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T h e U n o f f i c i a l
C i r q u e d u S o l e i l N e w s l e t t e r
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http://www.CirqueFascination.com
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VOLUME 17, NUMBER 8 August 2017 ISSUE #163
=======================================================================
Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque
du Soleil Newsletter.
* * * NEW SHOW FOR THE LUXOR IN 2019? * * *
Although Blue Man Group is in residence at the Luxor, we're talking
a replacement for Criss Angel here. On Tuesday, July 18th, John
Katsilometes from the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported a rumor that
Cirque du Soleil was planning a new show concept for Luxor in 2019
to replace Mindfreak Live. He reached out to Cirque, who could neither
confirm nor deny the rumor: "Interestingly, and unexpectedly," he said,
"Cirque responded to my inquiry about that show's development by
addressing Criss Angel's status with the company." From company
spokeswoman Ann Paladie: "Cirque du Soleil and Criss Angel have enjoyed
a tremendous partnership together over the last nine years. 'Mindfreak
Live' is a very successful production and it is continuing with our
enthusiastic support." Angel's contract with the hotel ends November 1,
2018. Hmmm...
I wonder if Criss will renew his contract now that he's doing Mindfreak,
rather than a specific Cirque show. I can't imagine the Luxor would want
to lose the show if it's doing well enough. Especially now that Cirque
owns Blue Man Group, who has a show at the Luxor again too. But I'd be
interested in hearing all about a new show for the venue. I just can't
fathom what it could be. I think the failure of Zarakana - if you want
to call it that - suggests that each show in Vegas HAS to be something
unique, and Zarakna - for all its weirdness - just didn't stand out. It
didn't help that Zarkana was being billed as Mystere 2.0, generally
speaking... a show that was more classically acrobatic than, say, "O"
and LOVE and ZUMANITY and KA. So any replacement in my opinion would
have to be a unique concept not tied to any of those. Nothing like LOVE
or ONE. And would have to be different than "O" and KA and Zumanity. I
just don't know what that concept could be. But interesting times are
certainly ahead.
In other Criss Angel news, on Thursday, July 20, 2017, Criss Angel was
honored by Hollywood's Chamber of Commerce with the 2,615th star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was dedicated at 7018 Hollywood
Boulevard next to the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and across
the street from the star of Houdini.
* * * POLSTAR's 2017 MID-YEAR FIGURES ARE IN * * *
The Top 50 Worldwide Tours grossed a combined $1.97 billion that is
just short of last year's record $1.98 billion. The total number of
tickets sold by the Top 50, however, was up 3.5% to a record 23.4
million. That number was driven by a $3.11 or 3.5% drop in the average
ticket price from $87.51 to $84.40. The Top 100 North American Tours
grossed a combined $1.64 billion, which represents an 11% increase
that broke last year's industry record of $1.47 billion. The total
number of tickets sold by the Top 100 was 22.8 million which also
smashed last year's record of 19.8 million. That represents a huge 15%
increase for butts in seats. The average show gross among the Top 100
acts was up nearly 5% to a record $658,600. The average number of
tickets sold per show was also up 706 to a record 9,128. The average
ticket price in North America seems to be moderating, as they were on
our Worldwide chart. The average price of admission to see one of the
Top 100 acts was $72.16. That represents a decline of $2.46 or about
3.3% from last year. The industry record was the $76.20 average set in
2015.
Here's how Cirque's touring shows have done (that have reportable
numbers) thus far in 2017...
World Gross Title AVG Tix AVG Tix Total AVG Cities
Rank in Mil Price Sold Tix Sold Gross / Shows
--------------------------------------------------------------------
22 $32.2 Kurios $88.73 15,273 351,282 $1,355,247 23/182
30 $27.6 Amaluna $80.39 16,329 342,900 $1,312,717 21/162
32 $25.5 Varekai $58.61 20,728 435,298 $1,214,847 21/136
33 $25.5 Luzia $91.31 16,432 279,349 $1,500,511 17/145
37 $24.2 Kooza $82.86 14,578 291,568 $1,207,957 20/156
49 $18.8 Toruk $62.00 27,553 303,083 $1,708,339 11/69
55 $17.4 OVO $60.89 14,281 285,628 $869,575 20/139
--------------------------------------------------------------------
171.2 Million Gross 2,289,108 Tickets Sold
NOTE (*): The first number in the RANK is the show's listing in the
Top 100 North American Tours list; the second is the show's overall
listing in Top 100 World-wide tours.
The volume of data collected by Pollstar continues to soar in 2017. So
far, more than 65 million tickets have been reported sold for a gross
approaching $4 billion. The 22,000 individual box office reports
received in the first half of the year is an increase of more than 3%
as our reporting network continues to expand. The bottom line is the
industry took in more money and sold more tickets than ever before
with a slightly lower ticket price
and that's good for everyone.
Okay, so let's go!
/----------------------------------------------------\
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\----------------------------------------------------/
- Ricky "Richasi" Russo
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CONTENTS
===========
o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings
* La Presse -- General News & Highlights
* Q&A -- Quick Chats & Press Interviews
* CirqueTech -- The Technical Side of Cirque
o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information
* BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau
* Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues
* Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre
o) Outreach -- Updates from Cirque's Social Widgets
* Webseries -- Official Online Featurettes
* Videos -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
o) Fascination! Features
* "Cirque du Soleil, The Blue Men, and The Future"
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
* "We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 4 of 16: Nouvelle Expérience, Part 1 (1990)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) Copyright & Disclaimer
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CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS
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***************************************************************
LA PRESSE -- General News & Highlights
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ICYMI: Blue Man Group Is Bought by Cirque du Soleil,
With Plans to Expand
{Jul.06.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
For almost 30 years, Blue Man Group has pervaded pop culture around
the world with its eclectic, nonverbal percussive performances, zany
lights and comedic movements. (O.K., fine. Dancing.) And of course,
there is the blue body paint from head to toe.
Now, the Blue Men are joining the circus.
Cirque du Soleil, the global performance juggernaut best known for its
acrobatic circus displays, on Thursday announced that it had acquired
Blue Man Productions, with the mutual aim of expanding Blue Man's
reach beyond its five permanent United States shows (in New York,
Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.), a world tour and one
permanent international show (Berlin).
After the acquisition, Blue Man will be able to tap into Cirque's
worldwide access to theaters and marketers. In particular, both
organizations have their eye on China, home to one of the most
powerful and quickly growing entertainment industries in the world.
"We saw the potential for a marketing and distributing powerhouse like
Cirque du Soleil to be able to distribute Blue Man Group and make
their brand better known internationally," said Daniel Lamarre,
Cirque's chief executive, in an interview. Cirque currently has 18
live shows worldwide.
The purchase provided an opportunity for Cirque to diversify its
portfolio after years of financial tumult. In 2015, the company sold a
majority stake to TPG, a private equity firm in Texas.
"The acquisition of Blue Man, for us, is kind of a breakthrough to
make clear to people that Cirque is going from a circus company to
becoming a global leader of entertainment," Mr. Lamarre said.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Mr. Lamarre said
the sale price was in the "tens of millions."
Chris Wink, who founded Blue Man Group in 1991 along with Phil Stanton
and Matt Goldman, said that the idea to sell came about a few years
ago, as the company was looking to gain a foothold in other parts of
the world. China specifically came to mind.
"We started to feel like we needed some help, plus we had some
creative ideas that were beyond our own means," Mr. Wink said in a
phone interview. "We thought of some ways that the Blue Men and their
performances could go on a bigger scale."
It just so happened that for a company looking to find a permanent
home in an entertainment pillar like China (and other large markets),
Cirque was a fit. Along with TPG, the Chinese investment firm Fosun
owns a minority stake in Cirque, and Mr. Lamarre said the circus was
trying to make heavy inroads into China.
Mr. Lamarre said that next week he was headed to China to announce a
seven-city Cirque tour that is to start in October.
Conceptually, China is an ideal destination for Blue Man Group. One of
the biggest challenges facing American productions in China is the
language barrier, an obstacle that doesn't exist for Blue Man's mostly
nonverbal shows.
"I think that to unlock the larger audience in China, it either needs
to be in Chinese or nonverbal," said Marc Routh, the president of
Broadway Asia, a company that produces and distributes tours
throughout Asia. "Blue Man is certainly one of the greatest entrees
into that nonverbal market."
Mr. Routh also said that the demand for theater in China and other
areas of Asia is growing. Over the last several years, Mandarin-
language versions of popular Broadway productions have been visible in
China, including "Into the Woods" and "Mamma Mia!" In 2014, China
announced plans to build a $320 million musical production center near
Beijing. In addition, several theaters have been built around the
country in the last decade, according to Mr. Routh, referring to them
as "mini-Lincoln Centers."
"It's been an explosion," Mr. Routh said.
During the process of finding a prospective partner - "The idea of
letting go of the reins is not an easy one," Mr. Wink said - Cirque
seemed like a match for other reasons. Mr. Wink said there was mutual
admiration, even though the companies were in some ways competing over
the same off-the-wall creative turf. Mr. Lamarre, in a separate
interview, agreed.
"Those guys have been able to develop the type of show that is very
unique," Mr. Lamarre said. "A little bit like Cirque."
Blue Man Group was founded in the 1980s as a sort of response to and
rejection of performance and cultural norms. Cirque du Soleil's
founder, Guy Laliberté, was a fire-eater before creating Cirque in
1984, a show that sprang from cultivating street performers near
Quebec. Both companies feature shows that have been traditionally
nonverbal.
After initially starting with 20 performers, Cirque says it has
expanded to almost 4,000 employees (including 1,300 performers from
roughly 50 countries) and brings in roughly $1 billion in revenue
yearly. Its shows are as varied as they are typically well attended,
with 13 million patrons annually. (It has had its flops over the
years, including the calamitous 2010 run of "Banana Shpeel," at the
Beacon Theater, and "Zarkana," which forgettably ran at Radio City
Music Hall in 2011 and 2012.)
Blue Man Group has achieved a level of pop-culture success that would
have been unthinkable in the 1980s. It reportedly brings in hundreds
of millions of dollars a year, although a spokeswoman declined to
confirm that number.
The group was the subject of a long-running and still oft-quoted story
line in the sitcom "Arrested Development," along with being referred
to in countless other movies and shows. It starred in commercials for
Intel, has been nominated for a Grammy and has even founded a private
school in New York City called the Blue School.
However, Blue Man Group has had its own problems. In 2016, a musical
collaborator since the group's inception, Ian Pai, sued Blue Man for
$150 million, contending that he had been underpaid for decades. A
trial is set to begin in April.
There have been no discussions about combining Cirque and Blue Man
onstage, nor has either side expressed hope for such a collaboration.
"The Blue Man Group will keep its autonomy," Mr. Lamarre said. "We're
not going to mix the Cirque du Soleil brand with the brand of Blue Man
Group."
And as far as the Blue Man team is concerned, its shows won't lose any
of the screwball charm that has attracted more than 35 million viewers
since the troupe's founding.
When Mr. Wink was asked what would change about Blue Man Group going
forward, he was frank: "Hopefully, very little."
{ SOURCE: New York Times | https://goo.gl/51x1Um }
-------------------------------------------------------
La Presse: "Stone, a Stunning Beauty"
{Jul.19.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
{Translated from French via Google Translate}
Expectations were great for this third installment of the Cirque du
Soleil Hommage series at the Cogeco Amphitheater in Trois-Rivières,
with Stone. At the height of the work of Luc Plamondon, the show will
have largely met expectations.
The audience was invited to a magnificent electro-classical-modern
ball, bursting, or even "trash", Wednesday night in Trois-Rivières.
What the production described as a punk-rock baroque opera did not
disappoint the audience, confirming at the same time that the Cirque
du Soleil team is getting more and more comfortable at the Cogeco
Amphitheater and feels more Than ever as at home.
The narrative plot of the Stone show is not only interesting to
follow, it transports us in a whirlwind of emotions, going from
laughter to tears and passing by the unavoidable breath that only
these acrobats can reserve us, on earth or in high-flying.
The musical plot, for its part, is still worth this year alone the
detour to the Amphitheater, with the interpretation reworked by the
musical director Jean-Phi Goncalves, which only confirms its status as
a genius of music.
Works by Plamondon such as SOS of a distressed earthman interpreted by
Ariane Moffatt, or the electrifying Oxygène by Betty Bonifassi are
extraordinary, as is Parc Belmont and the rich voice of Martha
Wainwright, or the blues of the businessman who Takes on a completely
new color with the deep and touching interpretation of Safia Nolin.
Visually, one feels the concern of the team to completely occupy the
space, even when a single acrobat to the hoop will come to make its
number. There is no idle time in this 75-minute show.
The imposing decoration representing this carousel which seems to be
disused and which will accompany until the last note the quest of an
eccentric maestro and his automated muse occupies masterfully space
to accompany the elaborate and clearly well-honed.
The number one in the world is stone completely overturns the public,
with the superb interpretation of Beyries , and a duet of acrobats
with straps of a grace both poetic and sensual that comes to draw us
the tears Until the very end, when a shower of brilliant brilliantly
ends this adaptation that inspired the title of the show.
Visually, numbers like Monopolis , Oxygen and undocumented migrants
are particularly powerful, both in music and the interpretation of
acrobats who have clearly worked with great precision intentions in
acting and comedy.
You can feel it especially in a number like "I dance in my head",
where the duo of men with the Korean board comes to look for the
public in humor in its complicity with the maestro, who tries somehow
to slip through this number Acrobatic that does not succeed at all.
These few points of humor will come alleviate the narrative frame that
one feels sometimes heavier and black, without it being disturbing.
We also had a breath of breath in Lili wanted to go dancing, or in
Tiens-toi ben, I come , with the acrobats in the discipline of
icarians games, with acrobatics that leave us simply speechless.
Let's also bet that Plamondon himself had the tear in his eye for this
one song he had demanded in this show, My mother was still singing.
The audience, initially invited to sing the song in chorus, will later
be transported in a classical and touching waltz that serves well this
great classic, beautifully performed by Marie-Pierre Arthur.
The quest for the automaton muse, although it crosses dark and
sometimes black paintings, will culminate in light with the hymn to
the beauty of the world, for the occasion taken up by Diane Dufresne,
as if it were necessary at the end of The story that the true muse of
Plamondon also regained its true voice at the end of this journey.
There was only Diane Dufresne to symbolically close this show.
CHECK OUT THE PICTURES THAT ACCOMPANY THIS ARTICLE HERE:
< http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=10498 >
AND MORE PICTURES HERE:
< http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=10520 >
{ SOURCE: La Presse }
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koda Auto an Official Partner of Cirque du Soleil
{Jul.21.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
koda Auto, more commonly known as koda, is a Czech automobile
manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement. It is headquartered
in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, and as of now is an official
Partner of Cirque du Soleil.
Skoda is expanding its brand management with a partnership with the
Cirque du Soleil. The Canadian live entertainment company is known for
its shows and performers. More than 180 million viewers have visited
Cirque du Soleil since their founding in 1984. Skoda will in future be
an integral part of the Cirque-du-Soleil promotion in outdoor
advertising, print products, TV commercials and the Internet presence.
The partnership, which was agreed until 2021, also includes large-
scale marketing campaigns as well as special VIP experiences such as
backstage tours, meet-and-greets with the artists and advertising
opportunities directly linked to Las Vegas. There have been the
entertainment specialists for more than 20 years with numerous shows.
{ SOURCE: Skoda Auto }
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STONE: Dazzled by the Immensely Beautiful
{Jul.22.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
{Translated from French via Google Translate}
Few spectacles plunge us into an intimate reflection on what makes up
the immensely beautiful and the greatest. Stone, Cirque du Soleil's
homage to Luc Plamondon, is a masterfully successful work that does
exactly that. She fascinates by her grace and acrobatics magically
arranged to the poetry of the lyricist.
Presented until August 19 at the Cogeco Amphitheater, a jewel of an
open-air room located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and
the St. Lawrence River, the Cirque show plunges the public into a
world A disused Belmont Park, reminiscent of the time of this Montreal
amusement fair with a gigantic metal carousel on stage.
The atmosphere is extremely warm, often dazzling and even erotic,
especially when Dmytro Turkeiv and Iryna Galenchyk (two acrobats of
the show who present twenty-nine artists), In duet straps, are
breathtaking during their number on The world is stone, interpreted
by Beyries.
LYRICS, BUT ALSO MUSIC
----------------------
The lyrics of Luc Plamondon, a giant of Francophone and Quebecois
music, are of course highlighted, but what strikes us even more (not
to mention the potpourri in which one remembers how vast is his
repertoire) is Music of composers, including Michel Berger, who
accompanied the lyricist throughout his career.
Under the direction of Jean-Phi Goncalves, Stone's musical fabric is
an artistic work in itself, making us hope (a message sent here to
Cirque du Soleil) that we can get it quickly.
Some of the greatest voices in Quebec - from Ariane Moffatt to Milk &
Bone, La Bronze, Martha Wainwright, Diane Dufresne, Catherine Major,
Marie-Pierre Arthur, Klô Pelgag and many others - Hui mythical,
updating them in a beautiful way.
When Safia Nolin resonates smoothly to interpret The blues of the
businessman without ever pushing the note, always in restraint, we
find ourselves shivering so much is beautiful. The music, voice and
grace of the acrobat on his cyr wheel, surrounded by dancers, give at
the moment a beautiful mixture of intensity and purity.
BREATHTAKING NUMBERS
--------------------
The creative director of the show, Daniel Fortin, as well as the
director Jean-Guy Legault, are pleased to have created a beautiful
amalgam of circus and dance. In the number played on the song Oxygène
, with the voice of Betty Bonifassi, the artists on stage struggle
vigorously in their white costume, recalling straitjackets. The
intensity of the talk is highlighted.
Then, the numerous acrobatic numbers are well chosen and diversified,
despite the few technical errors committed during the first media on
Wednesday. The two acrobats tossed by two parallel carriers - two men
standing face-to-face on an elevated structure that juggles with
humans - leave us open-mouthed, while Batbold Andryei and Munkhbat
Ganbayar are great in their Icarius game number, where one , Lying on
an elongated "l" shaped bench, rolls the other in the air using his feet.
Too bad that the final number, while four acrobats perched on aerial
bungees , above us, failed to achieve the expected result. Directed by
Gabrielle Shonk, Le monde est fou , and Hymne à la beauté du monde,
with Diane Dufresne, it is impossible to grasp the amazing painting
that unfolds at the same time on stage, All performing artists.
In spite of everything, and it is the strength of this spectacle that
is definitely worth a stopover in Mauricie, poetry transcends us.
There is something inherently beautiful to notice that the thousands
of spectators have their eyes riveted to the sky, while one sings "do
not kill the beauty of the world". As if we too, in concert with the
artists of Stone , implore something divine.
Stone, Tribute to Plamondon is the third show in a series of five ( to
be presented by Cirque du Soleil in his tribute series to the
Amphitheater, after Le monde est fou , pour Beau Pit, and Tout
écartillé , for Robert Charlebois) Cogeco. The show is presented until
19 August.
{ SOURCE: La Presse+ | https://goo.gl/8HEdHw }
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CREACTIVE OPIO: High Flying Above the French Riviera
{Jul.26.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever imagined leaping from a high-in-the-sky platform to
swing through the air on flying trapeze? Of the 155-million-plus fans
worldwide who have experienced a Cirque du Soleil performance, chances
are many of us have indulged that fantasy, if only for a wild second.
A new venture from the circus arts company in partnership with
vacation resort pioneer Club Med makes the dream possible for visitors
and locals in southern France. Part of a 10-million-dollar investment
in Club Med Opio en Provence, the aptly-named CREACTIVE is a 33,000-
square-feet playground where all ages are invited to learn the ropes
of circus feats from Cirque-trained instructors. "We have merged
together our capabilities to create something totally unique," says
Daniel Lamarre, CEO of Cirque du Soleil.
The ambitious project aims to engage an increasingly-important travel
demographic, families and couples seeking vacations plump with active
participation and adventure. Industry leaders worldwide report a
dramatic increase in travelers motivated by being physically engaged
and learning a new skill during vacation. For Club Med, the trend
seems a natural alignment. Since the founding in 1950 by a Belgium
water polo champion, sports and activity have been at the heart of the
resort village vibe.
Will vacation-seekers make the leap from skiing and golf to flying on
trapeze? At the playscape's opening last month, reaction was
enthusiastic. As the state-of-the-art facility and circus
infrastructure was unveiled, a sense of wide-eyed wonder rippled
through the gathered crowd. When a woman asked, "What time does the
show begin?" Club Med's Sabrina Cendral, VP of marketing and digital,
didn't miss the opportunity to accurately frame the experience.
"You are the show," she replied.
DANCE ON WALLS, WALK THE TIGHT ROPE
-----------------------------------
Entering the cirque zone, your eyes may need time to adjust. With 30
artistic and acrobatic experiences offered each week, there is a blur
of activity and color in every direction. Safety is a primary focus
for the multi-national, multi-lingual training staff, who patiently
explain each apparatus and reassuringly point out security ropes and
netting.
In the acrobatic realm, a giant bungee makes forward and back flips
look easy and graceful, somehow even for newbies, and trampoline
tricks become surprisingly complex once a few basics are mastered. You
can test balance and core strength on a tight rope, hovering a few
feet above ground. And, there's a Vertical Wall - my personal favorite
- for dancing and running while dangling from rope. Whichever activity
you choose, expect to be sore in all sorts of places.
Artistically, face-painting and circus makeup are skills with endless
real-life applications (imagine the costume parties). And,
surprisingly the toughest feat of all to master may be the art of
juggling. Pro-tip: don't save this activity for last when arms feel
like noodles.
"It's a strong emotion when families share these experiences," says
Mufraggi. As he speaks, my thoughts once again turn to that
grandmother and how proud she must have felt to do something so daring
and brave as her loved ones watched. It's a moment her family will
surely never forget and a story her grandkids will long tell, "
that
time grandma joined the circus."
TRICKS AND TIPS
---------------
Typically guests spend a week at the resort, giving ample opportunity
to explore different aspects of CREACTIVE and also focus on
rejuvenation and recovery - a spa treatment should always be reward
for such bravery. During summer, kids have run of the playscape during
morning; adults-only in late afternoon.
Different concentrations are featured throughout the week - vertical
wall one day, bungee the following - so be sure to visit multiple
times. For resort guests, activities and instruction are part of all-
inclusive rates. For visitors, day passes are available for $77 -
$132, depending on length of visit and include access to facilities
and activities, plus meals.
As the week draws to a close, trainers stage a demo/mini-performance.
It's a smart move, this end-of-the-week experience. Witnessing the mad
skills and grace of professionals in action, you can't help but laugh
at your own audacity for attempting those feats. It may not have been
graceful, but you were brave and took a leap. And, for the briefest
time, you were the show.
CHECK OUT THE PICTURES THAT ACCOMPANY THIS ARTICLE HERE:
< http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=10533 >
{ SOURCE: Jess Simpson, Paste Magazine | https://goo.gl/EZEqNF }
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'Baz-Star Crossed Love Celebrates Successful 1st year
{Jul.29.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
When it opened in the middle of 2015 at Light Nightclub at Mandalay
Bay, Baz was a bright, fresh, different musical production on the Las
Vegas Strip, trying to make its mark in a tempestuous live
entertainment landscape. Now, as the show celebrates its first
anniversary as Baz Star Crossed Love in a more natural home at the
Palazzo Theatre, its that much closer to making to making that mark.
Vegas has been a wild ride for us, says Shane Scheel, executive
producer and co-creator at For The Record, the Los Angeles-based live
entertainment company behind Baz. Working with the Cirque du Soleil
[team] at Light gave us what we called our Vegas workshop and it was
an incredible experience to put that together, and then to have
everyone at Venetian [and Palazzo] come see it and fall in love with
it and think we can do it even better, that has been a treat for us to
continue to explore the show.
To have it running for a year there is surreal because Vegas is a
wild city to produce in. Theres a lot of competition, and our goal
was create something very different. Every day thats how we think.
For The Records shows called a unique postmodern cabaret by
Vanity Fair celebrate the work of acclaimed and famous film
directors like Quentin Tarantino, John Hughes, Martin Scorsese, and in
Las Vegas, Baz Luhrmann. Baz is centered on the love stories in
Luhrmanns films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby,
set to a modern pop music soundtrack featuring songs like Princes
When Doves Cry and Amy Winehouses Back to Black. The show has
been hailed for universally strong vocal performances from its
ensemble cast and its ability to surround its audience with sound and
action.
When we set out to the Palazzo, we were really able to take the space
and craft it into something that suits the show. Light was a fun
playground but it wasnt built for the show, Scheel says. The
Palazzo Theatre was built for the For The Record experience, to bring
the action off the screen and into peoples laps, and their minds and
hearts, so you can become completely immersed in these films and
stories and, most importantly, the soundtracks.
Coinciding with the anniversary of the show is the return of its
original star, Ruby Lewis, who plays Gatsbys Daisy Buchanan. Lewis,
whos also worked in film and television on Girl Meets World, Masters
of Sex, Desperate Housewives and more, just wrapped a year-long run as
the lead in the Broadway debut of Cirques Paramour, a role that was
born from her work in the first version of Baz.
It sort of fell into my lap due to my connection through Baz with
Cirque du Soleils theatrical [team], Lewis says. (Cirque was
involved with Baz at Light but is not involved with the Palazzo
production.) Paramour was a completely different beast. The artistic
process was totally organic, very different from what I was used to,
which is putting up a show in a couple weeks. We took our time
building the show, and it was my first time on this grand scale where
I got to be such a big part of the process and have so much input.
Building the Paramour character around her strengths was an ideal
situation for Lewis, and she says it changed the way she approaches
her performances now including reprising her role in Baz. Its not
that my performance has been bashful, but as you experience more, it
colors your performance, she says. I feel like Im able to go a
little deeper and that it feels more comfortable in this role for me
now. And Ive really been chomping at the bit after I saw it open [at
Palazzo] and the space is so stunning, and the way the show has been
reimagined is so vibrant and exciting.
Baz has come a long way, Scheel explains, and its because of a
serious commitment from everyone involved.
Weve done shows in so many different kinds of venues, from a bar in
East Hollywood to a 2,000-seat theater at South by Southwest, he
says. We couldnt do Baz without the commitment of so many people,
from designers and actors taking a chance and going out to Vegas, to
everyone from the president of the casino on down to the creative team
[at Palazzo]. Its been very exciting to see how theyve sort of
blended the show into the whole hotel, not just [marketing it] to
guests but envisioning how the show matches the opulence and romance
of the overall experience at the property.
Baz Star Crossed Love performs Tuesdays through Sundays at 7 p.m. in
the Palazzo Theatre. Tickets start at $59.50 and more info can be
found at venetian.com.
{ SOURCE: Brock Radke, Las Vegas Sun | https://goo.gl/LmXQVJ }
***************************************************************
Q&A -- Quick Chats & Press Interviews
***************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------
Q&A w/Angie Swan - Amaluna's Guitarist
{Jul.03.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
For the last year and half, one world-class guitar player who was
raised right here in Milwaukee has returned home after being away for
more than a decade.
Angie Swan has worked as a touring and session musician for will.i.am,
Macy Gray, Fifth Harmony and more. Swan spent three years playing in
the Cirque du Soleil show 'Amaluna,' traveling all over North America.
She has also appeared on 'The Tonight Show,' MTV's 'Rock the Cradle'
and the BET Awards. She is endorsed by Knaggs Guitars and Gibson
Guitars.
A Sherman Park native, Swan attended Milwaukee High School of the Arts
and Berklee College of Music, where some of her classmates included
Esperanza Spalding, Annie Clark (St. Vincent) and Eric Andre.
Swan's college years coincided with the music industry's transition to
the digital age. Her varied career is a reflection of the subsequent
changes in the music business. Since moving back to Milwaukee in late
2015, Swan has accompanied the New Age Narcissism collective and was
in the house band for the 'Wonder Uncovered' show at Turner Hall
Ballroom in April, among other gigs in and out of town.
In December 2016, Swan began hosting a monthly "Funk Night" at the
Jazz Estate, which I attended last week. The evening featured a mix of
originals and covers, the stylistic range reflecting her various
influences. Before the show, Swan was spotted taking photos with her
parents and some of their friends. She cracked jokes throughout the
night, dedicated a song to Seattle, busted out her pipes (because she
was "feeling it"), and even jumped on a chair while playing her ax
behind her head.
Joey Grihalva of 88.9 Radio Milwaukee recently sat down with Swan to
discuss her Milwaukee upbringing, her college days, hanging out with
Courtney Love, auditioning for Prince, traveling with Cirque du
Soleil, getting stranded in India, wearing a Cheesehead in enemy
territory, and more.
MUSIC ROOTS
-----------
My father is a guitar player and a bass player. My mother has always
been a lover of music. Both of my parents have influenced me in
different ways. My mother showed me a video of me playing ukulele when
I was three years old. I took my first guitar lesson when I was about
11-years-old down in Bay View at a place called Crown Music. I took
private lessons every Saturday with a guy named Norb Kaminski, who
just passed away. I was happy to be in town to pay my respects.
I studied music at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. I had the option
of doing classical or jazz, and I studied mostly jazz. I studied
outside of school at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music with Paul
Silbergleit, Mark Davis, Berkeley Fudge and in the summer I was at
music camps at UW-Madison, UW-Green Bay and UW-Steven's Point. Guitar
was the first instrument I was drawn to. I took piano lessons when I
was 5-years-old, then clarinet, but guitar is the one that I stuck
with.
MUSIC MEMORIES
--------------
My father used to play 'Surfing With the Alien' by Joe Satriani. I
don't know what it was about that music, the cover of the album, but
my dad would play it all the time.
My mother would play a lot of Tracy Chapman, Robert Cray, Stevie Ray
Vaughn. The '80s hair band videos on MTV, I thought those were so cool
and I wanted to do that. Jennifer Batten in the Michael Jackson video,
I thought she was so cool.
In middle school, it was Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. I really
liked rock at the time, even Candlebox. I remember the older kids were
listening to Candlebox at the guitar camp at UW-Green Bay and I
thought it was so cool, I think because I like the E minor chord.
I have a little brother named John. I think he's human. He's a comedy
writer, he studied at Second City in Chicago and now he lives in New
York City. He's a DJ too. After I left Milwaukee he was in the No
Requests crew with Jordan Lee, DJ Madhatter, and Tim Zick, who is Kid
Cut Up.
My mom has these videos of our little family bands playing in the
basement. I'd get on drums and John would be on the microphone. He was
always a character, he liked to dress like Pee Wee Herman. He is the
more theatrical one, but I have my goofy days.
MILWAUKEE MEMORIES
------------------
I remember seeing Citizen King and Little Blue Crunchy Things. I think
Milwaukee used to have a lot more all-ages shows, or at least outdoor
festival shows. I'd go with friends, my mother would drop us off and
we'd buy a cassette or a CD from the bands.
One thing I really liked about the venues in Milwaukee when I was
growing up, is that you could go with a parent and bring your
instrument and sit in with the bands. I used to play with my father at
a spot called Boobie's Place, which I think was off Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive.
There was this place called Rory's Cafe, which is now a hair salon. I
used to play there in high school a lot with a couple different bands.
It was a coffee shop, so they didn't serve alcohol and it was all-
ages. I think that was probably the first time I was in a band that
played out in Milwaukee. It was like hip-hop/jam band type stuff.
I played at Caroline's with my own little quartet. I remember being on
stage in braces. Sometimes the Conservatory would put bands together
and do local shows. Milwaukee offered me a lot of opportunities to play.
COLLEGE DAYS
------------
Once I got to Boston the industry started changing. My audition was on
a cassette tape and when I was in college we were recording on mini-
disc players. By the time I got out it was all digital, iTunes had
just started. So there was a big shift, everything just started moving
very fast between those years.
You know, I had this idea of what the music industry was supposed to
be like when I was 18-years-old, but by the time I was 22 it was
completely different. I left school in 2005, Facebook started in 2004.
Napster was just beginning as I was leaving high school, but I didn't
know what that was. Music became more accessible online, it was free,
so that took away money from the music industry. They stopped
investing as much as they used to.
It's funny because the professors had a certain way of seeing how the
industry was, but they were no longer really in the industry, so at
that point they're having to take courses because technology was
pushing everything so quickly.
At Berklee, I think two or three years into me being there they
started a laptop program where they required that everyone have a
laptop. They put it in the tuition and would give you a laptop with
music programs on it because they kind of knew that everything was
shifting to digital.
BERKLEE CLASSMATES
------------------
Esperanza Spalding was there and we used to play in a band together.
Annie Clark who's known as St. Vincent, she was there and we were in a
couple groups together. Eric Andre was there too.
We used to have shows in the cafeteria. I was playing with this band
and Eric kind of crashed our video. You can see him walking behind the
scenes balancing a broom on his chin. But he's a bass player, that's
how I knew him.
MOVING TO LOS ANGELES
---------------------
You have to go out there focused. It's easy to get distracted. I got
distracted a few times. When I first moved out there I just went to
jam sessions, because that was the way to get heard. But you also had
to finagle and finesse your way onstage. I always carried business
cards with me. It took a month or so to meet the right person who
would get you onstage.
I learned a lot about networking at Berklee, so that helped. You have
to know how to speak with people and work with people. It's about
having a positive attitude. You have to weigh out which situations and
opportunities you'd be the best fit for. LA was very competitive, so
you always had to be one step ahead of the game, which was hard for me
at times, but other times it was easier.
FIRST LA GIGS
-------------
First TV show I did was with Britney Spears' husband at the time,
Kevin Federline, I did 'The Tonight Show.' That was about six months
into being in LA. Actually my third day being in LA, Courtney Love
called me. It was out of the blue. This guy gave her my number and she
was looking for someone to play guitar with her while she wrote songs
in a studio.
Her and I sat in a rehearsal hall, she's sitting there chain-smoking
cigarettes, her knee twitching. And she's like, "What's your sign?"
and I'm like, "I'm a Capricorn," and she says, "I'm a Cancer, can't
you tell?" She had a great sense of humor. That only lasted for a few
days. Then I realized LA was like hills and valleys, things come and
go. I had a couple part time jobs just to supplement income at the
time. When jobs would pop up I was really happy. I worked with a lot
of unsigned artists and I'd get small side gigs in between major gigs
or major auditions.
THE PRINCE UNIVERSE
-------------------
I was a huge Prince fan growing up. I was always infatuated with him.
My mother has videos of me singing his songs. In LA, you're surrounded
by those kinds of people, that kind of energy. So it's like six
degrees of separation. And I knew that Prince scouted people.
A couple times I played at jam sessions in LA and people were like,
"Oh, he's here, he's here." You could see him in the background. He
just stares at people. I think I met a couple of people in his band,
because the community is so tight. And then I got scouted by him.
One of his people called me and said, "He wants you to come to
Minneapolis." I'm completely nervous. They buy me a plane ticket and I
fly out there. When the plane lands I turn my phone on and I get a
text saying "RIP Michael."
I flew to Paisley Park the day Michael Jackson died. The world is
devastated at that point, so Prince doesn't want to see anybody.
Myself and the rest of the musicians he's flown out go to a hotel and
just wait 48 hours.
Lonnie Smith was the bass player. The drummer was Cindy Blackman, who
played with Lenny Kravitz, the girl with the afro. So I'm sitting
there just freaking out, because I'm surrounded by my idols and I'm
auditioning for this guy. And we played for a little bit and that's
it.
It was such a short lived trip. They sent us back home. It was such a
devastating time for everyone. That was my closest connection with
Prince. I'll never forget that.
When I was on tour with Cirque we played Minneapolis and since I knew
his band members we went to his pajama party. Doors opened at midnight
and he didn't start playing until four in the morning. I had to be at
work at eleven in the morning, but I had to stay there, I couldn't
miss that.
His musical family is still very tight and his spirit lives on with
everyone that's ever had an encounter with him. He used to have jam
sessions at his home in LA, musicians could just come over and play.
He's like Stevie Wonder, they're just lovers of music. Stevie Wonder
just shows up at random places in LA and just listens. That's an
amazing thing.
A WONDER-FUL SURPRISE
---------------------
Stevie came onstage once when I was playing with Bonnie James. We were
doing a Wonder cover called "Creepin," which was at the San Dimas Jazz
Festival in 2010 or 2011. We're playing this song and then everybody
starts screaming really loud and I turn around and Stevie is being
escorted on stage with his harmonica in hand. So we looped the song,
we played it twice. Again, I'm just sitting there freaking out, saying
to myself, "Alright Angie, don't overplay, don't overplay!"
STAGE FRIGHT
------------
I don't get nervous anymore. There was this time I played with a band
called the Shop Boys and we were playing the BET Awards in 2007 and
within the first ten seconds I broke a guitar string. The night before
I don't know what came in my head, but I was like "If I broke a
string, what would I do? Where would I move my hand on this guitar to
compensate for that?" And then of course the next day I broke a string
and flawlessly went to the next thing, luckily.
I get more nervous in front of small groups of people. It's so much
more intimate, you're so much closer to them. When you're on big
stages and the lights are on you, you don't really feel it. Now I just
get this adrenaline rush, I love to play for people and make eye
contact with people, which I used to not do.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL GIG
--------------------
It was kind of a long process and it was all video auditions because
they are based in Montreal. You'd send in a video and they'd say,
"Alright, send in another one with a close-up. Send your resume.
You're going to have to play different styles of music, plus the music
for the show."
Eventually they invited me. I think it was February 2012. They called
me and said, "Alright, we'd like to hire you, but you need to move to
Montreal in two days." So I'm sitting in my apartment in Los Angeles
in February thinking, "Okay, I have to move everything to Montreal in
two days."
I thought about it for thirty minutes and looked at the contract, made
a couple revisions, then had two going away parties, gave away a bunch
of stuff and put a lot of stuff in storage. The next thing you know
I'm walking through the snow in Montreal in Chuck Taylors and I don't
speak French. I'm just thinking, "What have I done?"
It was kind of like the movie 'A Clockwork Orange.' They put me in
this room and there were lights shining on me and they put this helmet
on my head and measured it. Each costume is custom fit. So they'd sit
and measure my fingers and toes and get a 3D image of my body so they
could make the perfect costume.
It was really weird when I first got there. But it ended up being a
great experience. The show was called 'Amaluna,' which is based on
'Romeo & Juliet' and 'The Tempest.' We toured Canada for the first
year and a half, then we did the U.S.
We did about 8-10 shows a week. The show was two hours long and we
only had Mondays off. We had double shows on some days. The days were
long. We'd work pretty hard in each city for about two to three
months, start making friends, then we'd have to move on. After that,
three years had passed and I knew I was ready to move on, so I chose
to resign when the show went to Europe.
REINVENTING HERSELF
-------------------
After Cirque I moved back to Los Angeles. I'd been gone for three
years, so it was like starting from scratch. Even though I lived in LA
for ten years before that, I had to reestablish myself. People thought
I was still on the road and by this time other generations had come
into LA. That city has such a revolving door, people come and go
constantly. At that point the music industry had been in a decline.
There were way more musicians and way less work. I didn't know what I
was going to do.
I had some friends in France and I decided to use my resume to try to
promote myself as a clinician and start speaking to students. That's
what I did for a few months. One of the friends I was staying with was
a drummer that had a gig in India and needed a guitar player. So I
went there for about a month and then got stuck in a monsoon.
It was the biggest storm in 100 years in Chennai, India. The airport
was completely flooded. I made videos of it and put a little
documentary of it on YouTube. The water had gotten up to the engines
of the planes, so it looked like they were floating. The whole airport
was destroyed. I slept on the floor of the airport for three days.
The embassy called my mother in Milwaukee, so she was freaking out. At
that point I was like, "I think it's time for me to come back to the
States." We had to drive through hours of flooded terrain. I was lucky
enough to make it back home, so I figured I had to stay here for a
while. It put life in perspective.
HOMETOWN PRIDE
--------------
When I lived on the East Coast people thought I was from the West
Coast and when I lived on the West Coast people thought I was from the
East Coast, but I was always proud to say I'm from the Midwest.
I actually had a Cheesehead when I was on tour with Cirque du Soleil
and during football season I would wear it. I remember in San
Francisco when the 49ers beat the Packers I was walking around with
the Zumba green and gold pants, my Cheesehead and people were just
screaming at me. Then you get non-Americans who see this piece of
cheese on my head who don't understand and I'm like, "Don't touch it,
it's sacred."
MOVING BACK TO MILWAUKEE
------------------------
Coming home as an adult, I thought Milwaukee was pretty cool. I was
really impressed with how Milwaukee had grown. The restaurant scene,
the music scene, and the cost of living. It's centrally located, so I
can go to the East Coast and I can go to the West Coast. It just made
sense for me to stay here for a while.
The Milwaukee scene is very relaxing. Not every conversation is about
music or hustling or trying to find the next thing. LA and New York
are both like that. You're going there to pursue an art. Milwaukee has
always been more of an industrial city, but there's also a huge art
community and I feel like over time that's definitely going to grow as
it has in many mid-size cities.
There's a lot more opportunity in those bigger cities to grow and
maybe buy a house one day from making music, but that makes it a
little bit more competitive. After a while that can become a little
tiring, just being around that 24/7, because you're constantly working
and networking versus playing from your heart, just for the love of
it, rather than playing to pay a bill. So coming back to Milwaukee and
seeing that is really cool. It makes my heart happy to be able to play
music for fun.
A lot of artists are very unique here. I'm curious to see how they can
make that translate more on a national level. Artists like Lex Allen,
who I've had the pleasure of working with in the past. Chris Gilbert
has his thing with dancing, which is cool. And he lived in LA, but
he's back in Milwaukee and still travels.
Milwaukee definitely has a great sense of community. When I first
moved back here I was pleasantly surprised at the musicianship, the
variety of music, there's definitely a huge circle of different
branches of people. I never lived in Riverwest, but my brother did, so
I used to go visit him there, and I could sense that whole family
feeling.
I really like the support I see in Milwaukee. People come to each
other's shows. I didn't see much of that in LA because everyone is so
focused on doing other stuff. I'd be really interested to see more
people who are not artists come see this stuff. Because I go to
Company Brewing and I see people in the audience who I would usually
see onstage and vice versa, so there's gotta be a way to break through
and get more of an audience.
I know people want to be entertained, but there's a gap somewhere. I'm
trying to pinpoint it. I know there's a lot of stuff going on here,
but you need the budget to expand that. It needs support from up top.
There's so much support within itself that it's almost overflowing,
but you have to find a way to bridge the gap between the artists and
the consumers. Because artists can only consume so much of each
other's art. You need the capital from the outside to come in to make
it flourish even more.
HER OWN PROJECT
---------------
Before I left LA, before Cirque du Soleil, I started working on
original stuff with some amazing artists. One of my best friends,
Eddie Brown, he plays with Stevie Wonder now, we played in a couple of
bands together, he helped produce my album. This guy Ron Bruner, he's
Thundercat's brother, a great drummer, he played with me on the album.
Thomas Pridgen, he played with Mars Volta, another amazing drummer.
I've got these stacks of hard drives so I'm kind of in the production
stage still. It got put on hold because I was traveling for four
years. I did my GoFundMe thing and raised about half of it, now I feel
like I have more time to get back into that and I can't even remember
half the stuff that's on there. I just want to sit down and go through
it all. There's so much material. It's just about organizing it. I
hope to have something released this year.
{ SOURCE: 88NINE Milwaukee | https://goo.gl/9mFkum }
-------------------------------------------------------
Meet the Athletic Artists Behind Cirque's 'Luzia'
{Jun.24.2017}
----------------------------------------------------
Every two years Cirque du Soleil returns to Chicago with a new show
that combines imagination with spectacle. The French Canadian circus
rolled into town this week and raised its giant tent in the parking
lot of the United Center.
Chicago Tonight got a backstage pass to meet the performers of "Luzia:
A Waking Dream of Mexico," which opens Thursday and continues through
Sept. 3.
Phil Ponce: Outside, the big top is nearly ready for show time.
Inside, this huge traveling production seats more than 2,500 people.
Backstage, 44 circus artists carefully rehearse their moves.
We spoke with the performers about their rather unusual occupations.
Enye White, Cirque du Soleil: My act is, well, I'm sitting on a
trapeze, so we're two girls and I'm flying in the air while she's
spinning in the wheel, like a giant coin, and then at some point
there's rain dropping on the stage, and then I fly in the air, I do
acrobatics in the ropes around the bar.
Laura Biondo, Cirque du Soleil: I do the act that's called "Football
Dance" or for Americans it would be soccer, which is basically just
soccer tricks, soccer freestyle, it's just having fun with a ball.
Ponce: Her incredible partner in "Football Dance" was discovered a few
years ago as a street performer in Paris.
We asked these athletic artists about their training.
Biondo: If I'm going to warm up for the show, I try to do most of the
tricks that I would do in the show at a slower pace, to make sure your
muscles and make sure your joints warm up.
Working out is very important, not only for your act but for your
endurance in the whole show. At times we we have 10 shows per week
which is quite a lot of work, so every day I work out at least an hour
per day in the mornings, either I go to high-interval training gyms or
do some of those videos at home. Then when we're here at the big top
certain conditioning, depending on what part of your body you really
want to work on so you're really training almost the entire day.
White: I do strength exercise, I do balance, all the trainings are
good exercise. This exercise uses all of my muscles so the more strong
I am, the better it is.
Ponce: The latest production is called "Luzia." The artistic director
told us about the unifying concept behind the show.
Mark Shaub, artistic director, Cirque du Soleil: The big idea for
"Luzia" is that we wanted to explore and delve into the culture, the
sights, the sounds of Mexico. We delve deep into traditions of Mexican
art and Mexican culture, but it's a fantasy.
We call it a waking dream of Mexico and it's certainly not a literal
translation. We would never say 'you will learn what Mexico is by
coming to see "Luzia," but we hope you'd have a deeper understanding
of what there is to see, taste and feel and listen to in that part of
the world. We really tried with the costumes and with the set to
really have it look like it's coming from the folk traditions of
Mexico.
Amanda Balius: It was really important to our costume designer, and
the directors of our show and the writers of our show to really create
a time out of time. We didn't want to focus on one specific time
period to really kindof pigeon hole the idea and spirit of the show.
We also looked a lot at the inspiration of Mexico and how we could
apply that into costuming. We do a lot of that in our puppets, our
larger puppet pieces.
Ponce: It takes 125 people to keep the show on the road. And the cast
of performers is international, coming from 19 countries.
Biondo: I was born in Venezuela, grandparents were Italian.
White: I'm from Montreal. I started circus at 9 and then I did a
three-year program in school in Montreal and I was always surrounded
by circus.
It's really nice. There's so many people coming from so many parts in
the world. I've never been in the U.S. so it's my first time touring
and seeing all of these amazing cities, and we've got Russian, we've
Spanish people, we've French people, we've so many people.
It feels like such a blessing to be performing every night on stage in
front of like thousands of people. It's great.
Shaub: Even though the show has been running for over a year now,
there's always little things which we find which we like to tweak or
tune up or a new idea comes up, or if we're replacing one of the
artists it's getting them integrated into the show, finding what their
strengths are and trying to use their strengths. So the show is always
evolving.
Whether it's through the acrobatics, the music, the costumes, the
stage design, it really does comes together and creates a beautiful
whole
{ SOURCE: Chicago Tonight | https://goo.gl/3aonQK }
=======================================================================
ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION
=======================================================================
o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
{Amaluna, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia, Totem & Volta}
o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues
{Varekai, TORUK, OVO, Séptimo Día, & Crystal}
o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre
{Mystère, "O", La Nouba, Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE,
MJ ONE, & JOYÀ}
NOTE:
.) While we make every effort to provide complete and accurate
touring dates and locations available, the information in
this section is subject to change without notice. As such,
the Fascination! Newsletter does not accept responsibility
for the accuracy of these listings.
For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts,
please visit Cirque's website: < http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ >,
or for a more comprehensive tour listing, visit our Itinéraire
section online at: < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?page_id=6898 >.
------------------------------------
BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
------------------------------------
Amaluna:
Asuncion, PY -- Jul 26, 2017 to Aug 13, 2017
Montevido, UY -- Aug 30, 2017 to Sep 15, 2017
São Paulo, BR -- Oct 5, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
Rio de Janeiro, BR -- Dec 28, 2017 to Jan 17, 2018
Koozå:
Singapore, SG -- Jul 12, 2017 to Aug 27, 2017
Shanghai, CN -- Oct 1, 2017 to TBA
Beijing, CN -- Dec 15, 2017 to Feb 11, 2018
China City #3 -- TBA 2018
China City #4 -- TBA 2018
China City #5 -- TBA 2018
Kurios:
Edmonton, AB -- Jul 20, 2017 to Aug 13, 2017
Portland, OR -- Aug 24, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017
Vancouver, BC -- Oct 19, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Tokyo, JP -- Feb 7, 2018 to Apr 8, 2018
Osaka, JP -- 2018
Nagoya, JP -- 2018
&Fukuoka, JP -- 2018/2019
Sendai, JP -- 2019
Luzia:
Chicago, IL -- Jul 21, 2017 to Sep 3, 2017
Atlanta, GA -- Sep 14, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Los Angeles, CA -- Dec 7, 2017 to Feb 11, 2018
Costa Mesa, CA -- Feb 21, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
Boston, MA -- TBA 2018
Washington, DC -- April 2018
Monterrey, MX -- TBA 2018
Guadalajara, MX -- TBA 2018
Mexico City, MX -- TBA 2018
Totem:
Brussels, BE -- Aug 31, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017
Madrid, ES -- Nov 10, 2017 to Jan 14, 2018
Seville, ES -- Jan 25, 2018 to Mar 11, 2018
Barcelona, ES -- Mar 23, 2018 to Apr 15, 2018
Munich, DE -- TBA 2018
Port Aventura, ES -- TBA 2018
VOLTA:
Gatineau, QC (Ottawa, ON) -- Aug 3, 2017 to Aug 27, 2017
Toronto, ON -- Sep 7, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017
Miami, FL -- Dec 15, 2017 to Feb 4, 2018
Tampa, FL -- Feb 15, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
------------------------------------
ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues
------------------------------------
Varekai:
Tarragona, ES -- Jul 6, 2017 to Aug 13, 2017
Oslo, NO -- Sep 1, 2017 to Sep 3, 2017
Malmo, SE -- Sep 6, 2017 to Sep 10, 2017
Tallin, EE -- Sep 14, 2017 to Sep 17, 2017
Riga, LV -- Sep 20, 2017 to Sep 24, 2017
Minsk, BY -- Sep 28, 2017 to Oct 1, 2017
Helsinki, FI -- Oct 5, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017
Stockholm, SE -- Oct 11, 2017 to Oct 15, 2017
Sioux City, IA -- TBA 2017
Springfield, MO -- TBA 2017
Biloxi, MS -- TBA 2017
Lake Charles, LA -- TBA 2017
Hidalgo, TX -- TBA 2017
Sugar Lands, TX - Dec 20 to Dec 23, 2017 (FINAL SHOW)
TORUK - The First Flight:
Christchurch, NZ -- Sep 1, 2017 to Sep 10, 2017
Auckland, NZ -- Sep 15, 2017 to Sep 24, 2017
Brisbane, AU -- Oct 5, 2017 to Oct 15, 2017
Sydney, AU -- Oct 19, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017
Melbourne, AU -- Nov 2, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Adelaide, AU -- Nov 16, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Bangkok, TH -- TBA 2017
Japan -- TBA 2017
China -- TBA 2018
OVO:
Jacksonville, FL -- Aug 2, 2017 to Aug 6, 2017
North Charleston, NC -- Aug 9, 2017 to Aug 6, 2017
Fairfax, VA -- Aug 16, 2017 to Aug 20, 2017
Baltimore, MD -- Aug 23, 2017 to Aug 27, 2017
Uniondale, NY -- Aug 30, 2017 to Sep 3, 2017
Boston, MA -- Sep 6, 2017 to Sep 10, 2017
Laval, QC -- Sep 13, 2017 to Sep 17, 2017
Zurich, CH -- Oct 5, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017
Geneva, CH -- Oct 11, 2017 to Oct 15, 2017
Salzburg, AU -- Oct 18, 2017 to Oct 22, 2017
Leipzig, DE -- Oct 25, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017
Hamburg, DE -- Nov 1, 2017 to Nov 5, 2017
Berlin, DE -- Nov 8, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Mannheim, DE -- Nov 15, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Cologne, DE -- Nov 22, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017
Stuttgart, DE -- Nov 29, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Nuremberg, DE -- Dec 6, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017
Munich, DE -- Dec 13, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
London, UK -- Jan 7, 2018 to Feb 11, 2018
Hanover, DE -- Mar 14, 2018 to Mar 18, 2018
Oberhausen, DE -- Apr 5, 2018 to Apr 8, 2018
SÉPTIMO DÍA - NO DESCANSARÉ:
Santiago, CL -- Jul 19, 2017 to Aug 6, 2017
Bogota, CO -- Sep 3, 2017 to Sep 23, 2017
Monterrey, MX -- Oct 19, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017
Guadalajara, MX -- Nov 8, 2017 to Nov 18, 2017
Mexico City, MX -- Nov 28, 2017 to Dec 22, 2017
Select US Cities -- 2018
CRYSTAL - A BREAKTHROUGH ICE EXPERIENCE:
Lafayette, LA -- Oct 5, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017 (PREVIEWS)
San Antonio, TX -- Oct 13, 2017 to Oct 15, 2017
Pensacola, FL -- Oct 19, 2017 to Oct 22, 2017
North Little Rock, AR -- Oct 26, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017
St. Charles, MO -- Nov 2, 2017 to Nov 5, 2017
Minneapolis, MN -- Nov 9, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Worchester, MA -- Dec 7, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017
Quebec City, QC -- TBA 2017
Montreal, QC -- TBA 2017 (GALA PREMIERE)
---------------------------------
RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre
---------------------------------
Mystère:
Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday
Two shows Nightly - 7:00pm & 9:30pm
2017 Dark Dates:
o September 9 - 13
o November 8
Special Performance Dates:
o Thu, Aug 17, 2017
o Fri, Nov 24, 2017
o Fri, Dec 29, 2017
o Sun, Dec 31, 2017 | 4:30pm & 7:00pm
2017 Single Performance Dates:
o Sun, Aug 13 | 7:00 pm
o Sun, Oct 01 | 7:00 pm
o Fri, Oct 20 | 7:00 pm
o Sun, Oct 22 | 7:00 pm
o Fri, Dec 08 | 7:00 pm
"O":
Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday
Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 9:30pm (as of Aug 12, 2015)
2017 Dark Dates:
o August 2 - 6
o October 8
o November 29 - December 12
La Nouba:
Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm
*** CLOSING DECEMBER 31, 2017 ***
Zumanity:
Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
KÀ:
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
LOVE:
Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
MICHAEL JACKSON ONE:
Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Two Shows Nightly - Dark: Wednesday/Thursday
Schedule: 7:00pm & 9:30pm on Friday, Saturday, Monday & Tuesday
4:30pm & 7:00pm on Sunday
JOYÀ:
Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
One/Two Shows Nightly:
9:00pm (Weekdays)
7:00pm & 10:15pm (Fri, Sat & Holidays)
=======================================================================
OUTREACH - UPDATES FROM CIRQUE's SOCIAL WIDGETS
=======================================================================
o) WEBSERIES -- Official Online Featurettes
o) VIDEOS -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
---------------------------------------------------
WEBSERIES: Official Online Featurettes
---------------------------------------------------
*) CIRQUE STORIES
"Cirque Stories," an exclusive Cirque du Soleil YouTube series
which highlights artists' journeys to the circus. Follow along
with us every week as we go behind the scenes and discuss the
path to become a Cirque performer. In these first episodes,
discover how some of the Cirque du Soleil artists from our Las
Vegas shows get there in their own unique #CirqueWay.
o) EPISODE 2 - Who is Maxim Fomitchev?
Who is Maxim Fomitchev? He is an amazing clown and
performance artist for numerous Cirque du Soleil shows
and events, but he is also completely deaf! Learn about
how Maxim has honed his craft to "feel" the audience
laughter rather than hear it. Listen to his story and
others in the exclusive Cirque du Soleil "Cirque S
tories" series.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/Z8D13L7IaPE >
*) MUSIC VIDEO w/LYRICS
o) Varekai - "Gitans"
LYRICS:
He recorrido el camino del mundo
que, de la arcilla al oro, va
de un mar a otro, une la Tierra entera.
He mirado subir la marea, la he visto bajar de nuevo
he aprendido la lección del aliento
he sabido que el revés y el derecho son lo mismo
y así, lecciones de amor y de verdad.
Sobre el mundo, he cerrado los ojos
y he visto el mundo: raíz y rama y yema
- lo invisible, en el corazón de lo visible, que actúa.
Cerrando los ojos, he visto y he tocado
y era tocada: movida
ENGLISH:
I have traveled the way of the world
Which, from clay to gold, goes
From one sea to another, unites the entire Earth.
I've watched the tide rise, I've seen it go down again
I have learned the lesson of breath
I have known that the reverse and the right are the same
And thus, lessons of love and truth.
On the world, I closed my eyes
And I have seen the world: root and branch and bud
- the invisible, in the heart of the visible, which acts.
Closing my eyes, I have seen and touched
And was played: moved
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/ejRWkMgRFFg >
---------------------------------------------------
VIDEOS: Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
---------------------------------------------------
*) CIRQUECAST
CirqueCast is a Vodcast (thats video podcast) for Cirque fans
by Cirque fans - featuring artist interviews, Cirque headlines,
and the inside scoop to your favorite Cirque du Soleil shows!
Join your hosts José Pérez (TheChapiteau), Richard Richasi
Russo (Fascination!), Ian Rents (Hardcore Cirque Fans), and Dario
Shame (a big 'ol fan), as we bring you a behind-the-scenes look
into Cirque du Soleil, complete with discussions and the latest
Cirque news.
o) EPISODE 20 - Facundo Gimenez Interview
July 3, 2017
On this episode of CirqueCast, we interview Facundo Gimenez.
Facundo is currently touring with Cirque du Soleil's Kurios
as The Comic. Join us on this intimate interview where
Facundo talks about his beginnings in the world of circus,
his experience playing 3 Cirque du Soleil characters, his
side projects, and more.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/pWuxX_rDbvQ >
o) EPISODE 21 - Blue Man Group Acquisition Discussion
August 3, 2017
We are back with another discussion episode! Join us on
episode 21 as we discuss Cirque du Soleil's acquisition of
Blue Man Group, Crystal - the new arena ice show, Varekai
and La Nouba closing, and more!
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/nQAeL-zx5v4 >
*) OTHERS...
o) The KA Theater Experience
In this 1-hour SPARK Experience, your group gains exclusive
access to the theater during the day. A panel of Cirque du
Soleil experts answers questions on a topic of your choice,
sharing insightful and humorous stories. Next, your group
is wowed with a dynamic display of the theater's technical
abilities. Be amazed as you take center stage and journey
2-stories below, all while KÀ's 50 ton/45,000 kg stage
rotates high overhead.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/ov5cbt-8Mw8 >
o) Watch how Trial Bike riders take on the Cirque Stage
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/_-Ptm8zsBF0 >
o) Experience TORUK through the eyes of the audience
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/okT7btpL1GY >
o) Experience the Magic of Cirque with Custom Team-Building
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/irHEHuWhtpI >
o) LUZIASelf - Discover Artists Behind the Scenes
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/3w885Vsdh0I >
o) Meet BMX Riders turned VOLTA Circus Performers
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/yqpoFt2M2Rk >
o) FUN GAME! Guess all our shows based on their Emoji Symbols
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/vSoO2OMBdVo >
o) Professional Cliff Diving at its Finest | #Cirqueshop
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/yEl7mmNwRQc >
o) LIVE Chicago Opening of LUZIA
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/BdDNeW2HdS8 >
o) Soda Stereo Sep7imo Dia Stage Set up Time-lapse
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/diiHDGMjXqY >
o) Stunning Free Spirit Makeup Step by Step Tutorial
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/nE8W0sgidbM >
o) We're inspiring people through DANCE! | National Dance Day
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/MXvFKrqADkA >
o) Celebrate Friendship with Cirque du Soleil
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/6qguTYS--Hc >
o) KOOZA: How to Apply Gems and Stones
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/VJoyz-Jkm3Q >
o) JOYA: A Day in the life of Kamil Fieniuk
< https://www.facebook.com/JOYA/videos/1517914674919156/ >
o) KA: Rise and Shine with Zany
< https://www.facebook.com/KA/videos/10155640337346929/ >
o) KA: Ping Pong Anyone?
< https://www.facebook.com/KA/videos/10155671340206929/ >
o) KOOZA: Premiere in Singapore
< https://www.facebook.com/kooza/videos/10155037557941339/ >
o) KOOZA: Meet the Clowns - Miguel, Hayden and Michael
< https://www.facebook.com/kooza/videos/10155040033076339/ >
o) LOVE: Celebrating Ringo Star's Birthday
< https://www.facebook.com/TheBeatlesLOVE/videos/10154905483023666/ >
o) LOVE: About the Remixed Music
< https://www.facebook.com/TheBeatlesLOVE/videos/10154924876283666/ >
o) TORUK: Watch Pandora Come Alive!
< https://www.facebook.com/torukthefirstflight/videos/1983560191669942/ >
o) TORUK: 5@5 with stage manager, Vida Sum
< https://www.facebook.com/torukthefirstflight/videos/1988358644523430/ >
o) TORUK: 5@5 with Giulia Piolanti
< https://www.facebook.com/torukthefirstflight/videos/2000835956609032/ >
=======================================================================
FASCINATION! FEATURES
=======================================================================
o) "Cirque du Soleil, The Blue Men, and The Future"
Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) "We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 4 of 16: Nouvelle Expérience, Part 1 (1990)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
"Cirque du Soleil, The Blue Men, and The Future"
Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday, July 6th, Cirque du Soleil announced the acquisition of
New-York-based Blue Man Productions, a global live entertainment
company best known for the award-winning Blue Man Group show,
performed in over 20 countries and seen by more than 35 million people
worldwide since 1991. The acquisition of Blue Man Group considerably
widens Cirque du Soleil's audience pool, adding to their portfolio six
resident productions established across the United States and Germany,
as well as a North American and a World Tour.
According to Reuters, Cirque du Soleil paid US$65.5 million to acquire
the Blue Men. The purchase price represents a multiple of 16.5 times
Blue Man's last 12 months' adjusted Earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of around US$4 million, made up
mostly of cost savings the circus arts entertainment company expects
to realize from the acquisition, the sources said. However, Cirque
strips out from the purchase price the value of certain assets
including real estate it plans on selling, which brings the multiple
down to 10.9 times. On that basis, the implied valuation is around US
$44 million. Financing was sourced from a US$85 million add-on to the
company's US$635 million term loan due in July 2022 that was arranged
last month by RBC Capital Markets. The incremental loan was upsized
from US$65 million initially, with the additional proceeds earmarked
for general corporate purposes, according to Moody's Investors
Service. Including the new debt, Cirque is now levered 3.8 times first
lien and 4.65 times total, based on US$185 million of combined pro
forma last 12 months' adjusted Ebitda, US$710 million in first lien
debt and US$860 million in total debt. That's up from leverage of 3.5
times first lien and 4.3 times total prior to the purchase, based on
around US$181 million of Ebitda, US$625 million in first lien debt and
US$775 million in total debt.
But who are the Blue Man Group?
Blue Man Group grew out of collaboration between three close friends,
Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton, on Manhattan's Lower East
Side in 1988. It originated as a celebration to the end of the 1980s.
The three men wore blue masks and led a procession that included the
burning of a Rambo doll and a piece of the Berlin Wall. The stunt
caught the attention of MTV's Kurt Loder, who covered the event, and
the strange Blue Men gained attention. The Blue Man character emerged
from small "disturbances" on the streets of the city, growing into
small shows at downtown clubs, eventually becoming a full performance
at the Astor Place Theatre in 1991. Today Blue Man Group has
continuing theatrical productions in Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston,
Chicago, New York City and Berlin. In addition to the stage theatre
show, Blue Man Group has toured the globe with multiple national and
global tours; been a guest on various TV programs as both characters
and performers; appeared on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship, Epic;
released multiple studio albums; contributed to a number of film
scores; performed with orchestras around the US, and appeared in
advertising campaigns. Wink and Stanton have remained as the creative
directors of the group, and also occasional performers when the need
arises, through the company's entire history. Goldman, however, split
several years ago to pursue other theatrical projects, according to
the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Today's a very exciting day for us," Wink said, announcing the sale.
"After 25 years of pursuing our crazy dream, following our own path,
trying to push the boundaries of entertainment, we're taking an
exciting step forward by joining forces with Cirque du Soleil!"
* * *
Well before the current deal, Chris Wink, one of the three founders of
Blue Man, said the idea to sell came about a fee years ago, as the
company was looking to gain a foothold in other parts of the world.
"We started to feel like we needed some help, plus we had some
creative ideas that were beyond our own means. We thought of some ways
that the Blue Men and their performances could go on a bigger scale."
So the Blue Men - with stage productions in North America, Europe, and
Asia - began looking for an international partner and more resources
to expand worldwide. Wink said that, although Blue Man was already
profitable, it was willing to give up its autonomy in favor of more
capabilities and resources that it could use to target other markets.
"Being just on our own is hindering us from being able to do things
that we could imagine or aspire to do," Wink said. "In this day and
age you need to be a global player."
China specifically came to mind as a possible "new audience" for its
mostly non-verbal show, and Wink had even spoken to representatives of
Fosun about expanding there. "We knew we didn't have the expertise to
break into the Chinese market, and when we spoke to them they said,
'You should meet with Cirque because you two are similar but
different.' And when we did finally meet, in Montreal, we hit it off
immediately. After all, we at Blue Man sort of re-imagined vaudeville
while Cirque re-imagined the circus. And we both achieved a lot given
our humble street origins. We also are now both restless and
wondering: What's next?"
It just so happened that for a company looking to find a permanent
home in an entertainment pillar like China (and other large markets),
Cirque was a fit. "We had tried get something started in Brazil, but
could never quite make it work," said Wink. "But TPG has incredible
digital sales and ticketing skills, and it owns CAA [the Hollywood-
based talent and sports agency]. And Cirque has a phenomenal touring
network and creative team, and is able to get to search for talent in
places in the world we just can't get to. We realized that being
autonomous was sort of limiting us at this point, but that we could do
great things together."
The two companies have often been compared to each other, in its
artistic development and business evolution. Cirque grew from the
street performances of co-founders Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix
in the Quebec city of Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984. Blue Man Group's first
public performance was in 1988 in New York's Central Park, where
founders Stanton, Wink and Matt Goldman staged a "Funeral for the
Eighties" act. "We feel Cirque du Soleil is the perfect partner for
Blue Man Group," Stanton said. "We have a similar history. We both, in
our own way, started on the street. We have similar values we have
been trying to reinvent, in our own ways over the years."
Daniel Lamarre, Cirque du Soleil's CEO, talked of "the great deal of
respect" Cirque has had for BMG over the years at the announcement.
"We found that they wanted, as we do at Cirque du Soleil, to do things
differently."
But for those who are worried that Cirque du Soleil is going to re-
brand Blue Man Group and/or Blue Man Group will show up in upcoming
Cirque shows, don't worry. "Blue Man group will remain the brand that
it is." Added Wink, "We're really looking forward to putting our teams
together and seeing what kind of amazing things we can create."
Cirque du Soleil will keep Blue Man as a separate brand and help it
grow by leveraging Cirque du Soleil's touring capabilities, the
Canadian company said. "We are going to keep Blue Man Group as the
Blue Man Group," Lamarre said. "It will not be, 'Blue Man Group by
Cirque du Soleil.' It is important for us to keep that brand as it has
been, and keeping the chemistry of its same group of creative
partners. We want to grow Blue Man group by itself just as we want to
grow Cirque du Soleil. But each creative team will be autonomous."
"From the very beginning, it wasn't about blurring the successful
brand and changing who Blue Man is," Wink said. "The creative teams
behind the shows will cross-pollinate and take advantage of their
creativity and the know-how, but on stage we will keep the DNA
intact."
"I'm very excited about the reaction of the industry," Lamarre said of
the deal. "It's almost as if Blue Man group has crystallized the
strategy of Cirque, and now everyone understands where we are going,
and it makes a lot of sense."
* * *
The acquisition of New York-based Blue Man Productions is the first
step in Cirque's plan to diversify its productions and expand
globally.
"Our primary goal is diversification," said Daniel Lamarre. "We want
to broaden our horizons, develop new forms of entertainment, reach out
to new audiences and expand our own creative capabilities." Lamarre
said this was Cirque taking a decisive step towards materializing
those ambitions, a breakthrough to make it clear that Cirque is going
from a circus company to becoming a global leader of entertainment.
"People recognize Cirque's brand and how unique of an art form it is,"
says David Trujillo, a TPG partner and member of Cirque's board. "But
they tend to overlook the capabilities that they have in things like
being able to tour globally and deal with visa issues and promoter
relationships. There's a real know-how there that not a lot of
companies have." TPG's strategy is to turn Cirque into more of a
platform play-utilizing the company's global infrastructure to take
more and more shows to different countries at a faster pace.
"We have just pressed on the accelerator of growth for the coming
years." (It is just the first deal being contemplated. Cirque du
Soleil and TPG have compiled a list of additional acquisition targets
to add to the entertainment portfolio, two people with knowledge of
the matter said.)
Currently Cirque du Soleil shows account for 80 percent to 85 percent
of the company's revenue, with the rest coming from merchandising and
other sources. In the future, Lamarre said he wants to bring that
number down to 70 percent by continuing to expand and diversify. The
company's portfolio will grow again in November through a partnership
with the National Football League. The NFL Experience Times Square
will remain separate from the Cirque du Soleil brand, similar to the
Blue Man Group.
"We are acquiring the Blue Man brand because it is a type of show that
is very different from us, and at the same time has great
complementarity. We both began decades ago, and grew out of street
performances. And now, with a whole new set of resources, we can
expand geographically. And we can introduce both our brands to new
markets without changing the character of either brand, yet when
possible sharing creative talent."
Lamarre is particularly intent on developing the Chinese market for
both shows, and plans are already underway to create a huge, Las
Vegas-scale permanent Cirque operation in Hangzhou, the fabled city
renowned for its gardens and waterways and sometimes dubbed "the
Venice of the East." He also has his eye on Europe, because Cirque has
yet to have a permanent show there. "With 'Blue Man' we now have a
smaller, less labor-intensive show [three actors and three musicians]
that can open up audiences for us in many places," said Lamarre. "It
currently has permanent productions in New York, Chicago, Boston,
Orlando, Las Vegas and Berlin, but we hope to be able to take it to
many of the countries where we currently perform and they have never
been."
* * *
"Our strategy for the future is very, very clear," Lamarre said,
noting that both brands have an extremely loyal fan base, but also
have been around long enough so that there is a whole new audience to
tap for each. "We want to become a leader, a global leader of live
entertainment. And our goal of experimenting with new forms of
immersive entertainment is already taking shape."
In November, through a partnership with the National Football League,
Cirque will open "The NFL Experience" in Times Square. As Lamarre
describes it: "It will be a whole new world of live and virtual sports
entertainment - an experience that will last about an hour, with
audiences starting out as fans, becoming players and finally
celebrating as Super Bowl winners." And next fall, the company famous
for its acrobats, contortionists, quirky clowns, surreal visual
landscapes and experimental music also plans to enter the world of ice
shows with a production created in Canada and then sent out on tour.
{ SOURCES: Washington Post, Financial Post, The Australian, the Boston
Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg, the Las Vegas Review-
Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, Fortune Magazine, CNBC, the Montreal
Gazette, Business Insider, and Reuters }
------------------------------------------------------------
"We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 4 of 16: Nouvelle Expérience, Part 1 (1990)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
A few weeks ago, as I was flipping through a few classic Cirque du
Soleil programme books (as is my wont), I was happily caught off-guard
by a brief history of the company that it had written about itself in
Saltimbanco's original European Tour programme, published sometime in
1996. Not because the historia was in English, French, and Spanish,
but rather I found the wording a bit more colorful
haughty
than what
you'd find from the company today. Something about its whimsical and
heady nature spoke to the way Cirque du Soleil saw itself then,
containing a youthful verve and arrogance that is simply no longer
present. When did Cirque lose this dynamic sense of self, this
liveliness, and vivacity about its past, present, and future?
Unfortunately, not long after. Thereafter the speak becomes less joie
de vivre and more lié aux affaires, and Cirque du Soleil turns from a
rag-tag band of street performers into a bona fide corporate entity
right before our very eyes. This is not a new revelation - far from
it in fact - but this re-discovery struck a chord of curiosity within
How did others see Cirque du Soleil during this period?
Think about it: as Cirque's multitude of shows travel around the globe
in either arenas or under the big top, at each stop, in each city,
there is a write-up in the local press. Sometimes the coverage is just
a brief blurb about the show and its theme, occasionally there's a
short interview with a performer, a stage hand, or creation director,
and other times it's an assessment of the show itself, evaluating its
technical and acrobatic merits with what had come through before. But
the reviews we see today are too current, discussing these shows
through a contemporary lens; shows that have/had 15 to 20 years
touring the globe, shows we would refer to as "classic" or
"signature". What I'd become interested in knowing was what some of
the first reviews, peeks, and evaluations of these shows were as they
took their first steps across North America. How did the press see Le
Cirque du Soleil in 1998, 1994, 1990, 1987?
It was time to peck through the archives.
What I found was extraordinary, and more than I expected. And I'm
sharing these discoveries here in Fascination through a series of
collections, beginning with the 1987 tournée of Le Cirque du Soleil
(better known today as Le Cirque Réinventé), and continuing on from
there. This month we continue on with 1990's reviews of Nouvelle
Expérience.
# # #
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: IMAGINATION DAZZLING AS THE SUN
By: Karen Mathieson | Seattle Times
July 6, 1990
Le Cirque du Soleil may be the closest we'll ever get to the Land of
Oz. For the hours of the Cirque's 1990 show "Nouvelle Experience," one
is transported to a world of incredible grace, strength and zaniness,
in which gravity is transcended in every sense of the word. This is
the Earth set free in peaceful delight, a symbol of the goals of the
Goodwill Arts Festival.
It is imagination, in good part, that does the freeing. L. Frank Baum,
creator of the Oz books, would recognize many of the marvelous Cirque
du Soleil characters dressed by costumer Dominque Lemieux. The wild-
haired impresario with his crazily curled coattails, the perky
acrobats in their Munchkin blue, the bizarre personalities known as
"flounes" who are full of raucous curiosity, all are familiar in their
essence to a lover of Baum's fantasies.
There's commedia dell'arte here too, especially in the opening moments
when David Shiner, as the clown inside each of us, meets up with the
stiff-nosed regulators of everyday life. Hey, loosen up and have some
fun, commedia told Italians centuries ago - a message that remains
timely for the planet across which Cirque du Soleil will be roaming in
the coming months.
Fantasy and hilarious mime are all very well, but where Cirque du
Soleil excels most clearly is in combining these elements with
astonishing physical, technical and design achievement. Even without
the French trapeze act scheduled as the show's finale - the apparatus
was there, but it wasn't used last night - "Nouvelle Experience" is
worth every cent of every ticket.
Presenting artists from China, Europe, Canada, the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R. could well turn a show into a tedious if impressive display
of athletics. Pacing and variety in the sequence of "Nouvelle
Experience" acts helps the one-ring theatrical circus from Montreal
avoid that fate, and so does the pulsing live music score by Rene
Dupere.
The ensemble of saxophone, guitar, bass and keyboards (with an
occasional assist from a cello-playing "floune") is as integral to the
effect as the moody blues lighting by Luc Lafortune. These elements,
like the stage with its trapdoors and slanting perspectives designed
by Michel Crete, supply an enchanted environment for the action
directed by Franco Dragone. Even the breakdown of the equipment used
in each act is accomplished with casual precision and no little art.
Although Cirque du Soleil doesn't use animals, and thus needn't worry
about balking elephants or bolting horses (the acrobats do take one
exit with backs bent and arms swinging in simian style), the
unpredictable always remains a possibility. There's a teeter-totter
launching pad for gymnastic flips, a narrow plank for balancing, a
trampoline and other gear in which split-second timing puts the
audience on the edge of its collective seat.
Last night, people were hanging on to their seats with laughter as
well as excitement, and some of the time they were laughing at each
other. Shiner is not only a classic mime who can make you see the
power of an umbrella as it pulls him off the ground, he's also a
regular wizard at evoking audience participation. The four
"volunteers" who practically brought the tent down were just ordinary,
slightly embarrassed folks - until egged on by Shiner, they became
inspired comedians.
Four young Chinese-trained Canadian contortionists, arching their
spines into unbelievable curves, were among other highlights of
opening night under the 2,500-seat big top. And the Russian balancing
genius Vassily Dementchoukov showed similar panache assembling and
surmounting a tower of high-backed chairs.
* * * * * *
QUELLE EXPERIENCE: LE CIRQUE MAKES A FULL-SCALE, DAZZLING COMEBACK
By: Sylvie Drake | La Times
October 13, 1990
There are two sets of performers who create Le Cirque du Soleil's
"Nouvelle Experience": those who do it on stage and those whose work
was done months ago but is every bit as important a part of the
sparkling new show that has landed on the beach near the Santa Monica
Pier.
As before, Le Cirque comes to us from Montreal, but surely via the
moon or Mars. Its design suggests nothing terrestrial.
Dominique Lemieux's pixillated costumes look like brilliant
illustrations for a children's book of spooky fairy tales, enhanced by
the lunatic mask creations of France Baillargeon and Andre Henault
under the quirky hats of Catherine Lauda. Rene Dupere's all- nouvelle
musique is as playful and exhilarating an accompaniment to events in
the single ring as it ever was.
Luc Lafortune's lighting games, his scarlet maws, purple and orange
horizons and whirling, prismatic laser beams inform Michel Crete's
alien landscape with its pivoting Stonehenge wall under the ampler
nouvelle Big Top.
This is all pulled together by the prestidigitation of artistic
director Franco Dragone, which smoothly weaves into the different acts
the considerable skills of clowns, catchers and flounes --a coinage
for a new breed of bashful, gibberish-spouting clowns that combines
the words clown and flo , Quebecois slang for child.
Dragone uses this gaudily clad, weird little enclave of five as a
distinctive kind of Greek chorus. The group serves as rudder and glue,
bridging some acts, insinuating iself into others and unifying the
show. Wot a show.
The youthful, savvy, even cocky Cirque, which took Los Angeles by
storm when it launched the 1987 Los Angeles Festival, returned to the
beach in Santa Monica in 1989 with a perplexingly mediocre edition of
its former self.
Apparently, the chiding it received for that slipshod work found its
mark. The creators rethought and reorganized. "Nouvelle Experience" is
a full-scale comeback, in which all but one or two performers are
brand new.
And dazzling. No one more so than American clown David Shiner, a
skinny beanpole of embattled comic tics in floppy gray pants and short
jacket who looks like nothing so much as a collision between Harold
Lloyd and Marcel Marceau's Bip. Immensely gifted, Shiner pulls members
of the audience into his act like reluctant taffy that he cajoles,
noodles, browbeats and finally spits out in the form of hilarious,
brilliantly negotiated routines.
The more traditional circus stuff--contortionists, aerialists, trapeze
artists--are almost all of the same first water. Nadine Binette,
Isabelle Chasse, Laurence Racine and Jinny Jacinto form a quartet of
contortionists 8 to 13 years old whose bending and folding make it
hard, at a given point, to discern whose limbs belong to whom.
Anne Lepage's stunning solo trapeze is an absolute stomach churner
while Vladimir Kehkaial's graceful flights through the air, uniquely
suspended by arm straps, is a beguiling never-before-seen oddity--a
sort of Chippendale's meets Michelangelo. The Russian's intense self-
awareness, brooding good looks, flowing black hair and Grecian
designer jock strap are a curious paradox as they slice angelically
and self-importantly through the air. He'd make a fortune in Las
Vegas.
Despite a humdrum tightwire act and a skilled but needlessly coy
"Korean Plank" routine by the Corporation Team, the first half, as a
whole, holds more surprises than the second.
The latter kicks off with your traditional team of trapeze artists
(nothing like the breathtaking earlier solo work of Lepage) and
includes a second round of Corporation capers. It is distinguished
principally by Zhao Liang's uncommon juggling act with Chinese
parasols, more antic zaniness from Shiner and the witty flounes, and
by yet another Russian, Vassili Demenchoukov, who can find more new
ways to build a "Tower of Chairs" than one would have thought
possible.
Ultimately, though, the Cirque's real triumph lies in its presentation
of self--youthful, driven, ethereal and high-tech. You won't find
animal acts; you won't find anything that remotely smacks of Ringling
Bros. or Barnum & Bailey except the popcorn.
The flounes , led by roly-poly ringmistress France La Bonte, are its
most seductive nouvelle invention. Their versatile gobbledygook,
counterpoint physical skills, the way they move--like anxious
ostriches or surprised whooping cranes--are a wonderful contrast to
the sleek, astral look of a state-of-the-art Cirque that won't let you
stop gasping or guffawing for a moment. (A word of caution, however:
This show may be too sophisticated for very young children. Children
over 5 will probably enjoy it more.)
Thursday's opening-night audience clamored for no less than five
curtain calls. For all its novelty, the "Nouvelle Experience" had done
it the old-fashioned way: It had earned them.
* * * * * *
UNIQUE CIRCUS STILL BRIGHT SPOT:
A FANTASY WORLD IS BROUGHT TO LIFE UNDER THE BIG TOP
By: John Godfrey | LA Times
January 28, 1991
Spectacular. Ingenius. Unbelievable. Inhuman. These are the sorts of
words that jump out in response to Cirque du Soleil's "Nouvelle
Experience," an eye-opening, jaw-dropping circus event playing outside
San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, through Feb. 10.
Underneath its trademark blue-and-yellow big top, Cirque du Soleil
performers defy gravity just as the show's designers defy convention,
integrating theatrical elements into a world of human spectacle. Yes,
clowns fool around on stage during this circus, just as contortionists
bend and acrobats soar easily through the air. Still, Cirque du Soleil
presents amazing performance after amazing performance as little more
than a starting point, a springboard from which the real show begins.
Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun) pitched its tent in Balboa Park 3
1/2 years ago and wowed San Diego audiences with its unique, animal-
less circus. By injecting elements of an actual story line, dance
choreography, laser technology and stage theatrics, Cirque du Soleil
succeeded in creating a new genre, a one-of-a-kind event. On Saturday,
le cirque returned to San Diego with "Nouvelle Experience," an all-new
show that struck the same successful balance between physical feats
and design spectacle.
Cirque du Soleil's "Flounes"--four maniacal, bird-like clowns-
introduce the action on stage. Dressed in Dominique Lemieux's
colorful, otherworldly costumes, the "Flounes" take physical comedy to
a new level, inciting uproarious laughter as they embark on the
simple, yet somehow dangerous journey from upstage curtain to
downstage platform. The "Flounes" serve as a binder throughout the
evening, providing welcome distraction between routines and outlining
a loose narrative subplot as the hapless fools struggle to communicate
with an outcast "human" clown.
"Nouvelle Experience" features two solo routines by yet another clown,
English-born Geoff Hoyle. The multitalented Hoyle has appeared in
front of San Diego audiences before, acting in three La Jolla
Playhouse productions, including a starring role in last year's "Don
Quixote de La Jolla." Hoyle's performances proved uneven Saturday
night. His first piece, an audience-participation act entitled "Mr.
Sniff," seemed a bit contrived and the show dragged perceptibly as
Hoyle worked his way through a series of Ed Norton-esque comedy bits.
Hoyle returned after intermission, however, with a wonderful, show-
stopping three-legged man routine. Alone on stage with his five limbs,
Hoyle danced with himself and captivated the sold-out audience of
2,500 with an imaginative demonstration of wit and physical prowess.
Throughout the evening, Cirque du Soleil director and artistic
director Franco Dragone took conventional circus acts and added
something--anything--in order to make stunts seem fresh. Cirque du
Soleil's female contortionists, four Quebecers aged 12 to 14, danced
their way through a series of impossible postures, turning a rather
commonplace sideshow act into a slick, choreographed routine.
Similarly, Russian-born acrobat Vassiliy Demenchoukov revived a tired
circus standard, climbing his way atop a stack of eight chairs-
carrying a birthday cake with lighted candles.
Vladimir Kehkaial's "Aerial Straps" routine proved to be the most
bizarre, most incongruous segment of "Nouvelle Experience." The
scantily-clad Kehkaial looked like a perfume-ad model--an unlikely
meeting between Tarzan and Vidal Sasson--as he flew across the stage
suspended by arm straps. Unlike most Cirque du Soleil performers,
Kehkaial seemed to bask in his abilities, drawing attention to himself
with a pained expression on his face and an overly romanticized manner
to his movements. The vast majority of Cirque performers demonstrated
one expression--glee--as they performed throughout the evening.
Lighting designer Luc Lafortune and set designer Michael Crete
succeeded in creating a dramatic, versatile environ for the show.
Lafortune, in particular, made his presence felt in "Nouvelle
Experience. " During the more straightforward circus acts, such as
Anne Lepage's solo trapeze work and the ensemble's "Korean Plank"
routine, the big top glowed with appropriate glamour and flash. For
the more stylized numbers--Kehkaial's aerial routine, for instance-
Lafortune used soft, diffused light to create an entirely distinct
playing space, a perfect look for the ethereal performance.
At its inception seven years ago, Cirque du Soleil founders coined a
phrase that captures the essence of this circus company: "Behind each
perilous leap, there is a purpose, an intention, an individual, an
emotion." The troupe remains true to that vision today.
* * * * * *
THE CIRQUE'S SECRET WEAPON
By: Jan Herman | LA Times
February 21, 1991
Nothing could be further from the grim reality of the Persian Gulf War
than the beautiful fantasy of Cirque du Soleil, which opens Friday at
the South Coast Plaza parking lot in Costa Mesa.
Yet during a recent afternoon in San Diego, where the Montreal-based
circus played earlier this month on its current North American tour,
staff carpenter Peter Le Blanc was constructing a can non-like missile
launcher behind the blue-and-yellow Big Top tent.
The launcher, designed along the lines of an old Prussian artillery
piece rather than a Patriot battery, could become oper able in time to
protect South Coast Plaza by firing a droop-nosed Everyman missile
called Mr. Sniff, if not on opening night, within a week of it.
"I'm not supposed to talk about it," said Le Blanc, hinting
cryptically that Mr. Sniff's ballistic plans cannot be predicted with
any more accuracy than a Scud missiles and might well pose a danger
to shoppers and circus-goers alike.
In the artists' rehearsal tent later that day, I caught up with
Geoffrey Hoyle, the British-born creator of Mr. Sniff, who was getting
ready to practice some of his most dexterous ground moves with a
battered bowler hat. I asked him about the launcher.
"If (Gen.) H. Norman Schwarzkopf calls to say he needs a secret
weapon," Hoyle replied, "Mr. Sniff may be it, although I think not. He
is an anti-heroist."
The implication was that Mr. Sniff's trajectory might not carry him
beyond the cannon's lip, much less across the circus ring. Without Mr.
Sniff's huge proboscis on his face, moreover, Hoyle seemed no threat
to anyone. His pale, round eyes had an innocent gaze. His voice was
gentle.
But that is not to say he could not become dangerous. Put him in clown
costume at center stage and he turns into what he termed "a human
bomb," more than ready to blow up pride and property.
Hoyle, a former student of Parisian mime master Etienne Decroux, has
been a theatrical explosive for years in the San Francisco Bay Area
(where he lives) and, more recently, at the La Jolla Playhouse in "A
Man's a Man," "Feast of Fools" and "Don Quixote de la Jolla."
"My interests lie in the anarchistic elements of the fool's role,"
said Hoyle, who joined the circus tour in San Diego as the clown
soloist replacing David Shiner. "I really don't want the character of
Mr. Sniff to get soft or pretty. I want to keep on the edge of risk,
not to mention a certain amount of reality, because laughter comes in
this situation from breaking taboos.
"If I go into the crowd and I take someone's clothes off or I mess
with someone's possessions, that's a huge taboo, especially in
America," he added. "People see the risk. They recognize it as
something they probably would like to do themselves. So I'm enacting
their unconscious desire. That has been a historical attribute of the
clown from way back in primitive ritual."
Cirque du Soleil does not originate quite that far back. But Gilles
Ste-Croix, who helped found the circus in 1984 and is its casting
director, admitted that he, too, wanted Hoyle "to really rock the
public." At first, though, Ste-Croix wondered just how daring Mr.
Sniff would be.
Hoyle came in as a replacement on only 24 hours' notice (because
Shiner had exercised an option to return to Europe) and, thus, had no
time to adjust to the rhythm or the atmosphere of the show. By his
second performance, however, Ste-Croix needn't have wondered.
"Geoff got hold of a lady's purse," he recalled in French-accented
English. "He went through that purse like a scavenger. He took the
money, the credit cards, the car keys, the old Kleenex. The lady was
really embarrassed."
The casting director, a former stilt walker who at age 41 calls
himself the "grandfather" of the troupe, noted further that Hoyle
provides a raw counterpoint to the slick beauty of "Nouvelle
Experience," as this edition of the circus is titled. But, above all,
the clown soloist serves as an essential link to the troupe's
theatrical roots in street performance.
"We knew with our first edition that we had something different from
the traditional circus," said Ste-Croix, who was sipping an espresso
on the terrace of the artists' canteen after a tasty lunch (this
circus travels with its own chef). "It wasn't the fact that we don't
have animals. It was the way we present the acts. We are from the
streets. We brought the essence of that into the tent.
"If you see a performer in the street, even a simple juggler, there is
some kind of theatrical approach," he said. "In the early days, we
presented each act that way. Then we refined it into a thematic style.
'Nouvelle Experience' is our most developed production in that
respect."
Certainly it is larger than ever, despite the relative intimacy of a
one-ring circus. This edition is traveling with 39 performers, 61 crew
members, 58 trailers and more than 600 tons of equipment. The new Big
Top tent--custom-made in France for more than $750,000--still takes
only a day to erect, but now accomodates 2,500 people (750 more than
before).
In fact, what began as a risky enterprise with a $1-million grant from
the Quebec provincial government has turned into a huge success,
commercially and artistically. This year the circus's worldwide budget
totals about $16 million, with only a tiny fraction coming from
government funds as a form of "symbolic sponsorship," Ste-Croix said.
Daily preparations for the show can be both intense and deceptively
casual. An afternoon spent wandering the circus grounds, as the troupe
went through its usual backstage activities, gave the impression of a
rather democratic family of performers who truly appeared to be
enjoying their life on the road.
Nobody was more spirited, for instance--nor more different from the
role he plays--than Vladimir Kehkaial, a 29-year-old aerialist from
the Ukraine with a flowing mane of jet-black hair. In the show he
flies virtually naked on leather straps like a haunting figure out of
the Icarus legend, as spectral and flamboyant an emblem for this
"circus of the sun" as any performer on the tour.
The only hint of Kehkaial's aerial grace as he careened around the
circus grounds on roller-skates for more than an hour was an
apparently miraculous ability to avoid bodily injury to himself and
others. After diving through alleys between trailers, climbing
stairways at breakneck speed and caroming off people like a pinball,
he finally took a break for a cigarette.
"When I was 10, I study ice skates," he said. "Here no ice. So I do
this. Is good. Weather is good. I like."
A former coal miner, Kehkaial said he became a circus performer in the
Soviet Union while in his mid-20s. He worked his way up to "the
straps," an aerial style developed by the Chinese, but became a
soloist for the first time last year in Canada with Cirque du Soleil
after Ste-Croix discovered him in Moscow.
"I try to make solo three years there, and nobody believe me," he
said. "Now I make solo here and they say, 'Vladimir, come back.' I
don't want go. I like American public. In Soviet Union, I have no
friend, no money. I like bring my mother here. All her life she fix
rails for train. Is harder work than coal mine."
Kehkaial stubbed out his cigarette and examined the blue, cloudless
sky. A pennant and three flags--representing the United States, Canada
and the province of Quebec--fluttered in the wind above the Big Top
tent.
"California is good," he said. "I like."
Then he was off skating again, pretending the San Diego asphalt was as
smooth as Ukrainian ice.
In the meantime, the four teen-age contortionists featured in the show
were busy studying algebra under the tutelage of Robert Ballard at a
nearby classroom trailer.
"They must pass the regular school exams at the end of the year just
like everyone else," said Ballard, a 27-year-old teacher from Montreal
who joined the tour in April. "So they have to study hard."
Isabelle Chasse, who is 14, knew that perhaps too well. She looked up
from her algebra textbook and groaned.
"I really don't like this subject," she said, then tucked her head
back down and resumed writing mathematical equations in her notebook.
In a troupe with a profusion of exotic acts dominated by Canadians but
drawing many players from different parts of the world--among them
Polish acrobats, French trapeze fliers and Flounes (a species of
clown), and Soviet balancing artists--the purest home-grown product of
Cirque du Soleil is the contortionist team.
Each of the four girls--Chasse, Jinny Jacinto, Laurence Racine and
Nadine Binette--trained in gymnastics and contortion at Montreal's
National Circus School, but none had contemplated turning professional
until Cirque du Soleil President Guy Laliberte convinced their parents
they could succeed as an act.
After studying for a year with a celebrated Chinese contortion
teacher, they represented the troupe at the international Circus of
Tomorrow competition in Paris in January, 1990. There they won the
gold medal for artists up to 14 years of age, besting even the top-
rated Chinese team. Three months later, they joined the "Nouvelle
Experience" tour.
'It's like a dream for me," said Jacinto, who will turn 15 in August.
". . . I worked hard to be here. It doesn't come just like that."
Indeed not. After four hours of academic classes, which let out by
midafternoon, Jacinto and her three cohorts took an hour's break and
then spent two hours training.
As showtime approached, activity also intensified in the Big Top. A
pair of "Russian bar" fliers tuned up their dazzling somersaults.
Choreographer Debra Brown put a cadre of blue-suited acrobats through
precision dance steps to heighten their impersonation of corporate
automatons.
At the same time, artistic director Franco Dragone was reshaping a
trampoline number yet to be inserted into the show because it had not
reached the level of excitement that he wanted. Then, for the better
part of an hour, the French-speaking Dragone and four of the acrobats
sat at the perimeter of the ring and frankly assessed what was wrong.
One of the issues involved Philippe Chartrand, the world champion on
the high bar at the 1983 World University Games and captain of the
Canadian gymnastic team at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. The number used
to feature the 27-year-old athlete leaping from the trampoline to the
high bar. But he was not hired to perform that stunt in the show this
year.
"It was a very exciting moment, and they miss it now," said Chartrand.
"So they want it back. I don't mind. Only I don't want to do two
passes on the high bar. . . .I don't want to injure myself. I have 300
shows to do this year, and I want to do them all."
Although the reshaping of the trampoline number was left unresolved,
the discussion between the acrobats and Dragone was typical of both
the troupe's seriousness and its open informality.
"Behind the scenes it is very democratic here," Chartrand said. "We
are heard as artists, and we listen as artists. We make decisions to
see if something works. If not, we find another solution.
"The question of who will be a star, all that la-la-la, sometimes
gets into the air. But when it does, we deal with it, because the
whole concept of Cirque du Soleil is that there is no star. We are a
unified company, and that is what makes it so good."
Outside the Big Top, dusk had already begun to fall. In little more
than an hour, the tent would fill with spectators about to be
galvanized not by particular stars--true to Chartrand's word--but by
an entire constellation of performers.
# # #
That's all for in this issue, but there's plenty more to come!
o) Issue #164, SEP 2017 - Nouvelle Expérience, Part 2 (1991)
o) Issue #165, OCT 2017 - Saltimbanco, Part 1 (1992)
o) Issue #166, NOV 2017 - Saltimbanco, Part 2 (1993)
o) Issue #167, DEC 2017 - Alegría, Part 1 (1994)
o) Issue #168, JAN 2018 - Alegría, Part 2 (1995)
o) Issue #169, FEB 2018 - Quidam, Part 1 (1996-1997)
o) Issue #170, MAR 2018 - Quidam, Part 2 (1998)
o) Issue #171,APR 2018 - Dralion, Part 1 (1999-2001)
o) Issue #172, MAY 2018 - Dralion, Part 2 (2001-2003)
o) Issue #173, JUN 2018 - Varekai, Part 1 (2002)
o) Issue #174, JUL 2018 - Varekai, Part 2 (2003-2004)
o) Issue #175, AUG 2018 - Varekai, Part 3 (2005)
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COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
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Fascination! Newsletter
Volume 17, Number 8 (Issue #163) - August 2017
"Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (C)
2001-2017 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.
{ Aug.04.2017 }
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