MONTREAL — Things are getting curious and curiouser at the Cirque du Soleil. The company’s new show, due to be unveiled in April, will be named Kurios — Cabinet of Curiosities.
It’s directed by Michel Laprise, a Cirque insider best known for his recent collaborations with Madonna, providing artistic direction for her 2012 Super Bowl spectacle and subsequently directing her MDNA tour.
The long and unusually prosaic moniker for the show (compared to Ovo, Ka and Kooza) was unveiled Monday at Cirque du Soleil headquarters, along with a model of the curio-adorned set.
Laprise introduced the other 16 members of the creative team after enthusiastically describing his vision for the show, which will be his first one for the Cirque as writer and director.
Kurios, which will be the Cirque’s 35th production since 1984, takes its inspiration from the latter half of the 19th century, when railroads made long-distance travel easier and inventions like the telegraph improved communications. “For the people of the 19th century, everything seemed possible,” Laprise said.
That’s pretty much how Laprise feels himself at the moment, having been handed a $28 million production budget to create his dream show. He said he feels “very privileged” to have been given the opportunity.
He stressed that Kurios is not all about him. “I’m just the spokesperson of the team,” he said.
Laprise left his career as an actor and theatre director to become a Cirque du Soleil talent scout in 2000, then a special events designer. “It was the best school,” he said. He learned how to meet tight deadlines by tackling major Cirque events, like the one produced for Quebec City’s 400th-anniversary celebrations in 2008. That’s when Cirque owner Guy Laliberté first told Laprise he’d like to give him a chance to do a full-scale Cirque show one day, Laprise said.
Everyone on the Kurios creative team speaks French (not the norm for the Cirque), and it’s almost exclusively male — except for director of creation Chantal Tremblay, choreographer Susan Gaudreau and makeup designer Eleni Uranis. No gender bias was intended, Laprise said. It just worked out that way.
Set designer Stéphane Roy already has several Cirque shows to his credit (Dralion, Varekai, Zumanity, Kooza and Zarkana). This will be the third go-round for costume designer Philippe Guillotel, who worked on Love and Iris. By contrast, composer/musical director Raphaël Beau is a newcomer from France who has toured with a group called Spook and the Guay, and has composed the score for one musical.
Kurios is bound to be dance-happy with four choreographers on the payroll. Besides Gaudreau, there’s Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Ben Potvin and Yaman Okur, who is best known for dancing in Madonna’s live shows.
Laprise remains a huge Madonna fan after working with her up close and personal, but he’s willing to risk the wrath of the Material Girl by declaring that Kurios is an even bigger deal. “Our shows last 15 years,” he said.
Former theatre directors hired to direct Cirque shows since the departure of Franco Dragone include Robert Lepage, Gilles Maheu and Dominic Champagne. But they were all high profile before signing on. Laprise is the first Cirque stage director to work his way up through the ranks. “I grew up here,” he said. “It’s my home.”
