Meet Thomas Duchaine, TORUK Production Manager

Toruk is one of Cirque du Soleil’s most high-tech shows and features the largest set. The show requires a team of 100 to make it possible, and the Kansas City Business Journal talked to Production Manager Thomas Duchaine to learn exactly what it takes to pull off the show.

Toruk’s story draws inspiration from James Cameron’s film, “Avatar,” and brings the scenes to life with the aid of 40 projectors. The entire set was scanned in 3-D to create a digital 3-D model that’s projected onto the set, walls and ceiling to create various depths and textures. For example, a piece of foam can transform from a rock in one scene to a flower in the next with the help of projectors. At one point, lava will appear to be oozing from the floor, thanks to video, smoke and other “secret elements,” Duchaine said. Then, there’s the beacons that are attached to the set and performers to track their movement in real-time, allowing the projectors to correctly line up video and other lighting elements.

“People often say, ‘Cirque Du Soleil – they have money, and that’s why they succeed on doing things.’ I would strongly disagree on that,” he said. “The money never made a good show. Passion and planning in everything – that’s what makes a good show. We’re 100 people on tour, and without the presence of one of those, everything becomes harder. So we need everybody working together; I think that’s what the secret is and what makes it work so well.”
There’s the production crew, the performers, the medical staff, the engineers. The list continues. At each venue, the team must modify its setup to fit the venue’s space and consider the sight lines for the audience. The production also needs a ceiling height that exceeds 57 feet, and the crew consults with engineers for each venue.

“Having a show that is 120,000 pounds – not every roof can take. So we have to be able to have an engineering process where we are certain the roof we are going to hook onto will be able to sustain it. Sometimes it’s not just the sheer weight of the things hanging, but the way we need to hang them on. Is the roof going to take the angle of the bridle? There’s a lot of specifics the engineers are looking at,” he said. “The other challenge, once you’re in the venue, is to be able to cope with every problem that comes to you, and that’s the normal life. Nothing is perfect, and the only thing that can be is the way you react to problems and try to make it as best as you can.”

For instance, there might be a permanent speaker at a venue that the crew previously didn’t know about and will have to work around. At one of Cirque Du Soleil’s Quidam shows, an earthquake hit near the venue and the crew had to do a full roof inspection to ensure that the show could go on.

“It’s safety first,” he said.

A “By the Numbers” breakdown of Toruk:

• 27 trucks to transport equipment, sets, merchandise and catering
• 100 booked hotel rooms in Kansas City
• 38 performers
• 5 main characters
• 16 puppets
• 157 people hired locally to help the Toruk team unload equipment
• 130 people hired locally to help the Toruk team pack up equipment
• 5 hours to tear down and load the set and equipment
• 40 beacons
• 40 projectors that can create a surface five times the size of a standard IMAX screen
• 145 anchor points for hanging equipment

And some Pics!

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{ SOURCE: Kansas City Business Journal | http://goo.gl/sZh8vS }