dialogue with a more toned-down, baby-
doll-esque discourse. While definiately adequate, I must say theres
no one who can replace Joey Arias in that role. The show itself was
luke-warm at best. Most of the acts were found within and generally
enjoyable; however, Aerial Tissue with Alan and Olga (one of my
favorites) did not perform, it was replaced by Roue Cyr instead. Jonas
Woolverton is the new Cyr Wheel artist and came to Cirque du Soleil
from Cirque Eloize. From what I understand (although Ive not seen the
production), Jonas performed the number in Eloizes "Rain" production.
overall we left Zumanity a little limp.
At "O", we had excellent seats three rows from the front, just on the
left-hand side, but were amidst a chatty group of people, which
ultimately detracted from our enjoyment of the show. KÀ was dark,
unfortunately, so we couldnt share in the rescue of the twins, but
LOVE was on. Regrettably a technical glitch with the rollerblade set
automation stopped the show (Help! I need somebody!). The cast took it
in stride (as did the audience) but the sudden break was so jarring
that I could no longer turn on, tune in, and drop out. The show went
on after about 15 minutes, but the mood was forever spoiled.
Over at Mystère something wonderful happened. After so many years of
watching others get the opportunity to be placed front and center at a
Cirque du Soleil show, I finally got my 15 minutes of fame. There are
some within our special group of friends who can lay the same claim,
some who have been at the mercy of the Generics in Quidam, or taken
hostage by the Les Cons in La Nouba, or even subjected to the
pickpocket in Koozå. My friend Rich had this very same honor not but
two years previous (almost to the day). He had the dubious honor of
claiming 6057, but 6992 was mine - tonight I became an honorary
inductee; an official member of... "THE POPPA CLUB!" And it was an
experience I will forever cherish.
Besides becoming Papa for the evening, our experiences with Cirque du
Soleil at the Luxor were equally exciting, if you can BELIEVE that.
For hanging on the outside of the pyramid was a ginormous banner
advertising Criss Angel BELIEVE at the hotel and we just had to have a
picture, or two, or twelve!
Spotting it from our rental car while driving down the Strip was our
first introduction to the huge banner, and in hindsight we probably
should have just pulled over at that moment and taken some shots then,
but as the rules that govern hindsight go, you dont realize that
until much, much later. Rather we came upon the bright idea of
capturing a picture or two of the huge banner upon visiting the Luxor;
however, one of the problems with photographing something that is
unusually large is that its really huge up close. So our first idea
was to snap the photo from outside by the obelisk - that was far
enough away to get most of the hotel in the cameras frame.
Or so we thought.
In order to get better shots of the banner (which included all of the
pyramid, the sphinx and the obelisk), we needed to get even further
back - but the sidewalk was as far as we could go. Not to be deterred,
we wondered then, could we get across the street somehow? Upon first
glance though there werent any traffic lights or cross-walks within
easy reach or at least not ones we wanted to walk a half-mile down to
just to cross, so what to do?
"Do you think we can make a run for it?"
Can you imagine us sprinting across Las Vegas Boulevard just to get a
picture? Sure, why not; we did! And in the process I learned something
about Vegas I didnt know, but should have figured: did you know the
grass in the median is not real grass, but Astroturf? Oh yeah! And our
pictures turned out great!
Celebri! ICN: "Viva LAlegría!"
===============================
WHERE: Seoul, South Korea
WHAT: Cirque du Soleil's Alegría
WHEN: Sunday, November 16th, 2008 @ 7:00pm
As co-organizers of CirqueCon we knew that Tokyo would be the
destination of choice for our 2008 event, since we also knew of Cirque
du Soleils scheduled premiere of ZED that year. But what Rich and I
didnt know at the time was how close another famous Cirque du Soleil
show would be to Tokyo so when we learned that Alegría would set up
stakes in nearby Seoul, South Korea we knew exactly what our next
Celebri would be!
After a wonderful, if not tiring, expedition in Japan that took Rich
and me from Tokyo to Kyoto, Osaka, Koyasan, Uji, Nagoya, Inuyama,
Matsumoto, and Nagoya and back to Tokyo, we left Tokyo bound for Seoul
on the 9:20am Korean Air flight touching down in Seoul-Incheon around
Noon the afternoon of Sunday, November 16th. Walking into Seoul-
Incheon International airport was like walking into EPCOT itself -
this airport was truly a wonder to behold. From there it was an hour
ride into Seoul proper on the ultra-new (and ultra-clean) AREX train.
And after a jaunt through the efficient Seoul subway, we arrived at
Hongik University station, our home for the night.
Keeping with a true travelers spirit we opted for a backpackers
guest house near central Seoul - LEE & NO (www.lnguesthouse.com). Lee
& No is run by a family who are also long-time travelers and they have
graciously opened their residence to us and other visitors over the
years. As nice as that sounds (and as adequate as the house ultimately
was), we were taken aback by the note left for travelers on how to get
past their gate security (I mean, who leaves a note telling passersby
what the code is?). Once settled, Rich and I turned round and headed
out to hit the town to see a few sights. Unfortunately here we ran
into a few hiccups.
Dont attempt the Seoul Tower unless you know exactly what youre
doing.
Namsan Seoul Tower is probably what most travelers think of when they
ponder the citys attractions. And how could you miss it? It measures
777-feet (236-meters) high and rises 1574-feet (479-meters) above sea
level. Perched atop Mt. Namesan in the middle of town, it calls as one
of the best observatories in the entire city (although it is by no
means the only one). Built in 1969, and opened to the public 11 years
later, N Seoul Tower features gift shops, restaurants and an
unparalleled view of every dong (re: neighborhood) in Seoul.
Unfortunately because we didnt know what we were doing, we popped out
of the subway at the wrong station and took a taxi ride up. And boy
was that a ride! Around and around the tower we spiraled before we
even began the journey up the tree-lined roadway! Little did we know
that a cable-car, taken from near the Meyong-dong station (on line 4)
would take us directly to the tower? Because of our short-sidedness,
we only got to spend a few rushed minutes here, but the view was
spectacular!
Getting the taxi driver to understand "Sports Complex" for the ride
down, though, was a little more complicated. And not only that, the
Jamsil Sports Complex was clear across town and we were about to brave
the roads in the middle of rush hour traffic. Would we get there in
time? Rounding the corner of the Sport Complex found the white spires
of Alegría big top thrusting ever skyward. The grounds were eerily
dark and quiet - patrons had not yet begun to arrive (and little did
we know at that point attendance for the show would only be about 25%)
but we found Heather & Jim already waiting for us there. And we were
right on time. Fancy that!
Like a bolt out of life, Alegría thunders into being with an
unsociable need to tell its story. It is a story born of the desire
for a better world. A stage is set where old age and youth collide,
where fantasy and magic are integral parts of everyday life. Alegría,
the Spanish word for "joy", "elation, "jubilation", and "happiness",
is a celebration of life in its most primitive form: survival.
Uncertainty surrounds us all in every day life. It's a "world of
contrasts - power and powerlessness, cruelty and kindness." In our
world evil and hardship remain a constant force, but through this
uncertainty is the glow of the human spirit. It is unconquerable,
resolute in its strength. Alegría celebrates this strength by crying
out for change, to shake the foundations of society and force those
who control to see the error in their ways -- to change. So that
together we, as a unified people, can build a better tomorrow.
Settling into our seats in section 200, Row I, the group of us watched
intently as Little Tamir took to the stage. His warnings about not
using flash photography or cell phones during the show were well met,
although he did incite a chuckle out of the audience with his attempt
to welcome the group in their native Korean tongue (I guess he
misspoke), and just as quickly as he shuffled on stage, he was gone,
replaced with three clowns, a bright, white light and the wonderful
sounds of Alegría.
And from the very start we received few thrills through exposure to
the shows back-up and alternate acts.
Solo Trapeze took the place of Duo Trapeze and I must say I prefer
Solo to the normal Duo performance; Stephanie Gasparoli twisted about
the trapeze bar like Ive not seen in ages -- truly a technically
strong and visually exciting performance! Trapeze was followed by Fast
Track, which was just as poignant as ever, even with a quarter-full
big top. Fire Dance followed FastTrack and I was pleased to see that
both men (Malli Mafakigi Sumeo and Karl Sanft) came out to give all
they could. Hoops/Manipulation was canceled and in its place stood
Denys Tolstovs amazing Hand-balancing act. Both elegant and strong,
Denys uses his incredible upper body strength to hold figures and
poses on canes of various heights (one is at least a meter or more
tall!). And youll be amazed when you see him jump down from one to
the next using only his hands. Strong Man was also absent from our
performance, replaced by a young artist who normally performs in the
Russian Bars number. It is said he wished to create his own act and
thus learned the art of juggling; however, either by nature of the
audience or the number of mistakes made, I was not overly impressed.
And, of course, the Snowstorm closed out Act One.
Act Two was sadly devoid of Flying Man (either Aleksandr Dobrynins
famous number or Aerial Cube, which was performed as an act-in-
rotation for Alegría 2 in Japan); after Danse Vazoule the show went
immediately into Russian bars, which itself was a very short
presentation. Im not sure what choreography the artists were using
but it was neither the latest nor the first (as seen on the DVD). Only
a few tricks here and then they were off - I was quite disappointed,
as Russian Bars is one of my favorite performances from Alegría!
Ulziibuyan Mergen and Oyun-Erdene Senge saved the moment with their
slow, fluid movements. Contortionists both; it had been such a long
time since I had witnessed both performers I had forgotten how
beautiful an act it was - duality truly in motion. High Bar closed out
the show as usual.
While I cant speak for my traveling companions, overall Id give this
performance of Alegría a 3.5 out of 5. There were some bright spots
within (such as Solo Trapeze, Hand-Balancing, Fire/Knife Dance and
Contortion) but otherwise the absences were greatly missed.
Seoul is very much the international destination it packages itself to
be. Getting around the city is as easy here as it is in Tokyo, London,
Paris or any other hugely international destination. Its subway
announcements are in Korean, Chinese, Japanese and English, which
makes getting lost in Seoul a very difficult proposition.
Unfortunately our time in Seoul was just under 24 hours, and by the
wee hours of the following morning, Rich and I concluded our last
Celebri of 2008 and were on our way back to the United States. Id
like to return to Seoul again someday, though, to take on the city at
a little slower pace.
# # #
Celebri! is a coming together of family and friends to celebrate our
friendship and Cirque du Soleil in various parts of the world. We
desire to ensnare the jubilant, ecstatic, and euphoric feelings that
well up inside each avid Cirque fan and nurture that festivity into a
joyous and wonderful occasion with friends and fellow fans alike.
Through these first five events we've had a chance to meet and be with
great people who have become fast friends - folks we could call family.
And while we don't always see them at every event we hold, they're
always with us in spirit.
If you've enjoyed what you've read about Celebri, we'd love to have
you at our next adventure. We announce the city and our timetable and
all that's required is for you to set your itinerary and join us.
There are no sign-up fees, no restrictions and no limits on fun!
Upcoming Celebri!:
Celebri!: YUL - "À l'Aventure en Montréal"
==========================================
WHERE: Montréal, Quebec (CAN)
WHAT: Koozå (NYC) & Cirque 2009 (Montréal)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 22nd to Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Join us in the beautiful city of Montréal to witness the premiere of
Cirque du Soleil's latest touring production, tentatively titled
"Cirque 2009"! Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Cirque du Soleil at
their newest show with the hometown crowd! But first, journey with us
to the Big Apple as we take in Koozå under the Grand Chapiteau, at New
York City's Randall's Island Park and Lion King on Broadway!
SEE YOU THERE!
WWW.CELEBRI.ORG
joinus@celebri.org
-------------------------------------------------------
"This YEAR in Cirque History"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Issue Exclusive}
-------------------------------------------------------
Each issue, Fascination! publishes a column detailing points of
historical interest inherent to Cirque du Soleil. We've been doing so
since our very first issue back in September 2001, updating the
listing each month as we republish month after month, year after year.
While we continue this tradition this issue with the "This Month in
Cirque History" for November and December, we thought it would be fun
to recap the entire year of 2008 in this way.
This is by no means a comprehensive list (and if you think there's
something to add please let us know!), but a brief run down of Cirque
du Soleil this year. Enjoy!
[January]
* Jan.03.2008 -- Saltimbanco Arena opened Quebec, QC
* Jan.06.2008 -- Varekai opened London, UK
* Jan.16.2008 -- Saltimbanco Arena opened Chicoutimi, QC
* Jan.17.2008 -- Quidam opened Monterrey, Mexico
* Jan.20.2008 -- Corteo celebrated 1,000th performance [San Diego, CA]
* Jan.25.2008 -- Dralion opened Tokyo
* Jan.29.2008 -- Saltimbanco Arena opened Cleveland, OH
* Jan.31.2008 -- Koozå opened San Jose, CA
[February]
* Feb.01.2008 -- Delirium opened Oberhausen, Germany
* Feb.01.2008 -- Announcement that Delirium will fold in London, UK
(April 2008)
* Feb.05.2008 -- Delirium opened Hanover, Germany
* Feb.07.2008 -- Alegria opened Sao Paulo
* Feb.10.2008 -- Delirium opened Bremen, Germany
* Feb.10.2008 -- Cirque du Soleil performs "A Day in the Life" from The
Beatles/Cirque du Soleil LOVE at the Mirage at Grammy's.
* Feb.10.2008 -- Cirque du Soleil wins 2 Grammy's for LOVE album.
- "Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture,
Television or other Visual Medium"
- "Best Surround Sound Album"
* Feb.13.2008 -- Delirium opened Stockholm, Sweden
* Feb.16.2008 -- Delirium opened Turku, Finland
* Feb.20.2008 -- Saltimbanco Arena opened Memphis, TN
* Feb.25.2008 -- Delirium opened Zurich, Germany
* Feb.26.2008 -- Saltimbanco Arena opened Charlottesville, VA
* Feb.27.2008 -- Quidam opened Veracrux, Mexico
* Feb.29.2008 -- Varekai opened Amsterdam
* Feb.29.2008 -- Delirium opened Budapest, Hungary
[March]
* Mar.01.2008 -- Corteo opened San Diego, California
[April]
* Apr.01.2008 -- Koozå opened Hartford, CT
* Apr.15.2008 -- APM Music Launches New Film Trailer
Library with Cirque du Soleil Composers
* Apr.17.2008 -- Name of "Cirque Luxor" Announced - "Criss Angel: BELIEVE"
* Apr.20.2008 -- DELIRIUM's final curtain call [London, UK]
* Apr.20.2008 -- Quidam opened Lisbon, Portugal
* Apr.23.2008 -- Dralion opened Fukuoka, Japan
* Apr.24.2008 -- Corteo opened Seattle, Washington
* Apr.26.2008 -- Artisans de I'maginarie: The World of Cirque du Soleil is
staged in Omotesando Hills, Tokyo
[May]
* May.08.2008 -- Koozå opened Philadelphia, PA
* May.09.2008 -- Koozå CD unofficially Available
* May.15.2008 -- Alegría opened Porto Alegre, Brazil
* May.29.2008 -- Name of "Cirque Macao 2008" Announced - "ZAIA"
[June]
* Jun.03.2008 -- Name of of "Cirque Tokyo 2008" Announced - "ZED"
* Jun.04.2008 -- Cirque Partners with YuuZoo, Online Video Sharing Website
* Jun.05.2008 -- Quidam opened Màlaga, Spain
* Jun.05.2008 -- Varekai opened Berlin, Germany
* Jun.12.2008 -- Corteo opened Vancouver, BC, Canada
* Jun.19.2008 -- La Nouba celebrated 4500th performance [Thursday, 6:00pm]
* Jun.20.2008 -- Alegría opened Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Jun.24.2008 -- Koozå CD Released US/Canada
* Jun.26.2008 -- Koozå opened Chicago, IL
* Jun.30.2008 -- BELIEVE officially delayed (#1)
[July]
* Jul.06.2008 -- René Dupéré named "Chevalier" in the Order de la Pléiade
* Jul.11.2008 -- LOVE celebrated 1000th performance [Friday]
* Jul.17.2008 -- Dralion opened Sydney, Australia
* Jul.24.2008 -- Quidam opened Alicante, Spain
* Jul.31.2008 -- Corteo opened Calgary, AB, Canada
* Jul.31.2008 -- Varekai opened Oberhausen
[August]
* Aug.06.2008 -- Nakeel of Dubai purchases 20% Stake in Cirque
* Aug.08.2008 -- Alegría opened Santiago
* Aug.08.2008 -- Koozå celebrated 500th Performance [Fri, 4:00pm/Chicago]
* Aug.14.2008 -- Alegría opened Santiago, Chile
* Aug.20.2008 -- DELIRIUM premieres on Digital Theater Screens
[September]
* Sep.04.2008 -- Koozå opened Boston
* Sep.16.2008 -- Corteo opened Ottawa
* Sep.24.2008 -- Cirque2009 tickets go on sale!
* Sep.25.2008 -- Varekai opened Vienna, Austria
[October]
* Oct.01.2008 -- ZED Gala Premiere in Tokyo
* Oct.15.2008 -- Alegría opened Seoul, South Korea
* Oct.19.2008 -- Guy Laliberte awarded honorary doctorate by
Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec
* Oct.20.2008 -- "All Together Now" Documentary screened in theaters
* Oct.21.2008 -- "All Together Now" Documentary released on DVD
* Oct.30.2008 -- Koozå opened Washington, DC.
* Oct.30.2008 -- Quidam opened Brussels, Belgium
* Oct.31.2008 -- BELIEVE gala premiere in Las Vegas
[November]
* Nov.13.2008 -- Corteo opened Miami
* Nov.20.2008 -- Varekai opened Madrid
* Nov.21.2008 -- ZED Celebrated 100th Performance
[December]
* Dec.02.2008 -- Cirque announces Russian expansion
* Dec.15.2008 -- MGM/Mirage announces sale of TI, home of Mystère
* Dec.16.2008 -- Guy Laliberté invests in Prestige Telecom, Inc
* Dec.23.2008 -- La Nouba quietly celebrates 10th Anniversary
-------------------------------------------------------
LA PRESSE: "BELIEVE - THE REVIEWS" [EXPANDED]
A Special Collection of Reviews in the Press
-------------------------------------------------------
The reviews are coming in for Cirque du Soleil's latest collaboration
- Criss Angel BELIEVE - and, as expected, they are not good:
"Believe it; Angel's new show mars 'Cirque' legacy"
From: UNLV The Rebel Yell
---------------------------------------------------
Lack of magic, too many bunnies make Believe painful mess.
Anybody who has attended a high school or college party knows that if
theres one person to avoid, its the guy who gets overly excited and
jumps around saying, This is going to get nuts!
The enthusiasm of this guy always masks insecurity and is typically
fueled by booze and bad pick up lines. He was the sole reason I
stopped partaking in these extracurricular activities.
Only a precious few minutes into Criss Angels Believe, the rock
star magician began bounding down the aisles, slapping hands with
audience members and screaming, This is going to be nuts! Its about
to get crazy!
This was the moment I knew the audience was doomed.
Believe never got crazy; it never got nuts. The Cirque du Soleil
show never got its feet off the ground, which is ironic considering
the fact that Criss Angel is a magician who once levitated in the
Luxor beam.
For a magic show, there was frighteningly little magic. This makes
sense for a magician primarily known for over-the-top, obviously post-
production ridden television performances. Still, youd expect more
from an established magician.
For a Cirque show, there were only glimpses of the power, elegance and
beauty found in the chains established shows. It never materialized
into anything worthwhile. An adorable rabbits head (as opposed to the
shows abundance of evil rabbits) rolling over to do a dance on its
ears was cute and reminiscent of other Cirque shows. The makeshift
garden with flowers falling from the sky and twirling dancers was
beautifully staged, but only five minutes of the 98-minute running
time.
The vast majority of the show, however, was a complete waste of time
and money. The completely pointless dance numbers, involving dancing
with dismembered limbs and giant moles, were better suited for the
opening sequences of So You Think You Can Dance? than a show on the
Vegas Strip.
Then, there was Angel.
First, he promoted his A&E television show Mindfreak, and paraded
through the audience talking about visions received in his dressing
room. Laughable, but expected. The moment you wish Angel would stop
with the infomercial, he does. Suddenly, the show becomes a mindtrip
into the mindfreaks subconscious which is, perhaps not
surprisingly, filled with bunnies and women fighting over him.
Angel is essentially playing himself, but his acting is as terrible.
(Plus, his Long Island accent is unbearable.) The illusionist isnt at
ease on stage, which is unacceptable because magic is best performed
in front of live audiences.
With no stage presence whatsoever, audiences are left to wonder why
Angel was needed at all. After all, unlike the Broadway-turned-Strip
musicals, Cirque shows dont need a headliner to fill seats.
Angel running around stage (too often without his shirt on) seemed
like a futile attempt to give audiences members a theme where there
wasnt one. If not that, then it was an equally-futile attempt to
justify the paycheck Angel is receiving. Cirque shows dont need a
theme; if anything the incongruity is a selling point of these shows.
In a market where hilarious shows like The Producers and Avenue Q
cannot find a permanent home, if Believe lasts longer than three
months, it will be the biggest travesty to ever hit Las Vegas.
"Magic Missing in Cirque show"
From: The Toronto Star
------------------------------------------
Not all marriages, alas, are made in heaven.
Despite the fact that both partners have great appeal on their own,
the partnership of a Long Island Goth and a Montreal sophisticate that
was unveiled at the Luxor Hotel on Halloween night is going to need a
lot of work if it's to emerge as the successful union that everyone
hoped for.
The show is called Criss Angel BeLIEve and it combines the wildly
popular illusionist with the even more beloved Cirque du Soleil,
marking the sixth show that Cirque has on display in Sin City, with
the longest running one, Mystere, about to celebrate its 15th
anniversary next month.
But ever since BeLIEve started previews in September and postponed its
opening, the word on the Strip was that the show was in trouble.
A lot of changes have supposedly been made to it in the interim and
what's finally onstage is certainly not a disgrace.
In fact, large sections of it work very well, redeeming Guy
Laliberté's initial impulse to match up Criss Angel with Cirque. But
there are problems still to be solved.
It all begins almost as if Angel was doing one of his typical shows,
only in a Cirque setting. Then a near-death experience during one of
the illusions sends Angel into a dark fantasyland, kind of like The
Wizard of Oz with Alice Cooper replacing Judy Garland.
Surrealistic rabbits run rampant, Angel levitates and director Serge
Denoncourt weaves visual magic within a world of lush red velvet
drapes and spectral black presences.
By the time we reach a nightmarish wedding sequence where two sides of
femininity fight for possession of Angel and he literally rips himself
in half, it's all working in a way that fulfills whatever dreams you
may have had for the show.
It's just that it takes a long while to get there.
Part of the trouble is that Angel loves to talk to his fans; it's part
of his charm. But Cirque shows are usually wordless. This causes a
curious disconnect off the very top that we never really recover from.
Angel is all openness, sharing his thoughts and feelings freely;
Cirque is about leaving things opaque and making us stare with added
intensity to discover their true nature.
This isn't to say that either party is really at fault here. Some of
the illusions that Angel comes up with are indeed spectacular and
they're given added resonance by being part of the ebony-hued fable
that Cirque is spinning.
And a lot of the images Denoncourt has designed for the surrounding
performers are breathtaking in their depth. It's just that they don't
always go together.
Many of the newspaper critics have been unduly harsh to the show,
almost as if they were taking out a personal vendetta against Angel
for his past successes, or on Cirque for working with an established
star. The public doesn't seem to care about that, however, and the
advance sales are among the strongest in Cirque's Vegas history.
There is also a history of Cirque shows that stumbled when they first
opened (like Zumanity) righting themselves after a few months in front
of an audience.
One feels that will be the destiny of BeLIEve. Angel is too canny a
showman and the Cirque team too skilful to leave something up that
doesn't dazzle. My advice is to wait and let the Angel fans fill the
theatre while the show works out its problems. Then go see it. When
BeLIEve works, even now, it's impressive enough that you wait in
anticipation for it to reach its final form.
"Criss Angel, in a word: unbelievable"
From: The LA Times
------------------------------------------
If Criss Angel were blindfolded, straitjacketed, run over by a
steamroller, locked in a steel box and dumped from a helicopter into
the Pacific Ocean, he still might be easier to salvage from disaster
than "Criss Angel: Believe," the gloomy, gothic muddle of a show that
officially lurched into being on Halloween night like some patched-
together Frankenstein's monster.
The multimillion-dollar production, which its backers hope will play
at the Luxor casino until sometime around election day 2028, is
nominally a collaboration by Angel, ne Christopher Nicholas
Sarantakos, the talented illusionist and star of A&E's "Criss Angel
Mindfreak," and Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based franchisers of
whimsical, breathtakingly acrobatic entertainments.
Yet "Believe" suggests less an artistic marriage made in accounting
heaven than a shotgun wedding of clashing sensibilities in which the
shotgun messily discharges en route to the altar. Indeed, the smeared
blood and entrails are piled high and deep throughout "Believe," the
most death-obsessed show to emerge from Sin City since "CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation."
Keeping faith with the Las Vegas adage that nothing succeeds like
overkill, the production opens with a video montage of Angel's
greatest hits, immolations, levitations, self-mutilations and assorted
suicidal tendencies. (If you're worried about spoilers or have a weak
stomach, flip now to the comics page.)
Angel then materializes in torn jeans and a dark pullover, and warms
up the audience with a bit of banter ("I feel your love!") before he
and co-writer/director Serge Denoncourt lay out the show's central
conceit. "Believe's" framing device is that Angel accidentally
receives a 6-million-volt jolt of electricity that fries off most of
his face (a spectacle captured by an ever-present video camera). This
propels him into deep hallucinatory space where our Siegfriedian hero
must confront demons and angels that stalk his imagination.
These include a sinister troupe of dancing rabbits who, in one early
sequence, tear Angel's parboiled "corpse" apart and dance, exultantly
hoisting his severed limbs and torso. In a later scenario Angel gets
sliced in half with an electric blade, his oozing intestines visible
through the smoky atmospherics.
Magic, like the circus, is an inherently dark and cruel art form, so
there's no harm in sprinkling a little S&M titillation around the
edges of the production. After all, people come to Vegas for kinky
thrills and the seductive whiff of make-believe danger.
The problem is that "Believe" doesn't really have the courage of its
most extreme convictions. So it swathes its fearless Grand Guignol
fetishes in an awkward mishmash of themes, metaphors and visual
stratagems. You name it, they try it here: rear-screen projections of
dramatic cloud-swept skies, Middle Eastern dance music, "The Night on
Bald Mountain," giant poppies, whirling dervishes.
Cirque's high technical standards are maintained by the designers,
especially Ray Winkler (sets), Meredith Caron (costumes) and Michael
Curry (props and puppets), but to what end?
Then there are . . . those rabbits, some beautifully stylized, and
others far scarier than anything encountered by Alice in Wonderland or
Grace Slick. Whenever the manic pacing starts to flag, a posse of
clowns in punk-Edwardian drag tumble on stage to mug, break-dance or
shriek high-pitched gibberish.
There's a sequence in which a straitjacketed Angel frees himself while
spinning upside down above the audience and a couple of big, loud
production numbers that play like excerpts from an aging heavy metal
band's reunion tour. But there's little that expresses something
interesting or unique about Angel as an artist, or a person. And while
Cirque's poetic imagery at its best can leave you rubbing your eyes
and holding your breath, spectators here are more likely to find
themselves stifling a yawn or wincing with embarrassment.
None of this would matter as much if Angel had a compelling live-stage
presence. But "Believe" exposes him as a natural-born showman, which
isn't the same as a natural-born entertainer. He lacks comic timing
and ad-libbing ability, falling flat with some very lame erectile
dysfunction jokes. His personality simply disappears for long
stretches of the show.
"Illusion is elusive in Angel's 'Believe'"
From: The Las Vegas Sun
------------------------------------------
No wonder.
That among its many, more obvious failings is the fatal flaw at
the heart of Criss Angel: Believe.
Theres just no wonder in it.
In fact, theres shockingly little magic to be seen in this much-
anticipated Cirque du Soleil spectacle constructed around a celebrity
magician. No shock, no awe, precious little surprise, even.
Cirque throws everything in its considerable arsenal of stage genius
at Angel the expected array of lush, loud music, expert dancers and
aerialists, lavish settings and boundary-breaking special effects, all
intended to amaze.
The single most amazing thing about Believe is that its still so
boring.
For a reported $100 million, Cirque has bought itself its first bona
fide bomb.
Angel, who is signed to a 10-year contract, hasnt managed to make all
that money vanish completely, however. Cirque makes everything look
and sound sumptuous, of course. The 1,600-seat purpose-built theater
at the Luxor makes a promising first impression, with its gilded
rococo proscenium arch and decadently luxe crimson curtains.
After the customary preshow clowning, the show kicks off abruptly with
an intentional false start, a very loud video infomercial for Angels
A&E TV series Mindfreak. And then Angel materializes, descending
slowly from the ceiling in Jesus pose. (Hes been outdone by Cher in
the Big Entrance category).
Angel romps through the audience, shrieking Mindfreak! and Im
tellin you, this is gonna be CRAZY! and I swear to you, this is
just nuts! in his Lawn Guyland accent, slapping hands and accepting
gifts, including lots of stuffed animals and a homemade banner with
ironed-on images of Angels cat Hammy and other significant Angel
icons on a white bed-sheet. (This turns out to be a rather obvious
plant.)
The video run-through of Angels greatest stunts being crushed by a
steamroller, cutting himself in half, etc. serves only to show up
how puny and paltry his stuff looks on stage. Hes got nothing without
postproduction editing.
Believe contains very few of the sort of extreme stunts and
illusions Angel made his name on. At one point, he invokes his beloved
late father, and then taunts death. What youre lookin at is 6
million volts, Angel shouts, and, costumed in skintight reflective
foil, he tosses a baked potato into an enormous, buzzing and hissing
Tesla coil to demonstrate its deadliness.
BOOM! Blackout. Cut to video of Angel, gruesomely burned, one-eyed,
his face bubbling like bacon, being wheeled away on a gurney as actors
scream in horror offstage.
Then Angel and the show plunges into fever dream, an enactment of
Angels interior Inferno.
His delirium involves ascents and descents and births and deaths,
depicted by squads of dancing bunnies and moles. And theres a
continual struggle over his usually shirtless bod between his stage
assistants, Kayala, an angelic ever-receding woman in white and
Crimson, a devouring, demonic black woman.
(Not even going there.)
Angels near-death fantasies are dominated by bunnies (a wink to
rumored girlfriend Holly Madison?). Big bunnies, small bunnies, robot
bunnies and giant puppet bunnies, good bunnies and bad, bad bunnies.
The shows single most memorable image involves a giant severed bunny
head that rolls over and tap dances on its ears.
Theres also a gorgeous scene in which a field of giant red California
poppies gradually gathers, floating down and sprouting up and putting
his demons to sleep. An onstage tornado blew away.
The entire hallucination sequence is a Frankenstein quilt of
undigested chunks of Donnie Darko, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in
Wonderland, and even Pink Floyds Animals album. At one point,
after rising from his gurney, Angel actually says, And you were
there, and you were there and you tried to kill me. And (to the
audience) you were there!
Camp followers the types who relish gems of unintentional badness
like Showgirls and well, Springtime for Hitler are advised to
get tickets soon.
As I said, magic-lovers are shortchanged. We get a remote-writing
trick involving a suspended locked box, a flock of doves that appear
and fly above audience, some piddling flashpaper fire-work, lots of
clever screenplay, with Angel popping in and out of the projected
images, and an enjoyably gory set piece with Angel sawed in half by a
chainsaw-wielding bunny.
All his illusions are obscured by flashing strobes, clouds of fog and
other standard methods of distraction and misdirection. The Fright
Dome Halloween haunted house at Circus Circus employed many of the
same effects, to better result, for $35.
A charmless mook, Angel is a rudimentary stage performer hes barely
believable playing himself. But those who are hoping for an in-person
look at his gleaming tattooed torso will get their moneys worth.
Many of the Cirque set pieces seem familiar by now: Theres a scaled-
down version of the vertical wall-walking from Ka, and the onstage
rock guitarist and drummer, too. A quartet of frantic clowns serve as
Angels bumbling Ushers, and a pair of grotesque living dolls are
tarted up like Victorian prostitutes. Aerialists sport angel wings,
and the squad of dancers is ingeniously costumed as bunnies, rats,
moles and spiny reptiles, although their stiff-legged, copy-Cats
moves suggest seizures in progress.
The music, usually an enchanting, unifying element of Cirque
productions, is a disappointment, a banal, bombastic mishmash of
Carmina Burana melodrama, mix-tape exoticism and mock-rock opera.
The incoherent evening is haunted by a recurring Magritte-like image
of an empty gilded picture frame. And that, finally, is the truest
metaphor for Criss Angel: Believe: a gorgeous golden structure
surrounding a void.
"Luxor throws lavish bash for 'Believe' premiere"
From: The Las Vegas Sun
-------------------------------------------------
While the country is in the midst of an economic downturn, there were
no signs of recession at the Luxor Friday night and Saturday morning
as Cirque du Soleil threw an extravagant party to mark the premiere of
its latest Vegas-based show, Criss Angel Believe.
After investing a reported $100 million in the circus-meets-magic
spectacle, the price tag for the lavish party, which was reportedly
near half a million dollars, is relative pocket change.
Cirque du Soliel threw the lavish poolside bash for the shows star,
cast and crew. More than 3,000 ticketholders who attended the 7 and 10
p.m. showings of Believe also were invited to attend the exclusive
affair. No tickets were sold and no one was admitted without a
commemorative Believe dog tag necklace.
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté was joined by several VIP
guests who walked the Believe black carpet earlier that evening, as
well as members of the Cirque creative team who flew in from Cirque
headquarters in Montreal.
Angel and his date, former Girls Next Door star and Hugh Hefner
playmate Holly Madison, partied side-by-side in the events VIP
section. They were joined by Angels mother, Dimitra, and brothers,
J.D. and Costa, and about a dozen other family members and friends who
flew in from across the country for the gala.
Angels aunt Stella was also there. She is credited with teaching her
nephew his first magic trick at the tender age of 7.
In addition to Angels family members and Mindfreak crew, an
attractive mix of toned and flexible Cirque cast members mixed and
mingled with the crowd as the evening progressed.
As circus performers performed and high-energy music blasted across
the concourse, partiers were treated to an array of amenities.
There were few tricks but more than ample treats on hand for the
Halloween affair. Party-goers were treated with complementary chair
massages, flavored tobacco at a hookah lounge, MAC makeup touch-ups
and imported cigars.
Crimson-colored boxes of chocolates served as party favors, each
filled with gold and silver foil-wrapped milk and dark chocolates
marked Criss Angel Believe.
Several food stations were set up across the pool deck to keep party-
goers fueled and nourished. An array of delicious party nibbles were
available, including melt-in-your-mouth miso-marinated sea bass,
seafood paella and full-size T-bone steaks. Staying true to Cirque du
Soleils French-Canadian roots, bite-sized portions of foie gras and
smoked salmon parfaits also were handed out.
In addition, no sweet tooth was left unsatisfied, thanks to the many
desserts on hand, including chocolate and vanilla milkshakes,
raspberry panecotta, dulce de leche parfaits and traditional circus
fare, such as candy apples and cotton candy.
Several well-stocked open bars made sure no partiers were thirsty, and
ample supplies of Red Bull ensured revelers endured the hours-long
affair until it ended at 4 a.m.
Once the soirée ended, the party moved inside to LAX, where the after-
party was held. Laliberté also hosted a super-exclusive party for his
inner-circle crowd at his Las Vegas home.
Anticipating a long night of merry-making, Believe organizers
earlier had canceled performances Saturday to allow the cast and crew
time to recuperate. The show will resume its twice-a-night, five-days-
a-week schedule on Sunday.
Cirque du Soleil's Criss Angel's BELIEVE
From: Entertainment Today
---------------------------------------------
For anyone in the business of reviewing theatrical productionsor for
anyone attempting to critique anything as illusive and subjective as
the creation of any artformthe most important thing is to maintain a
perpetual sense of wonder for this miraculous evolution of the
decidedly intangible. The ability to enter every situation with a
blank slate is the key, but since most of us crusty old critics spend
several nights a week dissecting everything we see in print for public
consumption, its easy to get a tad jaded and lose that initial sense
of amazement, to somehow gradually compromise our original hushed
respect for the creative process.
Keeping this in mind, the reviews of Cirque du Soleils sixth and
newest permanent Las Vegas extravaganza, Criss Angels Believe, which
opened Halloween night at the sadly un-Egyptifying Luxor Hotel, have
been decidedly mixed. For me, the problem is that most critics have
forgotten to wipe away all those nasty expectations and have failed to
keep that slate clear as though theyve never seen a Cirque du Soleil
production performed before. Guaranteed, if this had been the first
exposure to the continuously stellar work offered by the Cirqueor,
for that matter, a first look at the individual style and signature
talents of Criss Angelthose same writers would have been sufficiently
awestruck.
This must also be the problem for a lot of patrons not in the business
of writing about theatre but instead perhaps, as diehard Cirque du
Soleil fans, think Angels in-your-face style of non-traditional
roughhewn sleight-of-hand gets in the way of the companys lyrical
dreamlike splendor, while the generally rabid Angel fans must equally
feel balletic rabbits and Eric Serras ethereal musical score have
nothing to do with watching their Joe Pesci-voiced rockstar-y Goth-
dripping New Yaawk-bred cult hero let himself be run over by 20-ton
industrial steamrollers. See, again: if no one had any preconceptions
of what to expect, Im convinced no one would be disenchanted with
Believe for a minute.
Angel says Believe is the culmination of a lifelong dream and frankly,
I for one think he should be proud as hell for what he has
accomplished along with the inimitable sanction of the Cirques
unwavering and unrestricted support for the innovative methods its
artists need to create. As Cirque founder and perpetual guide Guy
Laliberte commented at a press conference in the Believe theatre the
afternoon of the productions glittery opening night gala, What weve
concocted together is a blend of the Cirques artistic knowledge with
the mysteries of what is Criss magic.
Dont let anyone tell you different: this is a haunting one-of-a-kind
production that truly defies anyones expectations, even the creators
original concepts, Im sure.
Believe begins with a loud and trendily choppy video montage of scenes
from Angels ultra-popular TV cable series Mindfreak before the often
pleasantly bare-chested star of the show descends from above to
perform a few stock Copperfield-esque audience participation tricks
all perhaps added after comments from the first preview audiences
polled signaled there was too much Cirque and not enough magic.
Soon an accident during a demonstration featuring high voltage
supposedly turns Angel into a bubbling overcooked version of Freddy
Krueger with help from the Cirques longtime make-up designer Nathalie
Gagne, but of course, he aint down yet. This nightly staged tragedy
only allows the guy to pull himself out of his hat and levitate above
the televised gurney racing his smoldering ass (no pun intended) to
the hospital followed by stagehands, EMTs, and news crews. He rises
like the east coast street phoenix that he has become and dramatically
alters from monstrous crispy critter to enter into a bizarrely
otherworldly fantasy journey all his own and that of his director and
Believes co-writer Serge Denoncourt.
Here, Angel wanders off into a gorgeously psychedelic hallucination
inhabited by demonic forest creatures of all shapes, sizes and robotic
functions on a sweepingly dark and grandly atmospheric set by Ray
Winkler. Its suddenly an Alice in Wonderland-inspired world where
rubbery Donnie Darko-clad aerialists from various places in Eastern
Europe so familiar to Cirque audiences soar and dip high above the
stage and the proscenium arch, while duly amazing Michael Curry
puppets, including a giant burned six-sectioned Criss Angel voodoo
doll thats put back together in grandly Guingoled Frankenstein
monster style, romp and evolve. Throughout it all, exceptional
performances by a graceful ensemble of world-class dancers working
under the guidance of master choreographer Wade Robson complete
Believes elegant chimera.
Although opening night had its glitches, particularly when the usual
saw-in-half illusion, which could be so wonderful as updated to
feature dripping tendrils of intestines hanging from Angels two
wriggling halves as though it were from some original movie on the
Sci-Fi Channel, was ruined by the fact that the body parts were
separated and spun around before the chainsaw ever hit the box, Angel
is still continually fascinating in his raucous and rough-edged street
performers ability to make doves appear from satin sleeves and
operates with smooth precision when asked to escape from a
straightjacket suspended Houdini-like over the audiences heads.
As he explores this magnificently peculiar new world, Angel makes
magicthough surprisingly, all fairly standard illusions. There are
hints of pure brilliance here, but also the overall feeling remains
that
well
this show will be absolute dynamite a few months from now
when it cures and ages and grows into something even more individually
spectacular. One of the things still needed in the fine tuning of
Believe is coaching for Angel himself, a guy whos obviously a major,
major player as a showman but not yet someone who has found his sea-
legs as an actor.
Unfortunately, when the magician claims Believes obviously well
rehearsed illusions are spontaneous and unplanned, one cant buy it
for a second. And when hes zapped by into la-la-land by what he
proclaims to be six million volts and the Wizard of Oz-themed story
takes over for the initial live session of magic tricks, suddenly
Angel seems to be a duck out of water. His heavily Lon-gah Island-
tinged accent becomes even more strident, coming off not unlike
classic Tony Curtis pointing out Yondah lies da castle of my fadda
as it lingers and echoes smackdab in middle of the gossamer Victorian
filigree motif that weaves throughout the show.
But I tell you, all Believe needs is an open-minded audience (and
critics) willing to suspend preconceived expectations and a little
judicious seasoning, especially considering how often parts of all the
Cirques permanent Sin City shows transform and mature over time. Add
in that Criss Angel, whose exceptional talents, unstoppable
imagination, and streetwise charisma are the heart and soul of this
showand that hes contracted to headline Believe at the Luxor, which
is also his primary residence, for the next 10 yearsI suspect by the
time this one reaches a milestone anniversary like O and Mystere
have attained, it will have developed into one of Cirque du Soleils
most impressive Vegas efforts to date.
=======================================================================
FROM THE FASCINATION! ARCHIVES
=======================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------
"Taiko - The Heartbeat of Cirque"
By: Ricky Russo - Celebration, Florida (USA)
{Originally Published: Issue #2 - October 2001}
-------------------------------------------------------
When you hear the beat of the Japanese drum what do you hear? Do you
hear centuries-old harmonies calling out to those who will listen? Or,
do you hear the beating of just another drum? What do you feel?
Anything? A longing perhaps? Wonder? Do you even know? Listen... hear
it? No? If not, you're missing out on something very special. Once
your attention has been captured by the Taïko drum, it is hard to turn
away. For that brief moment you will be transported to and from a
realm that is both ancient and modern. You have been given a sense of
order and of chaos. And, you have born witness to an age-old tradition
hundreds of years old. Listen now... feel the rhythm? Feel the power?
Cirque du Soleil harnessed that power and featured it in three of
their productions. It is an instrument hundreds of years old. An
instrument that lies within the religion of a culture just as old. But
did you know that the instrument is not entirely of Japanese descent?
Believed to have been brought to the Japanese islands by the Chinese,
the Japanese people adapted and made the drum more ornate. It was
first used, possibly, on the battlefield and later put in practice to
wake the god of rain in time for the rice planting ceremonies. It has
been used to mark the boundaries of a new village and to keep the
traditional stories of those villages alive. The word Taïko literally
translates into "big or fat drum" in the Japanese language and it has
served its traditional role well. Today, the drum and its varieties
can be heard all across the Japanese Islands and many places from
Australia to Europe, and from North America to the Middle East.
Taïko drums come in all shapes and sizes. They are typically made from
a single hollowed-out piece of wood (a large tree trunk for example),
but can be made from sections of any number of trees. The ends of the
drums are then covered with cow skin - usually from one cow, which is
stretched over the ends of the drum. Once that is complete the drum is
finely tuned -- a painstaking process -- you have a completed drum.
Sizes for these drums range from a tiny six-inch diameter striking end
to a gigantic six-feet surface! One can play these drums in many
positions - sitting down, standing up, or at an angle. To strike the
drum, one uses one or two sticks of various sizes (even large ones
resembling baseball bats!
And each size drum as its own name. For instance, the O-daiko is the
largest drum, the Chu-daiko is a middle-sized drum and the Hirado-
daiko is a flat-barrel drum. But there are many other different names
to choose from. The Taïko discipline has a vast and rich history. And
in that history lays an ocean of great information. Unfortunately,
there is no way to cover it all, and so I must stop here and turn the
focus to Cirque du Soleil's use of this wonderful instrument.
Featured in three productions, Cirque's use of the Taïko drum has been
limited throughout the years. The drum made its first appearance in
the 1992 production of "Saltimbanco". "Saltimbanco" is a show that
celebrates life. Originally created as an antidote to the violent
world around us, this production shows us a new vision of the world,
full of optimism and happiness. For this show, the Taïko drum was used
more traditionally - a single piece, sparingly used and played by
drummer Alain Bergé. You can hear the drum in the song "Kazé". While
its role was limited, one can not mistake the beat the drum makes. It
adds a simple, yet basic tone to the music... a lone heartbeat if you
will...
A heartbeat that is fully explored in the second and most prominent
use of the drum in any of Cirque du Soleil's productions -- "Mystère".
By all accounts, "Mystère" is a mega-production, melded from the
creative minds of Cirque du Soleil president Guy Laliberté and Steve
Wynn -- Mirage Resorts Chairman and CEO at the time. What they gave
birth to is a powerful image of the journey of man. A reflection
back... an age-old tale. A tale of a mountain and a bird. And two
babies crying at two separate points of the universe. The creativity
of these two men, amongst many others, turned a traditional Japanese
instrument -- the Taïko drum -- into a prominently featured apparatus
from which to begin their narrative. During the prologue and epilogue
of each show the Taïko invades the very essence of "Mystère"...
It is of Mystère's drums we'll examine further.
Percussionist Pierre Dubé has the distinction and honor of playing the
Taïko for "Mystère". In preparation for his own journey, Pierre
traveled to Japan to learn the art. His teachers? None other than
Kodo, a magnificent group of forty-two members from Sado Island,
Japan. And they taught him well; so well that he is responsible for
teaching the other artists of the troupe to play. Which, from what I
have been told, isn't always an easy task.
First off, the person must have what is referred to as "the touch".
This is the delicate balance between force and grace. Hit the drum too
softly, and nothing good comes out of it... hit the drum too hard...
and your entire arm can go right through the outer cow-skin covering.
And that is a very costly mistake! (upwards of $10,000 or more!) If an
artist does not take care in how they play the drums, that artist can
find themselves in a bad situation during the middle of a performance.
(And yes, that has happened!)
For the show, we see a flawless routine by Pierre and his students.
The drum we most associate with Mystère is his O-daiko piece. Laying
on its side, the drum is 6 feet long and 8 feet wide and was put
together by Pierre himself along with a friend he found in Japan. As
mentioned earlier, the drums are usually manufactured out of one tree
-- in this case a Japanese Cypress tree. But, the drum was so large
that the one seen in the show was actually constructed out of more
than one tree. When not in use, the O-daiko rests within the theater
ceiling, 75 feet in the air. It is accessed by a catwalk structure (in
place from the very beginning -- which, in fact, the catwalk is an
interesting story into Mystère's beginnings, and its possible failure
the first year).
While Mystère is the show that features the Taïko drum the most, the
third and final place it is used is in the IMAX 3-D movie "Journey of
Man." Its use in the film presented an interesting challenge. The
drums themselves are delicate as they are very finely tuned and are
susceptible to the elements. The sun can damage them and moisture can
cause problems to their striking surfaces. So, the drums used for
"Journey of Man" were made especially for the production. The scene
used for filming the sequence was shot on a set -- the only scene in
the film to do so!
Pierre hand-selected his team of acrobats and performers to be part of
his Kumi-daiko, or grouped drums, team. Many of them are dancers,
acrobats or otherwise non-musicians... but only the best that have
taken to his teachings were able to perform on the big, big screen.
Most of them play the Shime-daiko drums, which is a general term a
rope-tensioned drum. These drums usually have very thin heads and are
relatively small compared to other Taïko drums. The next step up is
the Chu-daiko, which are "Medium Sized Drums", played by two talented
artists.
Two other drums, called Hirado-daiko for "Flat Drum", were manned by
Natasha Hallett, a former Olympian from Canada and Greg Wise, a stunt
man who went on to become one of the Grinch's stunt doubles in the Jim
Carrey production of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Other drummers
in the cast are Maria Akhlatkina, Nathalie Bollinger, Annick Moreau,
Ursula Trpin, Mark Ward and Michelle Wise.
The final drum used on the Journey of Man set is the O-daiko. Pierre
Dubé once again wields his Bachi ("drum sticks") and provides us a
beat for the beginning of our Universal Child's journey. The cavern
itself symbolizes the womb of a mother and the beating of the drums
creates the heartbeat.But, I bet you didn't know the drum itself is
actually... a fake drum! That's right, the O-daiko featured on screen
is actually not an O-daiko at all! The drum had only one side (O-
daiko's, of course, have two) to allow a camera to be placed behind
it...
Unfortunately, the rich history and world of the Taïko drum cannot be
discussed within the confines of this article -- there's just too much
to tell. However, if you are interested in the history and culture
surrounding this great instrument, you find a great online resource
called "Rolling Thunder: The Taïko Resource" at <
http://www.taiko.com/ >. It comes complete with a dictionary, a drum
resource catalog and even a lesson or two on learning how to play. If
you are interested in hearing what Taïko sounds like outside of Cirque
du Soleil, the Sado Island group "Kodo" is recommended. You can reach
them at this address: < http://www.kodo.or.jp/ >.
I wish to thank the generosity and time of Mr. and Mrs. Dubé for their
help with the creation of this article. They've been excellent friends
and my guides. Thank you so much.
=======================================================================
COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
=======================================================================
Fascination! Newsletter Compendium
Volume 8, Number 6 (Issue #62) - Nov/Dec 2008
"Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (c)
2001-2008 Ricky Russo, published by Vortex/RGR Productions, a
subsidiary of Communicore Enterprises. No portion of this newsletter
can be reproduced, published in any form or forum, quoted or
translated without the consent of the "Fascination!
Newsletter." By sending us correspondence, you give us permission
(unless otherwise noted) to use the submission as we see fit, without
remuneration. All submissions become the property of the "Fascination!
Newsletter." "Fascination! Newsletter" is not affiliated in any way
with Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil and all its creations are
Copyright (c) and are registered trademarks (TM) of Cirque du Soleil,
Inc., and Créations Méandres, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No copyright
infringement intended.
{ Jan.09.2009 }
=======================================================================
