“Passionates Preview Paramour”
By: Douglas Metzger – Long Island, New York (USA)
I’m lucky enough to be a ‘Passionate’ – one of those people who has followed Cirque for many years. And in my case, well over a decade now thinking about it. I’ve also been lucky enough to attend multiple CirqueCon’s (a fan-organized gathering of like-minded fans of Cirque du Soleil), soft and hard openings of shows, premiere’s in Old Montreal, as well as traveled to various venues around the country taking in both resident and travelling shows (such as LUZIA and KURIOS).
KURIOS is wonderful if you haven’t seen it yet. I’ve subsequently been able to follow that show from premiere in Montreal thru Chicago and Atlanta. By the time KURIOS leaves the US mainland, I will have seen it a dozen times or more. (Yes, it’s that good!) I’ve related my KURIOS exploits since it too has gone through some developmental and artistic changes since premiering. Some of these changes were due to artistic flow and others imposed by Cirque corporate (read that as “financial requirements.”) These changes have tightened the show, added an audience participation element (bridge,) as well as subtracted, added or modified artistic acts, for good, or bad. But then preview are used to shake out those tenuous elements, strengthen show stoppers, adjust story migration and timing, and finally get the cast familiar with their routines. (I look forward to seeing changes in Luzia.)
Which brings me to PARAMOUR…
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
In advance of attending the soft-open I had immersed myself within PARAMOUR social media campaigns and press events. (It also didn’t hurt to have Cirque corporate undertake a ground-shift policy change related to using all forms of social media – Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.) This shift was quite literally overnight, with my everyday feeds being blown up by all things Cirque. At one point I actually felt bombarded! PR did a decent job of issuing almost daily updates, production clips, story-line announcements, cast involvement, behind-the-scene montages and such. It also didn’t hurt matters that PARAMOUR was using an openly ‘secret’ development studio near my residence as their practice shop for months on end (Grumman Studios – Bethpage, NY. The same venue used to stage NBC’s live telecast of the “Sound Of Music” a few years ago.)
Within the last few weeks prior to a shows opening Cirque runs one (or more) Lion’s Den performances. This is a collective and detailed review – from beginning to end – of all individual acts/artists used in a show to see how their performance has developed since conception. Not only do the producers and segment developers get involved, Cirque headquarters typically dispatches its own creative team, some of whom have been involved since conception, others whom might not have (for a fresh take on the product). Each of these reviewers set up in the audience seats, erect desk surfaces upon which to work, and then critique everything… from artistic presentation, logistical need, transition, costume, makeup, show running position, physical presence, and more. EVERYTHING. This is a grueling, sometimes fraught, undertaking for all involved. You have world-class artists and performers working their hardest to get things right. Sometimes their act has only recently been conceived and never before undertaken on stage, anywhere. In other cases long-standing performances, developed over the years, are modified for artistic interpretive need within the shows structure. This can become a make-it or break-it moment, down to the individual artist.
PARAMOUR’s last Lion’s Den prior to preview took place on March 29th. From all reports, it was characteristic of typical Den’s, with one exception. One of the show’s lead actors – Bradley Dean -unexpectedly left the show (with less than 2 weeks to first preview.) Initially all parties cited “irreconcilable differences,” but within the Den it was felt that Bradley didn’t quite mesh with the show’s timing or need. In an interview with Michael Paulson of the New York Times Theater Desk, Cirque’s Scott Zeigler (head of Cirque’s new Theater Division) said “Bradley Dean is an extraordinary actor, and won the part for all the right reasons, but we all felt that the chemistry and dynamic on stage wasn’t what we were hoping it would be. We were looking for something slightly different from what we were getting, and it took watching it from start to finish to see that.”
Structurally this is a body blow to any theatrical production, especially being so close to opening. Historically, while this has happened in a very limited number of cases, it’s something that just doesn’t tend to occur with Cirque. Admittedly, Cirque doesn’t typically hire stage and film level actor/actress ‘outsiders’ for its shows. Usually this talent is developed specifically from within Corporate and brought along to the show in question. Reacting to this lead change, producers brought in veteran Broadway actor Jeremy Kushnier, who, believe it or not, had previously auditioned for the part during casting calls. National news and social media circles descended upon this change with varying levels of concern. The larger media outlets tended to take a pessimistic view, while social media was a bit more tolerant, though pockets of doom and gloom maintained.
True to Broadway form, the show must go on.
THE LYRIC THEATER
Long in advance of this night a close group of Passionates planned a gathering prior to the show, and as part of that gathering we dine together before the show. We chose a local restaurant – Virgil’s BBQ (http://www.virgilsbbq.com/) , which is conveniently located about a block away from the Lyric Theater and could easily accommodate our group of 12. The environment was inviting, the food excellent (I highly recommend the hush puppies and salads), the staff is easy going and paced to follow your needs, and the company was, of course, illuminating. It was simply an amazing start to a wonderful evening! (Parking, if needed, is directly next door and – for NYC – reasonably priced. The restaurant is also very close to trains, bus routes, and like the Lyric itself, in the midst of Times Square – so both are very easy to reach.)
The Lyric Theater (http://www.lyricbroadway.com/) first began life as two distinct theaters, the Lyric and initially The Bryant. The Lyric in 1903, first operated by the Shubert brothers as a traditional Broadway theater.The Bryant in 1910, as a film and vaudeville house. In 1920 The Bryant would be renamed The Apollo under the Selwyn brothers ownership and became the twelfth Broadway theater in Times Square. Through the years and across various management / ownership teams the Lyric hosted Fred and Adele Astaire in For Goodness Sake; The Marx Brothers Broadway hit The Cocoanuts; and Cole Porter’s score of Fifty Million Frenchmen. Similarly The Apollo hosted Poppy, starring W.C. Fields; and performers such as Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, and Ed Wynn. Further, Take a Chance provided Ethel Merman a show stopping song – Eadie was a Lady.
Both theaters closed, opened and were sold throughout sometimes challenging years, concluding in the 80’s going into derelict states. Through the late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Times Square had generally becomeblighted and detracted from its underlying desire to be a world-class attraction for performing arts of all styles. Finally in 1990 the State and City of New York formed a non-profit organization “The New 42nd Street.” This non-profits goal was to take over ownership of seven theaters (including the Lyric and The Apollo) and bring them back to their former glory. Under the premise of promoting the arts, master 99 year leases were issued to various management teams. As part of such a lease each theater was required to: be fully renovated; provide secure and attractive daytime and evening events all year round; strengthen NYC’s role as the premier entertainment city in the U.S.; provide diversity of entertainment and talent; be affordable to the maximum extent possible. (Today, through various legal proceedings, British firm ATG now owns the Lyric.)
Beginning in 1992 the Lyric and The Apollo theaters were renovated into one venue, the Lyric. Since undergoing significant renovations into one of Broadway’s largest (approx. 1900 seats) the theater has hosted many ‘hits’ including: revivals of Jesus Christ Superstar, 42nd Street, and On The Town. First run productions included Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Pirate Queen, Young Frankenstein and lastly Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
The theater entrance is on 43rd Street. Rope lines exist west from the main entrance. Audience members line up along the street façade of theater. Staff is kind and attentive. Those working the waiting audience rope walk its extent making sure those assembled are there for the correct show and time, as well as have tickets in their possession. You enter through gold-gilded doors and up six steps into the elaborate white and gold marbled oval orchestra lobby. (Don’t miss the theaters ‘Stage Door’ as you enter. It’s immediately on the east side of lobby doors and clearly marked as such.)
This theater is one of the more ornate on Broadway. Marble columns are polished to a deep shine, themselves supporting the two open mezzanine lobbies above. A small merchandise kiosk is set immediately on the left, while the traditional Prologue Bar is set conveniently for drinks. On the left you find a sweeping grand stair leading to the upper mezzanine lobbies. There you’ll find a sweet shop, and intimate VIP lounges. Further to the rear of the street lobby you’ll find entry into the orchestra sections.
The theater proper is fashionable in an understated way. Ornate ceiling panels exist though they appear to lack fluidity or partnership. They seem somewhat, disconnected with each other, installed to break up dead space.
The mezzanine level is made up of traditional elevated seating areas. Two balcony wings exist on each side. The first balcony box closest to the stage is used for production equipment, lighting and sound. It’s also occasionally used throughout the show for cast members interacting with the stage performance. Directly rear of these boxes are two additional boxes containing about ten seats. (It appears these might be the best seats in house to take in the full perspective of the show in an immersive setting. In my next visit prior to opening, I’ll seek to confirm this.) Lastly, above the 1stmezz is the 2ndmezzmade up of traditional seating.
PREVIEW NIGHT
Personally, taking in an initial new offering from Cirque elicits a frenetic feeling within. Excited anticipation of being overwhelmed, thrust back into your seat, emotionally connected to the moment / performer / act / show is typical. Cirque excels at tweaking your senses, sometimes with a proverbial tidal wave of production. When Cirque is on point everything envelops the audience member. Costuming, music, set design, act sequencing, stage presence and merchandise are all used to thrill and memorialize. PARAMOUR is no different, albeit with Preview limitations.
My seat for the night was ORCH row M, stage left isle. I chose these seats to be far enough removed from the stage to get an overall image of what was about to take place, as well as be close enough to feel immersed within. In some Cirque environments (namely ‘O’ or LUZIA) sit too far away and the connection with the show can be lost. This is mostly due to stage design elements (pseudo round.) In the Lyric though I would find it hard to believe there’s a bad seat in the house. The show is certainly three-dimensional and NOT confined to the stage. Most notably are the aerial ‘Cleopatra’ acts of Kevin and Andi Atherton, as well as subsequent chase scenes which take place on stage and in a limited sense throughout the orchestra isles and 1st mezz closed balcony boxes.
The show’s storyline follows the burgeoning relationship between a movie producer AJ Golden (Jeremy Kuschnier), a club singer Indigo James (Ruby Lewis) and the singer’s love-in-waiting composer Joey Green (Ryan Vona.) AJ is introduced to Indigo and decides she will be Hollywood’s next big thing. And so begins an epic, and nostalgic, journey to produce a movie and make himself rich. AJ also hires Joey to score the movie. And so the triangle is formed beginning an epic battle between true love, fame and fortune. Throughout the show you’re introduced to and follow the storied lives of the cast of characters. You’ll be exposed to back story, historical movie montages, faux film strip recreations, dream sequences, rewinds, forward winds and possibly a side-wind(?).
The show’s initial opening is constructed as an introduction to AJ Golden. “The Awards Ceremony” (Act I, Scene 1) and “The Acceptance Speech” (Act I, Scene 2) is formed by a short tap and dialogue routine before moving into the productions kick-off old west number set in front of a saloon. (It should be noted that this number is far different from the Media Day Press Release video that Cirque du Soleil released on Facebook and YouTube.) This opening is full-on classic Broadway, sure to wow even the most jaded or seasoned theater goer. Dance, singing, set design and costuming are all brought to bear in this Saloon number (Act I, Scene 3: “On the Set”). It’s a tap your feet, heart- warming production that gets full Cirque treatment. In the midst of a stage full of cast members singing and dancing away suddenly you’re shocked by characters being lifted high into the air. Your focus changes back to the main characters as others are then thrown through the air or launched from teeter boards. Action on stage and then arcing through the air from one side of the stage to the other to be captured by roving cast members. You find yourself excitedly trying to predict where the next flight or throw will emergefrom .At the conclusion of this number some audience members leapt to their feet with applause. (Personally I was excited and enamored enough to contemplate reaching for my phone to text my friend to immediately get on a train and see the show.)
You then find yourself calming through a couple of understated character building numbers before falling into a lengthy night club scene (Act I, Scene 4: “Cafe”) where the first introduction of Indigo takes place. Ruby embodies the classic night club singer accompanied by Joey, her understated love-in-waiting composer piano player. The number is a bit flat at first with expectations building toward a wow that just never comes. It is full of life and dancing, just with limited perk (and some odd set pieces that don’t seem to play a role in the number.) Then it’s on to “Closing Time” (Act 1, Scene 5), a street scene which simply wows. Cast members run and rotate around street lamps, then climb and slide down them, HEAD FIRST!
Next comes “Filmstrip” (Act 1, Scene 6), a reinvigorated ‘rewind’ scene (IRIS 2.0) where seven dressing rooms appear across the stage as props to set up a heavily choreographed human reenactment of a film strip. This eventually leads through “Screen Test” (Act 1, Scene 7), a reproduction of classic on-camera test scenes shot with characters. Here AJ asks Indigo to provide emotion and depth to her scene, to which she, being inexperienced, has no emotional connection to the given lines. She’s then asked to draw upon other life experiences. Thereafter follows “The Night Before The First Day Of Filming” (Act 1, Scene 8), which leads you through building the underlying thread of the show, the relationships between the characters, and sets the stage for the perilous dichotomy of fame, fortune, and love. And then “Movie Posters” (Act 1, Scene 9) – a number that fell flat with me, although others seemed to enjoy it. It fleetingly attempts to recreate live versions of storied movie posters. The cast sets up in front of cameras and a green screen in an attempt to recreate exact positions for movie poster art. Marks are found, positions secured, a live picture is taken which then dissolves into the famed movie poster. For some it works, for others, it’s either too long or forced.
The last active number in the first act is “Cleopatra” (Act 1, Scene 10), a full cast dance number thematically following familiar Egyptian movie reenactments. The cast is in period dress with shockingly brilliant set design. The dance number ends when Kevin and Andi Atherton – flyers extraordinaire – who come center stage and take flight into and well above the audience (out to about Row P). This is clearly their best work ever, quite literally the pinnacle of their career. They appear to go through 4 sets of straps throughout the number; Awe-inspiring is an understatement! The only detraction I found to their act was their costumes – they’re armless half-body white tunics. While they’re initially consistent in theme to the ending of the “Cleopatra” dance number, seeing how far afield the rest of the production goes at times, it would have been nice for their costuming to strike out from the number and place focus where it should be… on the artistry of flight. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine them creating a better performance, just hands down great, which leads to a standing ovation. A heart rending act closing (Act 1, Scene 11: “Calamity Jane”) number has Indigo torn between glitzy AJ and her pining love Joey and then the curtain drops to end the first half of the show. (And the company receives another standing ovation!)
The second act begins after a 20 minute intermission.
We open with “The Dream” (Act II, Scene 1) – a dream/nightmare sequence with exceptionally distracting music and visual overlays that last well past need. This act sets the stage for our characters meteoric rise to fame and fortune, as well as underlying contractual obligations (Act II, Scene 2: “The Director’s Office”). The fraught relationship and unrequited love between Singer and Composer takes shape as the fame hungry movie producer seems to set his hooks into his red haired trophy. The relationship between the three characters is artistically well interpreted in the next number “Hand-To-Trap” (Act II, Scene 3). This is full on Cirque to its core. The three main characters are artistically represented by flyers, trapeze artists. The love, disinterest, compassion, power and envelopment are all expressed in dance fleeting grasps fingertip embraces. The number culminates in ‘Indigo’s’ head first dive from trapeze into the waiting arms of Joey. This dive took my breath away! Yet another rising applause point for the audience.
The remaining fill numbers are adequate (Act II, Scene 4: “The Director’s Office 2”; Scene 5: “On The Set 2”; and Scene 6: “Hollywood Buzz”) with the exception of “Press Conference/Dressing Room” (Act II, Scene 7). This number returns us to the show’s opening. AJ is on a press podium addressing questions from newsies and photographers below. He excludes Hollywood in every sense – power, glitz, glamour, style, and accomplishment. As each question is offered (sometimes difficult to understand as the backs of the cast are to the audience, with the exception of AJ’s), a forced laugh line is inserted. This recurrent HA-HA-HA-HA-HA is repeated 6 to 8 times. And after the first two it becomes a bit monotonous and grating. In order to carry the story line to its culminating form (a placed love/power struggle), they needed such a transition, but its implementation leaves much to be desired.
This brings me to near end of the show with the biggest staging of the night “New York City Rooftops” (Act II, Scene 8). The storyline has developed to a point where true love triumphs over fame hungry evil. Fame is diminished and tries to strike back at love. An epic chase scene takes place with fames muscle trying to take back the ‘lost’ love of Indigo. A three storey set is constructed to represent NY rooftops complete with water tower, neon signs a flag pole and fire escapes. Trampolines are secreted within one of the roof tops and used in an epic chase. Athletically the number works… well, slightly. You find yourself entertained by the action; swings from props and trampoline work. Unfortunately, the number is a miss to this reviewer. It misses on execution and continuity. I’d put it in the “needs further development” category. It’s certainly action packed, in fits and starts, but otherwise…
And no, I won’t spoil the show’s ending. So I’ll stop right here!
The show I attended was its second full run through. The first being a closed showing the night before, in front of family and friends. The show ran long, 2:45 and started 15 minutes late (after ‘encouragement’ by the NY audience.) As the curtain dropped at finale those in attendance (including Guy Laliberte) jumped to their feet –including myself – in an extensive standing ovation. As the next weeks prior to its scheduled May 25thopening progress, the show will tighten up as the cast gets comfortable working together. The show should coalesce nicely, with some hopefully sizable reconstruction. I’d say the show was about 70% there. Go, enjoy it. It’s possibly one of Cirque’s best Great White Way offerings.
