======================================================================= ______ _ __ _ __ / ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / / / /_ / __ '/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ '/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ / / __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_) 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.CirqueFascination.com ------------------------------------------------------------ ======================================================================= VOLUME 23, NUMBER 5 July 2023 ISSUE #220 ======================================================================= Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. * * * MORE LOVE TO COME! * * * Las Vegas is feeling the love a little while longer. Cirque du Soleil is expanding its production "The Beatles LOVE" at the Mirage Hotel & Casino through at least 2024. According to a news release, the show will continue in partnership with Hard Rock International, which purchased The Mirage last year. “The Beatles LOVE is a musical masterpiece and raised the bar for live production shows in Las Vegas,” said Eric Grilly, President of the Resident Show Division for Cirque du Soleil. “We’re excited this extension gives our show the opportunity to reach even more audiences, and we thank our hard-working cast and crew for making dreams come to life.” * * * ALEGRIA HEADED TO LONDON * * * Cirque du Soleil will return to London with a revival of Alegría in 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall. The internationally acclaimed production will run from 11 January to 11 February 2024 to celebrate its 30th anniversary and to mark the European premiere for the revival. "It is only right that the Royal Albert Hall gets the European Premiere of the revival of Alegría for a new generation to fall in love with its magic in a venue that has greatly contributed to its success." Mike Newquist, President of the Cirque de Soleil Entertainment Group, said in a statement. First premiering in 1994, Alegría performed to over 14 million people in 40 countries until the end of its 19-year world tour in 2013. The original production had five successful runs in London, including at the Royal Albert Hall four times, making the capital the city Alegria has visited most in the world. * * * ARTIST INJURED AT "O" * * * A Cirque performing artist was injured on Wednesday, June 28th, during a performance of “O” at the Bellagio, a spokesperson confirmed. According to a statement, the artist was part of the Barge act and was injured diving off the floating barge platform during the 9:30 performance. “In accordance with our emergency response protocols, we stopped the show to allow the emergency intervention team of ‘O’ to safely bring the artist backstage where they were immediately taken in good care by the medical team,” Ann Paladie, a spokesperson for Cirque du Soleil said. The artist will continue to be monitored by the “O” medical and coaching teams to determine when they may return to their activities. * * * CONGRATS BAZZAR! * * * On the evening of July 7th, BAZZAR celebrated it's 500th performance in Buenos Aires, Brazil. Congratulations! BAZZAR will soon be in the United States for a few turns; check out our ITINERAIRE section for when and where! Let's get into it... /----------------------------------------------------\ | | | Join us on the web at: | | < www.cirquefascination.com > | | | | Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed (News Only): | | < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > | | | \----------------------------------------------------/ - Ricky "Richasi" Russo =========== CONTENTS =========== o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings * La Presse -- General News & Highlights o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information * BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau * Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues * Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre o) Fascination! Features * "THERE'S NOTHING LIKE MIXING A CIRQUE SHOW" - an Exclusive Interview with David Wallace, head of PLANS at Cirque du Soleil's "Drawn to Life" [Part 3 of 3] By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA) * "LIFE IS A CIRCUS 3: Even More Posts from the Cirque Blog" By: Cirque's Artists, Editors, and More... o) Copyright & Disclaimer ======================================================================= CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS ======================================================================= *************************************************************** LA PRESSE -- General News & Highlights *************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------- The National Circus School Receives a Historic Donation {Jun.15.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- It was during the 29th fundraising event, held on June 8 at La Tohu, that Stéphane Lefebvre, President, and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, announced a donation of one million dollars to the National Circus School (NCS). This is the largest donation ever received in the history of the institution, founded more than 40 years ago. The National Circus School also took advantage of the event to officially launch its major fundraising campaign in front of more than 500 representatives of the greater Montreal business people. Ambitious projects for the National Circus School This major fundraising campaign aims to raise six million dollars over five years. These donations will allow the school to pursue its educational mission according to the high-quality standards to which it has always aspired, to offer state-of-the-art facilities and to build a new studio dedicated to research and innovation. The funds raised will also help to set up a brand-new circus arts initiation program for schools in Quebec and Canada, aimed at democratizing the practice and ensuring a greater pipeline of circus artists. A prestigious campaign board In addition to the generous donation, Stéphane Lefebvre has also agreed to chair the campaign board made up of committed volunteers. He will be supported by: Anthony Amiel – President – Corbeil Électroménagers Michael Fortier – Vice Chairman – RBC Capitals Markets Norman John Hebert – President and CEO – Groupe Park Avenue Francois Lecavalier – Member of the Advisory Board – UNSC Power Karl Tabbakh – Associate director, Québec region – McCarthy Tétrault « We are very proud to support the training and development of new emerging circus artists from Quebec and around the world. We are convinced that this contribution will act as a lever for the recruitment of new students, research and innovation in the field of circus arts, in addition to ensuring the conservation and enhancement of the heritage, the history and the living memory of this art. With its reputation and international influence, the NCS is a first-level partner for the Cirque Soleil Entertainment Group, and we are very proud to be able to contribute to its development year after year.» – Stéphane Lefebvre, President et CEO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. « We are very proud of the relationship of trust and collaboration that our two organizations have maintained since the very beginning. We welcome this exceptional contribution from Cirque du Soleil with tremendous gratitude. With this gesture, he reiterates the importance of our institution for the health and advancement of our ecosystem and supports our ambition to elevate the NCS into a global hub for teaching, research and innovation in the circus arts. The campaign announced today carries this vision and will contribute to the realization of the aspirations of the School. » – Éric Langlois, Executive Director of the National Circus School. « The entire Foundation team devotes time and energy to supporting the National Circus School in maintaining its position as an international leader and as a professional training institution for circus arts, as a research center for innovation and transfer of knowledge and as a place of conservation for the heritage of this art. The major campaign we are embarking on will allow the NCS to remain an important player in the development and evolution of circus arts. » – Anthony Amiel, President of the National Circus School Fondation. About the National Circus School For over 40 years, the National Circus School (NCS) has been training and developing the new talents of the next generation of circus artists from Quebec and around the world. Renowned worldwide, the NCS is also dedicated to research and innovation in the field of circus arts, in addition to ensuring the conservation and enhancement of the heritage, the history and the living memory of this art. { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } ---------------------------------------------------------- Meet Who Taught ‘The Last of Us’ Infected How to Move {Jun.19.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- Back in April of 2020 — before the video game he co-created, The Last of Us, was a smash HBO series and was simply a cultural phenomenon on its own — Neil Druckmann set a long fan-debated topic to rest. After a Jeopardy clue about the game referred to its Infected (people afflicted with the fictional, widespread cordyceps brain infection) as “zombies,” Druckmann tweeted, “I mean…they’re not zombies” (before adding that the game show reference was still cool). Fast forward a couple of years, and the Infected are more vividly imagined than ever on The Last of Us, an Emmy front-runner as balloting begins. And if it’s especially clear now that they are, indeed, not zombies — and instead clearly humans trapped by an invasive, deadly fungus — one man deserves particular credit. Over the course of season one, movement choreographer Terry Notary coached a group of 50 stunt performers, helping them transform into the Infected after immersing themselves in a “boot camp” of sorts in which they learned a technique he’s developed over years of conceptualizing movement onscreen. That work reached a stunning apex in the Infected influx of episode five, “Endure and Survive.” Speaking to Notary — whose most memorable onscreen appearance may have been his hilarious/disturbing simian turn in Ruben Östlund’s The Square — it’s easy to see why he was able to develop that cohort into episode four’s terrifying horde. A former gymnast turned Cirque du Soleil performer who found himself working in film almost by accident, Notary exudes an energy that’s part go-get ’em coach, part beatific spiritual leader, and he describes his work on The Last of Us more as existential quest than incredibly taxing physical feat (though, yes, he acknowledges it was that, too). He spoke to THR about finding the humanity of the Infected through movement — and how one very profound interaction with a chimpanzee more than two decades ago set him on a path towards The Last of Us. Q. Your own professional journey to becoming an in-demand movement choreographer was an unusual one. How did you get started, and how did you ultimately arrive in the world of film? I started as a gymnast and went to UCLA, and right after that I got called from Cirque [du Soleil] saying, “Hey, come and audition.” So I joined Cirque and did that for four years — I was in the original cast of Mystère. Then my wife, who I met in Vegas, got a job as a Rockette, so we moved to New York and I became a photographer and was directing circus shows at the same time and performing at the Met[ropolitan Opera]. I was in my limbo zone like: what am I gonna do, what am I gonna be? And then Ron Howard’s company called me and said, “Do you wanna come out to L.A. and work on a film called The Grinch?” Like, yeah, I’m comin’ out! He brought on five of my friends from Cirque, and we had about five weeks to play around in Whoville, and what [Howard] liked he said he’d put in the movie. When it came to coaching the extras, I just figured I’d help them like I would have in the circus. And Ron Howard saw that like, “Hey, what’s he doing?” “Oh, he’s teaching the extras movement…” “Call him into my office…” I thought I was gonna get fired — like, dude, you’re gone, man! But he said, “I like what you’re doing, and I want you to teach the whole cast. We’ll give you a sound-stage and we’ll call it Who School.” I came up with a stupid list of everything I needed — spring floors, unicycles, treadmills, all kinds of mats, the list went on and on — and a week later, it was all there. And then they called me for Planet of the Apes and asked, “Hey, can you do Ape School like you did Who School?” “Sure, I can do that!” And that eventually turned into, “Can you do superheroes?” And it just became a thing where the more I taught, the more I learned. Seeing the actors’ blueprints, what their habits are; I’ve developed my own technique to get through that. I call it “de-conditioning,” pointing out all the things that are social behaviors we’ve been conditioned to [use]. When you break all that down and wipe it away, you can start from a clean canvas — the neutral body, and that’s what you need to create something original. Q. Did you take particular lessons away from the Planet of the Apes movies that helped you develop that technique? For Planet of the Apes, at first I was trying to imitate apes. And I just kept asking myself, why is this not working? Then I got to work with two chimpanzees, Jacob and Jonah, and Jacob and I became friends. He was special. He jumped in my arms one day before we were going to rehearse, and he looked in my eyes, and he literally looked into my soul. I was like [gasps], “Oh my God, I see you!” He was looking right into me. I freaked out. It was a life-changing experience. He taught me about vulnerability, about gravitas, about strength in vulnerability, openness, being like a child, power. All at once. I realized that if I can teach that, then that is my higher purpose in this world. You can teach people about who they are, where fear comes from, why it inhibits us and we let it become true. That’s the nemesis of acting; trying to mask or disguise fear or hide it, or decide what the end goal is before you get there. I really embrace the idea of embracing fear and using it as fuel to allow us to go into the unknown. If you have a loose idea, the path will be organic and it won’t be acting; it’ll be being. That’s basically what I learned from an ape. Q. I’m struck by what you said about not imitating an ape but becoming one. When you have a real-life example of what you’re trying to emulate, that’s one thing — but when you’re coaching an actor in becoming a fictional being, like one of the Infected on The Last of Us, there’s the added challenge of not just acting “like a zombie.” And it’s very clear, through their movement, that the Infected were once human, and maybe still are in some way. Exactly right. They’re trapped within themselves, looking out from inside from some distant place. There’s’ an intelligence to them. They can’t just be bad guys, you have to feel sympathetic to them a bit. Q. How did you start to think about what their movement style would be like? Did the show-runners give you a sense of something they wanted? They gave me all kinds of reference videos for the game, and that was pretty much it. I had to pay homage to the game, and I watched the game and the play, but at a certain point it was enough; I didn’t need to see any more. It was about creating chaos but as a cohesive group. I was thinking of how birds flock and move in ebbing and flowing patterns, but more in this chaotic, broken cadence, so it felt like in the chaos there was some inter-connectedness. When I started working with the actors, I wanted to create a one-minded mentality. When one person moves, the whole group moves. No one led, no one followed; there was no ego or self-separation amongst each other. I wanted to explore the idea of how intelligent the cordyceps is, how [the Infected] can talk to each other through their roots, how they have this higher intelligence really, an ability to communicate without words, rather than being these mindless zombies. There was this otherness that made them feel dangerous in their collective camaraderie. Q. You had ran an Infected “bootcamp” to train the actors playing them. What exactly did that entail? It was about four and a half weeks we had everybody preparing — but that was after a crazy month of casting, like [across] all of Canada and narrowed down to 50 people. I went through hundreds and hundreds of videos, then had Zoom calls with each person, saw what they were about, then met them. It was a long process just to get that core group I was going to work with, and then the training started. At first it was just, “Everybody sit in a chair.” Everyone’s used to working really, really hard and being diligent, and it was about undoing that, getting back to breathing, sitting, presence. It was mind-blowing for a lot of people to start being present like that and just allow it. You just dissolve away, and the next thing you know, you’re going, “I gotta figure out who I am.” It’s so simple but so difficult. Then everyone’s one group, and we’re in it, and we can start the choreography, the techniques and exploring the broken [movement] cadence and the angles and the tempos and arrhythmic sensibility that would just surprise you into making mistakes. We’d go out on these fields — I had this huge double soccer field — and we’d do a big group warm up. Start with group exercises, flowing and moving through piles, then breaking off from the piles and working with each person individually. Building a little village, where I’m in the trenches with them. Q. Were the actors you cast typically coming from some kind of dance or movement background? Stunt background. All stunt players. Cause we needed them to jump over cars, come out of holes, quadruped, get hit, take shots. Heavy duty. Some are great movers, some are not. Some guys were incredible at running and just breaking through. Some guys were great at just hitting these positions on the ground when they died — doing that last sort of digging in. Some were just great at flowing as a group. Some guys were great at just taking car hits! [laughs]. Q. We learn over the course of the season that there isn’t just one kind of Infected; there are varieties with different defining characteristics. Were you figuring out how movement distinguished them as well? Yeah. The more evolved they became in their infected state, the more removed they became; the more they lost the conscious self that’s looking out going, “Help me! I’m stuck in here! I can’t control what’s going on here, I’m being taken over!” All the way to just being gone, like the Bloaters. Q. It seems like really physically taxing work…. It was freezing cold, and most of those shots were at night. It was pretty uncomfortable for those guys. Q. How did they take care of themselves? Well, the guy at the hotel we were staying at would keep the bar open early in the morning, so when we got in at 7 a.m., that helped! (Laughs.) And then we’d have Segway races, that helped too. But yes, we took care of ourselves. Lots of foam rollers, lots of stretching the next morning, lots of, “Okay, how hard are we going today?” Q. Will you be back to work on the movement for season two? I don’t think so, because I’m busy this year. I’m working on like five projects right now: two films in India that I’m directing action sequences on; another big series for television, with a show-runner whose work I really love; a film in England; and a Disney show in the States I’m excited about. I’m pretty booked up and busy! It was a moment in time, and I loved it. And it was great, but [that team] knows it now, and they’ll pull from that pool [of actors who already trained]. I mean, they did their own training! I just guided them. Those guys worked so hard on those scenes — you see it as one four-minute scene, but that took two weeks to shoot, all night every night. Everyone pulled their weight and then some. But we all felt like, “This is gonna be a good show. This is gonna rock.” Interview edited for length and clarity. { SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter } ---------------------------------------------------------- Cirque alum is one of Hollywood’s top movement coaches {Jun.20.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- Note: This article was published in 2017 Terry Notary helped bring Cirque du Soleil to the Strip as one of the creators and original cast members of “Mystere.” For the past 17 years, he’s helped bring everything from Hulks to Whos, orcs to Na’vi, and every sort of ape imaginable — including those in this weekend’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” — to the big screen as one of Hollywood’s top movement coaches and motion-capture artists. “I wear a few hats when I’m on a film. I wear quite a few,” he muses. “I’m usually performing, choreographing and coaching, and helping all the other actors with developing and maintaining their characters. It’s a lot, but I like it like that.” Notary, 48, was one of about 15 performers who spent nine months holed up in Montreal with director Franco Dragone putting together “Mystere.” The show opened in 1993 and is still going strong nearly 25 years later at Treasure Island. “We had a 10-year contract,” Notary recalls, “and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a long time for a show to be up.’ ” The four-time All-America gymnast at UCLA credits Dragone for inspiring him to become an artist. Despite having a theater degree, moving from the regimented world of competitive gymnastics to a place of artistic expression with Cirque “was a life-changing experience for me,” Notary says. “It brought me out of my shell.” After four years of performing on fast-track trampoline, teeterboard and Chinese poles, as well as portraying characters and playing drums, Notary left “Mystere” for New York, where he launched a circus production company and a photography studio. Then he received the phone call that would change his life. Leaping from Cirque to movies Notary and four other Cirque veterans were brought in to create acrobatic sequences for the Whos in the 2000 live-action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” While on set, Notary began working with some of the extras to create common motions. After seeing this, director Ron Howard elevated him to the role of movement coach. In the ensuing years, he’s been a movement coach or choreographer on blockbusters including “X-Men 2,” “Superman Returns,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Avatar,” “Suicide Squad” and all three “Hobbit” movies. But Notary’s specialty has become monkey business. Since working on Tim Burton’s 2001 “Planet of the Apes” remake, Notary has been Hollywood’s go-to guy for all things simian. He’s portrayed Rocket, Caesar’s right-hand man, throughout the new “Apes” trilogy. He starred as Kong in this year’s “Kong: Skull Island.” He co-stars as Oleg, a man who acts like an ape, in the Swedish film “The Square,” which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. And he’s choreographing the movements for Dwayne Johnson’s “Rampage,” next year’s movie adaptation of the 1980s video game about apes and monsters destroying buildings. ‘The ape Zen master’ But it’s his behind-the-scenes work on the “Apes” trilogy that’s perhaps the most remarkable. Called “the ape Zen master” by “War for the Planet of the Apes” writer-director Matt Reeves, Notary conducts Ape Camp for all the actors who’ll be wearing motion-capture suits that record not only their movements but their expressions for artists to render into realistic-looking apes. Becoming an ape involves much more than simply acting like one. If you pretend at all, Notary says, “It’s like, ‘Whoa! Eww! That’s disgusting.’ It’s almost gross.” Following Ape Camp, Notary begins an intimate, one-on-one relationship that borders on psychotherapy with some of the main actors. “Basically, we start working the second they walk through the door, I’m working with them,” he says. “I’ll watch how they open the door and walk over and put their bag down. And I’ll start just dissecting some of the behaviors and patterns that I’ll start picking up on and the energy that I’m picking up on from the actor.” A holistic approach Notary’s first step in helping an actor create his character is breathing and meditation. “It’s about creating a safe space immediately so that they understand that this is not about me telling them what to do, at all. It’s about me guiding them into discovering what they already know about themselves, but it’s just covered up with life and stuff. I kind of take the garbage away, and I pull all that meaningless stuff away and get down to the essence of the self. “It’s like cleaning house rather than straightening up,” Notary continues. “A lot of actors come in, and they try to straighten up a character, but then they’ve got all that (stuff) underneath the couch and underneath the carpet and stuffed away in the corner that is influencing and making that character very similar, if not the same, as the last character they played.” Part trainer, part life coach, Notary takes a holistic approach to his movement work. “Basically, it’s becoming a more well-rounded person, which is what it’s all about for me,” he admits. “It’s really not about making movies. If it was, I wouldn’t be in the business, because I feel like what we do, the work we do, is more important to them as people than it is for the character in the movie.” An unlikely career Even with 17 years in Hollywood, Notary says he didn’t realize this could be a career “just until recently, actually. Every time I work on a movie, I think, ‘Wow! I get to work on another movie? Wow! That’s amazing.’ ” Now he’s expanding his behind-the-scenes work by directing the second unit on motion-capture pioneer Andy Serkis’ version of “Jungle Book.” Notary and his good friend Serkis have made nine movies together, including the “Apes” trilogy, in which Serkis portrays the lead ape, Caesar. “Without Terry, apes wouldn’t feel so alive,” Serkis said in a statement. “He teaches you movement skills, but more than that, he teaches you how to just be and not feel you have to over-show anything.” Together, they’re helping prove to the world that motion-capture work is every bit as legitimate as any other form of acting. “When people see us on set, they’re, like, ‘Oh my God, you guys are really actors,’ ” Notary says, still with a bit of disbelief. “And it’s, like, ‘Yeah!’ ” Becoming a superhero Using motion-capture technology, Terry Notary portrayed The Hulk in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk.” Now, he’s working with current Hulk Mark Ruffalo on his movements on the Atlanta set of “Avengers: Infinity War” and its still untitled sequel. He also spent two weeks with Josh Brolin, developing his motions as the villainous Thanos. “Something that you invent from scratch is really, really fun. Super rewarding,” Notary says. “It’s super challenging, though.” And each character is approached with a different physicality in mind. For The Hulk, Notary says, “his whole thing is this gravitas, this bigness driven from the back. Some characters are driven by the knees. Some characters are driven by the gut. Like, dwarves are just gut- driven.” Notary also provided the motion-capture work as Tim Roth’s Abomination in “The Incredible Hulk,” and he brought The Silver Surfer to life in 2007’s “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” With the upcoming “Avengers” sequels, he’s adding two more comic-book characters to his resume. The way Marvel swears its actors to secrecy, Notary can’t talk about his roles. But he’ll be portraying Groot as well as one of Thanos’ closest allies. “I’m playing a couple of characters,” Notary says, careful not to violate any of the terms of his contract. “I’m really happy about that.” { SOURCE: The Las Vegas Review-Journal (2017) } ---------------------------------------------------------- MJ ONE Celebrating a Spectacular 10 Years in Las Vegas {Jun.25.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- Among the countless thrills found on the Las Vegas Strip, few shows have captivated audiences like Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil. Over 10 years and more than 4,000 performances, “MJ ONE” has etched its name into the thriving landscape of Vegas entertainment. By the time it debuted at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on June 29, 2013, Cirque du Soleil had already carved out a sensational reputation with long-running favorites Mystère and “O”, and the pressure to build on that legacy was felt by everyone on the MJ ONE creation team. “It seemed unattainable,” says Igor Zambelli, a slackline artist who’s been with the show since day one. “Now looking back, we’ve really come a long way to create this history for ourselves. We’re part of continuing the legacy of Michael Jackson, and the amazing history of Cirque in Las Vegas.” Today, the show draws visitors five nights a week from around the world, making it one of the best-selling shows in Las Vegas. The dedication to craft that defined Michael Jackson’s career is apparent in every aspect of MJ ONE, from monumental songs and dance, to groundbreaking music videos, to his unmistakable influence on the world of fashion. “The costumes are so iconic,” says Wardrobe Supervisor Veronica Vazquez. “You expect that when you see a Michael Jackson show. You can’t do Smooth Criminal without seeing an element of that pinstripe suit.” In fact, each outfit is painstakingly designed to pay homage to King of Pop’s sense of style. From the crystal-embellished glove, to his fedora to rhinestone white socks, every thread of MJ ONE’s wardrobe embodies his timeless fashion statements. This immense respect for details – amplified by the Michael Jackson ONE cast, crew and creators, brings the show to life. Thousands of elements, from intricate costumes to props, are brought together to make a production that defies expectations. Now in its 10th year, this dynamic collaboration between the music and legacy of Michael Jackson and the extraordinary production and acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil stands on its own. With an electrifying fusion of acrobatics, dance, and visuals that embody the showmanship of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson ONE continues to astound and inspire visitors from throughout the world. { SOURCE: Las Vegas Magazine } ---------------------------------------------------------- ‘O’ Performer Injured in New Act {Jun.29.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- A performer in Cirque du Soleil’s flagship show has been hospitalized after a harrowing incident Wednesday night. An artist in “O” at Bellagio was injured, taken from the stage on a stretcher and underwent emergency surgery following an accident in the 9:30 p.m. performance. Multiple sources familiar with the show, speaking under the condition of anonymity, have identified the injured performer as diver Kyle Mitrione. Cirque representatives declined to confirm the identity of the injured cast member. Mitrione reportedly fractured his neck in the incident and underwent a five-hour emergency surgery overnight that is said to be a success. The 35-year-old artist was reportedly coherent, and could move his extremities, when he was taken from the theater. Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Teri Williams said Thursday afternoon the agency will investigate the incident. Cirque complied with OSHA regulations, reporting an injury that requires hospitalization within 24 hours of the incident. Williams said OSHA officials will be dispatched to the “O” theater to conduct an inspection. In such cases, an official visits the work site to review injury and illness logs, read training records, evaluate the employer’s safety and health plan, review the work area where the incident took place, collect photos and video of the incident, and conduct interviews with employees and company safety officials. Cirque spokeswoman Ann Paladie confirmed Thursday morning that an artist had been injured during Wednesday’s production: “An artist who is part of the barge act was injured diving off the floating barge platform. In accordance with our emergency response protocols, we stopped the show to allow the emergency intervention team of ‘O’ to safely bring the artist backstage where he/she was immediately taken in good care by the medical team. “As always in the case of an accident, the artist will continue to be monitored by the ‘O’ medical and coaching teams to determine when they return to their activities.” The show is continuing its usual schedule at Bellagio. Cirque officials met with cast and crew Thursday afternoon to update Mitrione’s condition, and offer mental-health counseling to the employees. According to sources on the scene of Wednesday’s “O” show, Mitrione was involved in a new act in the production, called Island. The number has been in the show for two weeks. In the routine, a performers stand on top of one another’s shoulders to form two three-person pyramids (two males at the bottom, a female at the top). They then dive into the aquatic stage. A pair of two-man acts then appear at the back of the stage. Those performers back-dive into the water and onto a lift — the Island — that rises from the water after the performers dive in. But the timing of the act was off, as the artists reportedly dove in as the Island was rising to the top of the water. One artist suffered scrapes on his chest and abdomen, and the other — Mitrione —struck his head on the platform. The show was then immediately halted, the curtains drawn, and Mitrione was strapped to a stretcher and taken from the theater. The performance resumed after the performer was treated in the venue, with an announcement to the audience in the 1,800-seat theater that the performer was OK. Mitrione is part of the extended Las Vegas entertainment family. His wife, Karolina Melska, is an aerialist who performs in “Fantasy” on Mondays and has also been featured in the Cirque-Beatles “Love” show at the Mirage. As is evident across social media, Mitrione is an experienced athlete and stunt performer who joined “O” two years ago as it returned from the pandemic shutdown. Mitrione has been a member of the Red Bull Cliff Diving extreme stunt team, as he’s advanced his career with Cirque in Las Vegas. In his collegiate career, Mitrione was a standout platform diver at Purdue University. According to the PurdueSports.com website, Mitrione was named the Boilermakers’ swimming and diving team co-captain in 2009-2010, and an honorable mention All-American in 2008-2009. Mitrione was also a two-time All-American at his hometown Haddonfield (N.J.) Memorial High School, and two-time New Jersey state champion who led his school to the 2004 state championship. The incident occurred 10 years almost to the day when Cirque suffered its only fatality in a Strip production. On June 29, 2013, “Ka” performer and French acrobat Sarah Guyard-Guillot fell some 95 feet from the show’s rotating stage into the pit after the cable connected to her harness snapped. In 2020, just weeks before the pandemic shutdown, OSHA investigated two accidents in Cirque shows. In January of that year, an artist in “O” fell 15 feet from the show’s Russian Swing apparatus and suffered multiple fractures to his back and ribs and damage to his kidney and lungs and required hospitalization. The following February, an aerial artist in “Love” fell some 20 feet to the stage during the show’s closing number and suffered injuries to his arm and back, along with internal injuries. He was treated on site, hospitalized and returned to the show “O” is Cirque’s signature production and top-selling show, performing two times a night, five nights a week, dark Mondays and Tuesdays. The show celebrates its 25th anniversary in October, in a string of landmarks for the Strip’s predominant production company. “Michael Jackson One” celebrates its 10th anniversary Thursday. “Mystere” marks its 30th anniversary on Christmas Day. { SOURCE: John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Review-Journal } ---------------------------------------------------------- Behind The Scenes: Cirque du Soleil Corteo {Jul.01.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- It was a family reunion like no other. After a two year hiatus, the performers of Cirque du Soleil Corteo came back together post-COVID, ready to resurrect this newest Cirque show. Before them lay several weeks of rehearsal, in which they rehone their skills, relearn their moves, and regain their confidence in themselves and in each other. The moments of elation upon seeing each other for the first time in months are nearly overshadowed by the feelings of excitement and trepidation at beginning Corteo anew. Cirque du Soleil Corteo premiered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2005. Corteo is a story about a man named Mauro (played by Mauro Mozzani). Mauro is a clown in a circus. One night, he dreams about dying and imagines what his friends might do to remember him and celebrate his life. (“Corteo”, or “cortege”, in Italian, is a joyous procession.) The celebration is what you would expect of any Cirque show: a parade of gravity-defying exhibitions of grace, dexterity, strength, and stamina, executed by a multi-national cast of jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, clowns, singers, dancers, actors, and musicians. Ultimately, Corteo is a story about love and hope. The story is told in the universal languages of expression — music, performance, and emotion. For the performing troupe, the journey back to the Cirque homebase of Montreal for rehearsals may be reminiscent of those initial auditions that they all went through so many years before. Performers from all over the world execute the most complex of live productions. Expectations run extremely high, as the Cirque name has become synonymous with stellar and incomparable performances. So far, the reunion is successful. “It’s extraordinary,” exclaims Senior Artistic Director Alison Crawford. “They came back in fitter shape than when they left. So, it’s really, really exciting!” The intricacies of each act — even the transitional portions between acts — had already been decided many months ago, before COVID shut the show down. So part of the challenge was to refresh everyone’s recollections of those things and rebuild the muscle memory that enables the performers to step into and out of each phase of the show smoothly and automatically. The variety within and between acts puts the performers in constant motion, whether they take center stage or not. All key movements are choreographed, with the performers adding their own nuances, keeping things fresh and seeming spontaneous. Behind the scenes, even more is going on. If you’ve ever wondered how spotlights can so precisely follow the performers who are darting around the stage with seemingly wild abandon, here’s the secret: Artists may wear transmitters that are connected to the lighting system. These allow lights to literally track those performers’ exact locations at all times. Along with lighting, railways and walkways are built high above the stage to float performers over the crowd, and to provide lofty exits for the airborne talent. The Construction Department creates props, from giant balloons to bouncy beds to rotating chandeliers, all fabricated to meet the needs of the production style while being functional apparatus for acrobats and aerialists. The Wardrobe Department stocks over two thousand costumes. They are prepared, adjusted, mended, and cleaned to accommodate every performer’s needs. Of course, every costume is uniquely tailored to each individual’s needs. The Makeup Department develops and documents each character’s makeup “look”. As in any traditional circus, performers are expected to apply their own makeup. So what does it take to be a part of Cirque Du Soleil Corteo? More than half of all Cirque performers come from a sports background. Many are former Olympians. That said, prospective Cirque performers need to be ready to transition to a new and unique phase of physical and mental training. “We’re really, really conscious of not wanting to pluck athletes out of sports,” says Cirque Director of Casting, Stacy Clark. “They need to be done. It needs to be post-competitive. They need to be emotionally ready to put sports behind them.” Even after the best physical specimens are selected, many will fall by the wayside simply because they are not good performers. Singing, dancing, synchronized movement, and stage presence will make or break even the best athletes who are vying for the few available spots in the production. If it is crystal clear that Cirque may live and die by the uncompromising stamina of their most physically fit troupe members, could there possibly be anyone else they might raise to the same level of importance? But of course: the clowns! The most memorable performers of any Cirque show are apt to be the clowns. They are the emotional glue that holds the story together. They are also employed to provide fun segues between acts, scurrying out at the end of one act, stumbling through a well-rehearsed, but seemingly improvised comic skit, only to scamper off as the next act takes the stage. Clowns need to be physically dexterous, with the ability to convey a vast array of emotion in their facial expression and the contortions of their bodies. Speaking is pretty much optional when you practice the universal language of pantomime. In Corteo, the main character, Mauro, is a clown; as is his best friend, the Giant Clown and the ever-present White Clown. Corteo, itself, is a figment of a clown’s dream. Through Mauro’s dream we are transformed to the depths of human emotion while experiencing the height of entertainment. Expect nothing less from Cirque du Soleil. { SOURCE: Splash Magazines } ---------------------------------------------------------- Les costumes d’Echo du Cirque du Soleil {Jul.01.2023} {Translated from the original French by Paul LeBarr… thank you!} Echo, Cirque du Soleil’s new show, is breathtaking by the athletic exploits of the artists, but also by the technical prowess of the costumes. My exchange with Nicolas Vaudelet, the costume designer, confirmed that the simpler it seems, the more complex it is. With this new production, the team developed a more refined and contemporary stylistic approach, far from the usual ornamentation of Cirque costumes. We could almost say a fashion aesthetic. Some might even fall for several looks of the show while the tailor approach comes from the suit to the trench coat and the short jacket. A few weeks after the world premiere of the show, Nicolas continues to work on the costumes. “There are always small changes to make, there are sometimes new artists, you always have to think about back-ups, etc. A show never ends, we always continue to refine things, and fortunately, because it allows us to leave creation slowly, “explains Nicolas Vaudelet. Review of the different Echo costumes with Nicolas Vaudelet. Echo begins as Future and his dog Ewai go on stage. They are dressed in suits printed with a blue sky dotted with white clouds. The two artists are in symbiosis, Ewai is a domesticated wolf-dog who takes the colors of the human, of his master. In the original idea, the character of Future represents, through the clouds, the dream, the future. “We’ve seen the cloud print a lot. It came from Magritte’s inspiration and surrealism, before Louis Vuitton published it in his show! Cloud print is difficult to work with, because it can quickly make poor quality. A cloud too bright on stage, it’s cheap! Moreover, the costumes of Future and Ewai are cut from different materials to meet the needs of the two artists. It was very annoying, but it makes sense. It works well, a surreal print in a monochrome universe, “says the costume designer. The banquine number and human frame is the most colorful of all. “There are no two colors like this. The outfielders, who are closer to the light, wear warm shades, while the artists on the ground wear cold shades. We thus want to accentuate the aerial aspect of the number, “says Vaudelet. The double troubled manipulation number is the comic portion of the show. The two protagonists represent the era of industrialization. “The red orange, orange with fluorescent, is a synthetic color that represents consumption and trade. Their hat is a nod to the English businessmen of the 1940s, “says the costume designer. The costumes of the hair suspension number are bold, because the fireflies light up. “It’s very new to integrate electronics into an acrobatic act, because it’s very fragile, you have to protect the connections. It was also necessary to strip the two artists as much as possible while respecting the aesthetics of the show, “says Vaudelet. The pieces he is most proud of are the masks. “I am very attached to all masks. We explored things we had never done before. Usually, we do not put masks on acrobats for reasons of safety, performance and not to take humanity away from artists. Designing a goat, antelope or bull mask while clearing lateral vision and maintaining the characteristics and volumes of each species was perilous, “says the creator. The cartographer is a mysterious character, he wears a suit, whose silhouette dates from another era. “He is our explorer and architect. Its silhouette is that of the 19th century to which a print of the game “tie the dots” was applied. You have to work with the artist’s body and personality. It has gone through several stages of creation and it will soon evolve to yet another. Since Piotr Kopacz has beautiful arms, we will show them. In addition, the jacket is short to lengthen his legs, “says Nicolas Vaudelet. Echo’s costumes are made of Cirque du Soleil’s usual visual invoice. They are both simple and minimalist, moving away from the costumed look. “The Circus is used to having a richness in costumes, a certain baroque aspect in ornaments, prints and embroidery. It is an aesthetics that is recognizable. It was therefore a challenge to follow this idea of simplification, almost fashion in the costume, “says Nicolas Vaudelet. The white suits, whose fabric looks like crumpled paper, are impressive, because this type of clothing is not associated with the circus universe. “It was a technical challenge. So we tried in Tyvek, the material used for painter’s dogs, but it was impossible with the daily maintenance in the washing machine. The Circus is also the genius of the workshop, which is a magnificent laboratory. We did pleat tests on polyester fibers to achieve the desired effect, “shares the costume designer. “Simplification does not work every time. There really has to be a set and all the designers have to be in the same bath. The simplification of the costume, without the genius of Martin Labrecque with lighting, the staging of Mukhtar O.S. Mukhtar and Andrew Skeels’ choreographies, it wouldn’t work, “he says. { SOURCE: Journal de Montreal } ---------------------------------------------------------- Shakeup in ‘O’ Management After Performer Injured {Jul.05.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- A week after one of its accomplished, experienced artists was injured onstage in “O,” Cirque du Soleil has announced two senior officials are “on leave” from the show. In companywide, internal memo issued Wednesday by Cirque President of Resident Shows Division Eric Grilly, the company announced Senior Company Manager Tony Ricotta and Senior Artistic Director Pierre Parisien are on leave from the show. Grilly also met with the show’s cast and crew at O Theatre at Bellagio late Wednesday afternoon to tell them the news in-person. The management shakeup is the result of injuries suffered by “O” artist Kyle Mitrione in Wednesday’s 9:30 p.m. performance. The memo, with Cirque’s sunburst logo letterhead, began with the subject line, “Update and changes following June 28th incident.” No timeline was given for how long the two sidelined officials would be away from the production. But Parisien e-mailed what seemed a farewell note to the cast Tuesday. The creative official said he would be with the Orlando production “Dawn To Life” for two weeks. He added, “I needed a little bit of time to process everything that has happened to me in the past three weeks,” and thanked the crew for “all of the great work we did together during the years I was there.” The company has already assigned officials to fill the two open slots. Claude Bourbonniere is stepping in as senior company manager, working with the just-appointed Senior Artistic Director Tim Smith. Mitrione, a former champion diver out of Purdue University, was injured while performing a back-dive during the Island number, an act put into the show two weeks before the incident. Mitrione hit the Island landing with his head as the set piece rose from the show’s aquatic stage. Mitrione reportedly fractured his neck and was taken from the theater on a stretcher, and underwent a five-hour, emergency surgery late Wednesday night. The show paused as he was treated onstage and taken from the theater, then resumed. “O” has not missed a performance because of the accident. Mitrione is reportedly conscious and aware of what happened. Sources on the scene say he was coherent after the incident and able to move his extremities. A fundraising campaign has been launched to assist in meal prep for Mitrione’s family (Venmo @mikeWynn2 is one of the donation portals). According to his LinkedIn profile, Ricotta is company manager over “O” and “Mad Apple” at New York-New York (We first met the official in 2011, when “Zarkana” was being developed for then-Zarkana Theater at Aria). Parisien has been with Cirque since 1994, and has worked on “Mystere,” “Criss Angel Believe,” “Ka,” and “Love,” along with “O.” The show is under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal-government’s labor-safety agency. OSHA spokeswoman Teri Williams reiterated Wednesday that the agency is investigating the show. The official said in an e-mail that Nevada OSHA has up to six months to issue a citation, but that each case is unique and the timeframe is based on the complexity, availability of business reps and employees required for interviews, among other variables. Cirque PR rep Ann Paladie declined to comment on Mitrione’s care and condition, or how the company is organizing any relief to the family to offset medical-related expenses. Paladie said in an e-mail message: “Out of respect for Kyle, and to ensure compliance with applicable medical privacy laws, we are not able to share details about his personal health condition, but please be assured that we are providing the best possible care and support for him as well as his family.” Of the OSHA inspection and review of the production, Paladie said, “While we cannot discuss the details because the investigation remains ongoing, we are cooperating fully with OSHA. We are hiring an external consultant to do our own internal investigation as well.” Grilly’s memo noted that two members of the Cirque human resources department would be on-site to communicate with cast and crew. The document indicated the company is looking into a range of workplace issues at “O,” and encouraging the cast and crew to be “open and forthcoming” in the information shared. { SORUCE: John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Review-Journal } ---------------------------------------------------------- Comedian Harrison Greenbaum Says 'Nothing's Off Limits' in MAD APPLE {Jul.06.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- Cirque du Soleil’s Mad Apple, which just passed its first anniversary at New York-New York, is unlike anything we’ve seen on the Strip from the groundbreaking theatrical company, and first-timers will realize that even before comedian Harrison Greenbaum drops the F-bomb. It’s 80 minutes of music and mayhem paying homage to New York City’s nightlife and culture, and that includes no-holds-barred stand-up from Greenbaum, a Harvard grad and Andy Kaufman Award winner. Q. What was your first impression of the opportunity to work in a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas? I had just seen O at the Bellagio, so I think my first thought was, “Have they seen me in a Speedo?” But in all seriousness, everything happened so fast: Mad Apple was about to have its first performance, and they needed a last minute fill-in for the main comedy role, so I got a call on a Saturday night asking if I could be on a plane the next morning. I said yes, packed three pairs of underwear and was off to Vegas. The show went really well, so they asked me to stay for the next show, then for the rest of the week, and before I could get back on the plane, I had an offer to headline the show for the next year and a half. I still haven’t had enough time to process that I’m the first stand-up comedian to star in a Cirque show in 38 years, because Cirque basically kidnapped me, and I still need more underwear. Q. Your comedy is obviously edgier than what we’ve seen in Cirque shows until now. What was the process in developing what you can and cannot say? One of the non-negotiables I had when joining the show was that there couldn’t be any restrictions on what I could or couldn’t say. I’m a nationally touring comedian and magician, and I think that freedom is one of the most important parts of me being able to do my job, so I wasn’t about to give that up. Thankfully, and to Cirque’s credit, they’ve trusted me to do whatever I want, which also speaks to what kind of show Mad Apple is—if you want to have authentic New York comedy in the show, the only rule you can have is that you have to go out and kill as hard as possible. I have a list of words that I’m the first Cirque performer in history to have said, and it keeps growing. I could tell you the list, but I don’t think you could print any of them. Q. Is there another level of naughtiness that you can go to in your other gigs? My approach to the show and Cirque’s goal for my performances are the same: When I’m onstage, we want the audience to feel like they’re at a New York comedy club. That means that the level of naughtiness at Mad Apple isn’t really different from any of my other gigs. If anything, because I have free rein in a Cirque show, I sometimes feel like I can be even naughtier, since I’m the only Cirque performer that’s basically allowed to make fun of the fact that he’s currently in a Cirque show! Nothing’s off-limits—sex, politics, religion—the whole thing. In fact, I got my first death threat doing religion jokes on this show and my response was, “You want to kill a Jew for what he has to say? Where have I read that story before.” Q. What have you learned about living and performing in Las Vegas this first year? There are four seasons in Las Vegas: cold, surprisingly cold, May, and the surface of the sun. Also, not everything is open 24/7, but Golden Tiki is, so definitely go there. Did I mention the heat? It’s very hot here. Now that I’ve lived in the desert for a year, I realize that when the Jews were wandering the desert for 40 years, Moses probably spent most of that time telling the other Jews, “Don’t worry, it’s a dry heat.” { SOURCE: Las Vegas Weekly } ---------------------------------------------------------- Mysterious World of Cirque du Soleil: Behind the Magic {Jul.08.2023} ---------------------------------------------------------- Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company and the world’s largest theater production company. Known as Canada’s “National Treasure,” it is the fastest growing, highest-earning and most popular art group in the world today. Corteo is a centerpiece play from Cirque that combines elegant aerial acrobatics and shocking theatrical performances. “Corteo” means “cortege” in Italian, which means a process of joy and refers to a happy team imagined by the clown, Mauro, who envisions that his own burial will take place amid a carnival atmosphere and be attended by tender angels. The show contrasts the grand with the intimate, the silly with the tragic, and the beauty of perfection with the appeal of imperfection. It also emphasizes the strength and vulnerability of the clown as well as his knowledge and generosity to represent the aspect of humanity that exists in each of us. Corteo is guided through a timeless ceremony in which fantasy teases reality with music, which is both poetic and mischievous. This drama brings theater fans the joy and fun that belongs to the theater world, as well as being in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The Corteo – Cirque Du Soleil World Tour came to Boston last month. . Sampan had the exclusive opportunity to get a first look at the stage, cast rehearsal, costume room, and a backstage tour with Props Technician Kevin Chuang before the their premiere show at the Agganis Arena. Chuang, born in Hong Kong, graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in props. He recalls his origin story: “It was a Cirque Du Soleil Asia tour in Macau. I saw an internal recruitment for a prop technician, so I applied immediately, because there happened to be more than 10 acrobats from mainland China at that time. I speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English fluently and can help actors and staff to communicate better. I was lucky to get the job at that time, and this is how I started my journey with Cirque du Soleil. It has now been for 13 years. I remember one time in North America, there were some problems with the prop truck. The truck arrived at the scene only two hours before the performance, which required the whole team to work well together, under high pressure and a tight schedule to build the stage and get ready with all the props. We usually need to check all the props at least 2-3 hours before the performance. Like the premiere show at 7 o’clock tonight, the team had to prepare in advance – we arrived at 10 o’clock this morning. Every time we tour different places, we have to make some adjustments depending on the venue. With a show like tonight in an Arena, the props department will merge with the carpentry department, about 5-6 people. The carpentry department is responsible for building the stage and the screen, and the props department is only me this time. Corteo – Cirque Du Soleil has about 120 participants in total, and there are about 50 actors, 34 professional athletes, some are Olympic level, representing 27 nationalities and 17 languages. About 20-30 are backstage technicians, basically divided into props, carpentry, sounds, lighting, wagging, trapeze, chefs, costumes, stage management, office assistant, etc. Every department needs to be responsible for its own work to ensure that every detail is close to perfect. The most important thing between the different departments is trust and that they do not delay each other. Our crew members are from different countries and we often travel to different places and cities. I need to adapt to a new environment and working styles. I like meeting people from different backgrounds, learning languages, enjoying food and experiencing various cultures. After a few years of touring, many crew members will join different shows or tours. I am lucky to have made some great friends over the years. A few years ago, Cirque du Soleil toured back to my hometown – Hong Kong. It was the first time my family and friends came to see the show. I was very proud to show them my work. There are not many crew members who come from Hong Kong and can tour with Cirque du Soleil, maybe only about 5 people from the Hong Kong area. Every time I call my family, they always ask me when I will be back home. I miss them so much! My family sees I am doing the things I love so they are all very supportive. Usually after a twelve week tour, we will get about a 2 week break, and the manager will arrange for us to travel home. After the tour in the U.S, we will go to Mexico in October. My plan is to visit my family after that. Hopefully I can buy a ticket that only stops at two places, but most likely need to transfer three times to be able to get back to Hong Kong.” During the past two years of the pandemic, the tour was paused. Until April last year, the Corteo – Cirque Du Soleil team started rehearsing for a month in Croatia and Australia, and then continued the tour in Europe. Chuang continued: “Corteo is a show that leads the audience into a magical world and temporarily away from reality. The staff behind the scenes are like magicians, presenting fantasy and joy in the best way. I love my job, I don’t feel like I’m working at all, I enjoy it every single day! It’s amazing to be able to be part of creating a magical world and be able to present on the stage. When you hear the laughter and applause, you know that you have accomplished your goal. We set up the stage in the middle and will divide the audience into two sides in Agganis Arena, which is very close to how we stage our big screen show. The acrobats, the actors and the musicians work very well together – it is… perfect. Corteo will tour in the U.S this year and I hope everyone will come to enjoy it. We celebrated the 18th anniversary of Corteo – Cirque Du Soleil two weeks ago. We ate, sang and danced together. Every dream will have a beginning and an end, and I am very lucky to live in one of them every day.” { SOURCE: Dongdong Yang; Sampan } ======================================================================= ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION ======================================================================= o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau {Alegria INAL, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia, Bazzar} o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues {Crystal, Corteo, Messi10, OVO} o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre {Mystère, "O", LOVE, MJ ONE, JOYA, and Mad Apple} 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/ >. ------------------------------------ BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau ------------------------------------ Alegría-In a New Light: Osaka, JP -- July 14, 2023 to October 15, 2023 London, UK -- January 11, 2024 to February 11, 2024 Barcelona, ES -- March 20, 2024 to April 14, 2024 Madrid, ES -- December 4, 2024 to January 6, 2025 Koozå: Denver, CO -- July 5, 2023 to August 13, 2023 Calgary, AB -- August 25, 2023 to October 8, 2023 Vancouver, BC -- October 21, 2023 to December 31, 2023 San Francisco, CA -- January 17, 2024 to March 10, 2024 Kurios: Knokke, BE -- July 27, 2023 to August 27, 2023 Brussels, BE -- September 7, 2023 to October 8, 2023 Paris, FR -- November 16, 2023 to December 17, 2023 Luzia: Frankfurt, DE -- June 13, 2023 to July 23, 2023 Seoul, SKR -- October 25, 2023 to November 12, 2023 Bazzar: Buenos Aires, AR -- June 23, 2023 to July 30, 2023 Oaks, PA -- September 26, 2023 to October 22, 2023 San Antonio, TX -- November 5, 2023 to December 3, 2023 Charlotte, NC -- December 16, 2023 to January 14, 2024 St. Petersburg, FL -- February 22, 2024 to March 24, 2024 ECHO: Montreal, QC -- April 20, 2023 to August 20, 2023 Washington, DC -- September 6, 2023 to October 22, 2023 Atlanta, GA -- November 5, 2023 to January 21, 2024 TWAS THE NIGHT: St. Louis, MO -- TBA Baltimore, MD -- November 24, 2023 to December 3, 2023 Chicago, IL -- TBA Milwaukee, WI -- November 24, 2023 to November 26, 2023 New York, NY -- TBA ------------------------------------ ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues ------------------------------------ CRYSTAL - A BREAKTHROUGH ICE EXPERIENCE: Auckland, NZ -- Jul 4, 2023 to Jul 9, 2023 Brisbane, AU -- Jul 21, 2023 to Jul 30, 2023 Sydney, AU -- Aug 3, 2023 to Aug 13, 2023 Melbourne, AU -- Aug 17, 2023 to Aug 27, 2023 Adelaide, AU -- Aug 31, 2023 to Sep 3, 2023 Perth, AU -- Sep 15, 2023 to Sep 24, 2023 Windsor, ON -- Nov 30, 2023 to Dec 3, 2023 Oshawa, ON -- Dec 7, 2023 to Dec 10, 2023 Hamilton, ON -- Dec 14, 2023 to Dec 17, 2023 Montreal, QC -- Dec 22, 2023 to Dec 31, 2023 Hershey, PA -- Jan 11, 2024 to Jan 14, 2024 Pittsburg, PA -- Jan 18, 2024 to Jan 21, 2024 CORTEO: Ottawa, ON -- Jun 28, 2023 to Jul 2, 2023 Kingston, ON -- Jul 6, 2023 to Jul 9, 2023 Saint Paul, MN -- Jul 13, 2023 to Jul 16, 2023 Sacramento, CA -- Aug 3, 2023 to Aug 6, 2023 San Jose, CA -- Aug 9, 2023 to Aug 13, 2023 Oakland, CA -- Aug 17, 2023 to Aug 20, 2023 San Francisco, CA -- Aug 23, 2023 to Aug 27, 2023 Palm Springs, CA -- Aug 31, 2023 to Sep 3, 2023 San Diego, CA -- Sep 6, 2023 to Sep 10, 2023 Phoenix, AZ -- Sep 13, 2023 to Sep 17, 2023 Wichita, KS -- Nov 9, 2023 to Nov 12, 2023 Dayton, OH -- Nov 16, 2023 to Nov 19, 2023 Cleveland, OH -- Nov 22, 2023 to Nov 26, 2023 Omaha, NE -- Nov 30, 2023 to Dec 3, 2023 Winnipeg, MB -- Dec 7, 2023 to Dec 10, 2023 Regina, SK -- Dec 14, 2023 to Dec 17, 2023 Saskatoon, SK -- Dec 21, 2023 to Dec 24, 2023 Edmonton, AB -- Dec 27, 2023 to Dec 31, 2023 Penticon, BC -- Jan 4, 2024 to Jan 7, 2024 Victoria, BC -- Jan 11, 2024 to Feb 14, 2024 Baton Rouge, LA -- Feb 22, 2024 to Feb 25, 2024 Jacksonville, FL -- Mar 7, 2024 to Mar 10, 2024 MESSI10: Salta, AR -- Jul 14, 2023 to Jul 29, 2023 Buenos Aires, AR -- Oct 5, 2023 to Nov 5, 2023 OVO: San Sebastian, ES -- Jul 19, 2023 to Jul 23, 2023 Gijon, ES -- Jul 26, 2023 to Aug 6, 2023 Gran Canaria, ES -- Aug 12, 2023 to Aug 20, 2023 Amsterdam, NL -- Sep 7, 2023 to Sep 10, 2023 Rotterdam, NL -- Sep 14, 2023 to Sep 17, 2023 Bordeaux, FR -- Sep 21, 2023 to Sep 24, 2023 Turin, IT -- Sep 28, 2023 to Oct 1, 2023 Berlin, DE -- Oct 5, 2023 to Oct 8, 2023 Zurich, CH -- Oct 11, 2023 to Oct 15, 2023 Bratislava, SK -- Oct 19, 2023 to Oct 22, 2023 Pesaro, IT -- Oct 26, 2023 to Oct 29, 2023 Bologna, IT -- Nov 2, 2023 to Nov 5, 2023 Florence, IT -- Nov 8, 2023 to Nov 12, 2023 Lyon, FR -- Nov 15, 2023 to Nov 19, 2023 Toulouse, FR -- Dec 7, 2023 to Dec 10, 2023 Granada, ES -- Dec 13, 2023 to Dec 17, 2023 Lisbon, PT -- Dec 20, 2023 to Dec 30, 2023 Santiago, ES -- Jan 3, 2024 to Jan 7, 2024 Zaragoza, ES -- Jan 10, 2024 to Jan 14, 2024 Lausanne, CH -- Jan 18, 2024 to Jan 21, 2024 Vienna, AT -- Feb 1, 2024 to Feb 4, 2024 Budapest, HU -- Feb 8, 2024 to Feb 11, 2024 Bucharest, RO -- Feb 15, 2024 to Feb 18, 2024 --------------------------------- RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre --------------------------------- Mystère: Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark: Wednesday/Thursday Variable Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2023 Dark Days: o) July 21, 2023 o) September 8 thru 12, 2023 o) November 10, 2023 "O": Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Friday, Dark Monday/Tuesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2023 Dark Days: o) August 16-20, 2023 o) October 22, 2023 o) November 29-30, 2023 o) December 1-3, 2023 o) December 6-10, 2023 KA: Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2023 Dark Days: o) August 16, 2023 o) October 21 - 25, 2023 o) November 18, 2023 o) December 13, 2023 LOVE: Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm Age Requirements: - Children under 5 not permitted. 2023 Dark Days: o) July 4 & 11, 2023 o) September 5-9, 2023 o) September 12-16, 2023 o) November 18, 2023 o) December 25, 2023 MICHAEL JACKSON ONE: Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Thursday through Monday - Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2023 Dark Days: o) August 10 - 14, 2023 o) October 16, 2023 JOYÀ: Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday DRAWN TO LIFE: Location: Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 5:30pm and 8:00pm MAD APPLE: Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark: Wednesday/Thursday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm Age Requirements: - Children under 16 not permitted. - Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult 2023 Dark Days: o) August 21 – 22, 2023 o) October 27 – 31, 2023 o) November 3 – 7, 2023 o) December 18 – 19, 2023 ======================================================================= FASCINATION! FEATURES ======================================================================= o) "THERE'S NOTHING LIKE MIXING A CIRQUE SHOW" - an Exclusive Interview with David Wallace, head of PLANS at Cirque du Soleil's "Drawn to Life" [Part 3 of 3] By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA) o) "LIFE IS A CIRCUS 3: Even More Posts from the Cirque Blog" By: Cirque's Artists, Editors, and More... ---------------------------------------------------------- "THERE'S NOTHING LIKE MIXING A CIRQUE SHOW" - an Exclusive Interview with David Wallace, head of PLANS at Cirque du Soleil's "Drawn to Life" [Part 3 of 3] By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA) ---------------------------------------------------------- For our last two issues we’ve been having a conversation with Mr. David Wallace - Head of PLANS (Projections, Lighting, Audio, Networking & Special Effects) for Cirque du Soleil’s Drawn to Life in Orlando. This month we conclude our conversation, learning about the other aspects of Mr. Wallace’s creativity, and his feelings on his lifelong passion. HIS OTHER LIFE(S) ----------------- So far, we’ve focused on Mr. Wallace’s experiences with Cirque du Soleil, but there are other sides to his efforts in the audio realm. “There's a whole other side to my life, sound and system design for museum exhibits. Have you heard of the exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center, where the space shuttle Atlantis is hung in the air with its cargo bay doors open? I did the sound for everything in there, except the main theater which was designed and mixed by another company. (See a description at: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore- attractions/shuttle-a-ship-like-no-other/featured-attraction/space- shuttle-atlantis ). “I was also the sound designer for CSI: The Experience. (which has closed, a page with info can be seen at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_The_Experience ). I have a whole list of things that aren't on my LinkedIn page, the immersive stuff.” “Another big project that we did, that was years in the making, was the creative work on Battle Stations 21 which is a naval destroyer simulator. [Located at U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL - a page on this can be found at: https://www.chickrussell.com/case-studies/battle-stations-21/ ] I had a blast, I got to record every sound a Destroyer makes. I took my Neumann KU100 binaural head [ https://en-de.neumann.com/ku-100 ]. I walked the entire ship and tried to record everything binaurally as well as with shotgun microphones or small diaphragm condenser mics. So, I have a whole bunch of really cool binaural sound effects from traipsing through a destroyer, it's pretty amazing.” The opportunity came to him at the same time he was manning the sound board at La Nouba. “While I was at Cirque, I had formed a [side-] business, there was a creative group in Orlando that I started working for. From 2002 to 2019 I was working with Bob Weis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-weis/ ) and his company, Bob Weis Design Island Associates, Inc. (www.design-island.com, though it doesn’t work). Later on (in 2016-stepping down at the end of 2021) Bob Weis went on to be the president of Walt Disney Imagineering. Around 1994 he had left Disney and had a creative company designing exhibits and things and I was basically his sound designer. Once La Nouba was operating on a 40 to 45 hour a week [schedule], that's how I filled the rest of my creative time.” “I would do the sound design, [and] the composer that did most of the composing work with me was Alex Clements (.com), who was a keyboard player at La Nouba but is now the keyboard player at “O” as well as teaching at the University of Las Vegas. We would always get set up to do things. We had one client that was a winery in China, and we ended up recording an orchestra out of Moldavia and we were [watching via an] ISDN line. He was chatting with the conductor, and we were recording a 60-piece orchestra in Eastern Europe. [Then we did the] editing and sound design in Orlando and shipped it to China to be installed, it was fascinating.” “And I still do that, but of course once I started working on Drawn to Life there was just no time.” We mentioned earlier that Mr. Wallace taught a class on film mixing while Drawn to Life was shuttered during the pandemic. In a later email exchange, he elaborated on his experience in the field and teaching. “My other passion is mixing audio for media, especially using the surround field to immerse an audience in the experience. I have 4 feature length movies to my credit as the re-recording mixer (the person that mixes all the sound effects, dialogue, and music together for the final product), and hundreds of shorts, ads, and museum exhibit media pieces.” “When we shut down for COVID I took a position at FIRST Institute (first.edu), a technical school in Orlando Florida, teaching location audio and post-production sound effects design and mixing. The pleasure of teaching the creative and technical requirements for media production was an extremely rewarding experience. The best part was the joy when I walked into the classroom every day, the students taught me how to be adventurous and look at creative endeavors with the eyes of a child. Try things, don’t follow the same path you’ve taken for decades, forge into the creative swamp and spend some time in the unknown! Best lesson ever, still grateful for those student’s energy and excitement.” STAYING IN THE MOMENT --------------------- As the interview was winding down, we got to our usual closing interview questions. In terms of Cirque shows, “I have seen probably 14 or 15. How many total have I watched? Thousands!” And he does have his favorites. “Certainly, Drawn to Life is my current love, but La Nouba has a special place in my heart. I think it was because it was Franco Dragone and the original design and concepteurs from Cirque. It was right after “O” and was the final show they did as a group. There's so much of that show I adored.” “If we're talking about Vegas my favorite show has got to be the Mystere. I still think Mystere captures the spark of Cirque. Even though some of the other shows have a lot of modern technology, and KA has that incredible stage and all those elements, there's something about Mystere that I adore. So those would be my two biggest [resident show] favorites.” As for touring shows, “Saltimbanco is my favorite Cirque tent show. It was the first show I saw live [In Toronto in June/July of 1993] and was pure magic. The acts, the music, the costumes, and creativity showed off an elevated sense of circus/theatre arts that I had never experienced. From that moment on I wanted to be part of that world.” His favorite piece of Cirque memorabilia is also one of this writer’s, “It has to be my bag that is made from [Cirque tent canvas]. (an example can be found at: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ cirque-du-soleil-messenger-bag-401094118 ) That is totally my favorite piece of memorabilia from Cirque.” What does he wish he had more time for? “In a perfect world, I would have time to go to the last few remaining locations on Earth where you could record something without hearing humans or technology. If I could have the time to do anything, it would be to go to - I don't know, [maybe] Tierra del Fuego or the Antarctic or the North Pole – and just record ambiances. Like Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker [ www.soundtracker.com ], my hero.” He had an interesting answer to what inspires him, “I'm inspired by the artists and certainly the danger, the risk. That is my work inspiration in so many ways because they remind me of a couple of things. They remind me to play, that life is playing. In our funnest moments as children we're playing, usually involving monkey bars or trees - the things that would now make parents cringe when they're 20 feet up in an oak tree climbing away. But when I think back on those times, it reminds me that that's who we were as people. And somewhere along the way we tend to forget - we say, “I'm not going to climb that tree anymore”. So, when I see artists doing what they do and their interactions, that's inspiring to remember that the best results come when we're free and feeling like we're playing like children. Of course [from that] you get inspiration for life.” “Staying in the moment,” is his greatest challenge, he says. “Especially with technology these days, whether it's your iPhone or a show system, there is so much data being created, there are so many data points that we're being hit with, so many screens in our face. When we're scrolling through social media or focusing on screens and data too much, we tend to live in the past or the future. [My challenge is] getting past that and realizing that I need to be in the moment, for work and life. Sometimes I just have to put the technology aside and focus on the moment and go out in nature. Hence my mention of nature so many times; I find that it grounds and centers me and puts me back into the moment where I'm supposed to live as opposed to the past or the future. And so, I find the biggest challenge is trying to remain centered and grounded and just get away from all the technology.” And his words of wisdom for those wanting to go into the technical end of theater (or, really, any performing arts position)? “I view it as a bit of a calling. In my youth we used to joke – “I'm in theatre for a quick buck and then I'm out.” And that was because, for those first few years, depending on where you're working it can be challenging because it's not a highly paid career choice. So, my best advice is, if you're dedicated to it because you feel it's what’s calling you, then go for it and be prepared for a lot of hard work. But the tradeoff, like most things, is you’ll have some incredible experiences working with some incredible people. And sometimes that is in lieu of some of the monetary gains. There'll be personal enrichment, personal education. But if you're looking for a career choice that has a larger monetary impact, this may not be the one for you.” Working with a team to achieve a goal, that is where Mr. Wallace finds his greatest satisfaction. “My greatest work satisfaction is seeing the technical teams succeed. With Cirque every show is different, every show has challenges, but we manage to get through. So, success for us is normal in a lot of ways. It's how we develop as a team, and seeing the success of developing better ways, more efficient ways, simpler ways of achieving the technical results that we get, that just absolutely thrills me.” # # # My sincere thanks go to: Mr. Wallace for so graciously spending time with us; Janette Vazquez, Communications Manager, Drawn to Life; Nadira Sookram; And my wife LouAnna for putting up with my sometimes- obsessive hobby. This article is dedicated to Karen Mogster, big-time Disney and Cirque du Soleil fan. REFERENCES ----------- For a good history of La Nouba, see: https://www.richasi.com/Cirque/LaNouba/index.html For a good overview of Drawn to Life, see https://www.richasi.com/Cirque/Drawn/index.html And of course, tickets to (and more information about) Drawn to Life can be found at: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/drawn-to-life ENCORE - REAPER --------------- As a little added bonus to our interview with Mr. Wallace we present a recommendation. This writer is looking for audio workstation software that isn’t outlandishly expensive and can mix in 5.1 surround sound. Mr. Wallace’s recommendation was instant. “Reaper. [a digital audio workstation, found at: reaper.fm] It will cost you $60. And I would put it up against ProTools (https://www.avid.com/pro-tools , $100 per year) any day of the week. It’s extraordinary.” “I’ve switched to Logic (www.apps.apple.com/logicpro ) because I have it on my Mac and I use it with Ambisonic stuff like the Sennheiser mic (the AMBEO VR Mic - https://en-us.sennheiser.com/microphone-3d-audio- ambeo-vr-mic) which records 4 channels but you can convert it to 5.1, as well as the binaural stuff. Integrating some of the new spatial audio in Logic has been really well done. So, I'm playing in that world right now, but once I figure things out it will be very simple to convert that into Reaper.” “It's for PC or Mac. You can get a free demo version where everything works [for 60 days]. And eventually you'll [say], “This is so worth the 60 bucks.” It's absolutely an incredible piece of software. You could do anything; 5.1 mixing, 7.1 mixing, 10.2. You can do any format you want. It's way more stable than ProTools ever was, and it costs hundreds of dollars less. It also has a wide selection of free plug-ins that are excellent.” “Given the cost of ProTools, I know lots of people, tons of professionals who have moved to Reaper because they're tired of the expense with these companies moving to monthly subscriptions. (Avid wants $100.00 per year for ProTools.) It's just getting ridiculous”. ---------------------------------------------------------- "LIFE IS A CIRCUS 3: Even More Posts from the Cirque Blog By: Artists, Editors, and More... ---------------------------------------------------------- From life outside the big top to peeks behind the curtain, Cirque du Soleil has started a blog to allow fans to get up close and personal with their fascinating talent as well as a look at the know-how that goes into giving a Cirque show its spark – the kinds of things you might not get to see from beyond the stage. Here are a few more of the recent posts that we found interesting to share! # # # # # THE SEARCH FOR KA BY: Maxim Potvin, Blog Editor | April 4, 2023 A story of epic proportions will unfold right before your stunned eyes, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel. KÀ by Cirque du Soleil tells the adventure of a lifetime for our main characters, two siblings, twins, destined for something bigger than they could ever imagine. We have a lot to celebrate this year and we felt like KÀ had more than deserved a place in the spotlight, since it’s turning 18 years old in 2023. Are you familiar with this explosive production? A STORY OF REGAL PROPORTIONS Headed to a pageant held in their honor, the royal twins partake in a playful joust of swordplay. Little did they know, from the challenges awaiting them on their course across a territory at war, conflict would arise within the two and make them face the duality of KÀ. While at the pageant, an ambush attack by the antagonists of this epic tale – the Archers and Spearman – separates the twins who need to make their way back to each other and defeat their kingdom’s enemy. Fortunately, the twin sister is saved by her Nursemaid, escaping the fight on a boat. The twin brother, less fortunate, is left behind. Wounded and at the mercy of their soon-to-be captors, he’ll have to find his own way of escaping the Chief Archer’s den. Many dangers are lurking in the shadows and many new friends will momentarily cross their path on their journey to victory. PYROTECHNICS, PUPPETS and GRAVITY-DEFYING DECORS Jaw-dropping acts are a common occurrence at Cirque shows. Not to play it off like it’s nothing, but anyone who’s been to this spectacle can tell you that they were left completely amazed by what they experienced. KÀ takes things a bit further! Our 9-story-high theater is a sight to behold. Its humongous size allowed our creative team to go all out with the latest technologies and special effects that leave audiences in awe and wonder. Some elements of the show border on the immersive territory – something that Cirque is dabbling more and more in! Each of the 1,950 seats of the theater are outfitted with a pair of speakers in the headrest. This allows sound effects to be targeted, manipulated, and customized to any of the 16 seating zones. The stage is a masterwork of engineering on its own. It can tilt through 100 degrees and rotate a continuous 360° while artists are performing. This is the secret to a successful illusion: the vertical battle scene that gives a unique top-view perspective to the spectators. Now you might understand why the theater is so vast. High ceilings also means that we could safely include pyrotechnics amongst the special effects. Throughout the performance, 120 fireballs and 90 pyrotechnic devices are fired. These red-hot fireballs reach 30 feet upwards and temperatures of 1,200°F. Cirque is committed to never using real animals in their productions. To keep this oath, while also integrating the imagery of the animal kingdom, 7 larger-than-life puppets were created and included in the show. One crab puppet that took 1,300 hours of work to complete, an 80-foot-long snake and a myriad of smaller puppets are amongst the many animals brought to life by our artists. The giant sea turtle, part of the beach scene, rolls around in yet another surprising illusion. Using sand would prove to be too challenging to manage and clean up for the crew, we opted to mimic the texture with 1 ton of granulated cork. HOW TO ATTEND? Visit KÀ’s show page to see when the next performances are and grab the best seats in the theater. To make your night with Cirque du Soleil at MGM Grand Las Vegas even more memorable, you can opt for the Royal VIP Experience and enjoy exclusive perks! See you in Vegas! # # # # # CELEBRATING 26 YEARS OF CIRQUE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL BY: Maxim Potvin, Blog Editor | February 8, 2023 We’ve been lucky enough to bring amazement to Royal Albert Hall for the past 26 years. After so many years, we can say that we broke many records and reached many goals during our tenure at the Hall. Here’s a look back at our many accomplishments in London. Over the last quarter of century (yeah, it’s really been that long!), we’ve had the pleasure to visit London yearly, ever since we first set foot at the Hall. This historic theater has played host to many Cirque performances over the years, creating a lasting bond between the two. Each time we visit it always turns out to be noteworthy. We create memories for both our team and our audience, and we leave London filled with joy and ready for our next destination. When it All Started -- We still look back fondly on the first time we performed at Royal Albert Hall. Back in 1996 (oof, we’re old!), Cirque was not yet a household name in Europe, and Saltimbanco taking over the Hall was definitely something that would be remembered. It was such a hit that the show returned the following year, and went back one last time in 2003, totaling 113 performances. Alegría’s Record Residency -- After more than 5000 performances since it premiered, it’s safe to say that Alegría is a worldwide phenomenon. Out of these, a whooping 179 were done at Royal Albert Hall over four sets of representations. A personal record for Cirque at the Hall! KURIOS’ Big European Premiere -- Our latest achievement has just started its 2 months residency at the Hall. KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities is now beginning its European tour with a series of shows in London. Our steampunk-inspired show is right at home in the historic theater whose remarkable decor perfectly matches the show’s look and feel. No Show is Too Big -- Crossing the ocean with a full show could seem like an immense task to neophytes. Fortunately, years of experience have made us expert packers – so much so that Marie Kondo would swoon at our meticulously organized containers. Even with this skill in our back pocket, it was quite a challenge to bring KURIOS overseas. If you didn’t know, KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities is our biggest show, in terms of structure and moving parts. We even had to retrofit our rig to be able to use it securely at the Hall. It’s actually been a common occurrence for us as shows transition from Big Tops to arenas and theaters when touring. Locking in Our 1000th Performance -- 26 years of shows at the Hall quickly added up and led us to our 1000th representation. The honor of passing this major number belongs to OVO, in 2018. Performing over 73 times at the Hall, our cast and crew had the pleasure of being the ones to celebrate this accomplishment. Kurios will bring this total over a whooping 1300 total performances for Cirque du Soleil with its current run! Relaunching the Tours in Europe with LUZIA -- The pandemic certainly left its mark on Cirque du Soleil. Thankfully, we managed to bounce back and resume our activities around the globe, back in 2022. The relaunch wasn’t a piece of cake, and we have much to be proud of, but being able to bring LUZIA across the pond and start touring was the cherry on top. Participating to Our 10th Royal Variety Performance -- 2022 ended on a high note for our artists as they got the chance to get on stage for the latest Royal Variety Performance. This yearly televised program brings together diverse acts and numbers to put a sensational show together. Not to toot our own horn, but our latest participation was far from our first. We’ve been part of the showcase of talents many times, having the chance to do what we do best on different stages across London and stunning audiences with our acts. # # # # # THE BIG TOP: OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME BY: Maxim Potvin, Blog Editor | March 15, 2023 For many, as soon as our eponymous tents peak on the horizon, it is an unmistakable sign that something extraordinary is about to unfurl on their city and will leave awe and memories behind. Years of experience for our crews made it very possible for us to travel around whole continents with all we need to put on a show. From the floorboards to the four flags towering over the Big Top, we bring everything with us. ATTENDING MONTREAL'S PUSH Artists, employees, and yours truly gathered in the Old Port of Montreal on March 1st to watch the Big Top rise from the ground for the 26th time on Jacques-Cartier Pier. Slowly but surely, Cirque du Soleil ECHO’s world premiere is growing nearer. One of the most crucial steps ahead of the launch was to rebuild the stage and decor, brought in from the practice studios, at the Montreal International Headquarters. This way, artists can familiarize themselves with the full set inside the freshly raised Big Top, including the backstage areas. We wouldn’t want our performers and crew getting lost on their opening night! IT TAKES A VILLAGE Raising the Big Top is not quite like setting up a camping tent. Though imaginative people could find similarities, the 7-days process requires the help of short–term local employees to give a hand to the crew that travels with the show – a bit more complex than planting pickets on a camping ground, right? All this manpower comes together to raise the Big Top in three stages: First, after the 4 masts have been installed and outfitted with their four flags – we always fly the Quebec, the Canadian, the Cirque du Soleil, and local flags of the city we’re visiting – the roof is laid out on the ground and hooked to a system on pulleys high up on the masts. The crew uses levers simultaneously around the tent to crank the cables and bring it to its desired height. The second step is to solidify the suspended structure and anchor it to the ground. Going clockwise around the tent, the crew pushes hundreds of metal poles up to support the roof. It is a very dangerous and demanding task that requires collaboration and precision. To make sure everything we’ve worked on stays in place, the Big Top is bolted into the ground by 1,000 4-feet-deep stakes. Finally, before moving on putting the rest of the site together, the crew completes the outside of the Big Top by affixing the walls of the tent. ALL IS CALCULATED AND NOTHING IS UNACCOUNTED FOR Nothing is left to chance under our Big Top. Artists need a sturdy and trustworthy structure to perform on. A single missing screw from the rig could potentially lead to a life-threatening injury, and we want to avoid this unfortunate outcome at all costs. Since the devil is in the details, our team thought out and finetuned many elements of the Big Top to meet the different standards of multiple departments. For example, the white colored canvas helps counter the effects of the sun, by reducing greatly our energy consumption and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, these choices led us to enroll experts to help us achieve our goals. The artistry of making Big Tops is a very rare trade nowadays, because fewer touring circuses around the world perform under tents. Since 1984, Cirque du Soleil canvases have been hand made by t at La Tour du Pin in France, at the Ferrari Workshops. It takes 14 artisans and between 10 and 12 weeks to craft the signature Cirque du Soleil canvas. IT FEELS BIGGER ON THE INSIDE From ground level to the top of the highest mast, we reach an imposing height of 85 feet, giving us the possibility of raising the roof to 60 feet high. Even though it’s built with heavy-duty materials, it’s still a tent, but the way it’s constructed, and the canvas used, make it robust enough to withstand winds up to 75 miles per hour. From afar, you might not get how big the structure is. Once you enter the Big Top, the sheer size of the construction might strike you. Both tall and voluminous, the space of ECHO’s Big Top was designed to accommodate over 2,500 seats. A big step up from our first Big Top, used all the way back in 1984, that could only fit 800 spectators! Care to see the imposing structure for yourself? Many of our touring shows are making their way around the globe with their very own Big Top. ======================================================================= COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= Fascination! Newsletter Volume 23, Number 5 (Issue #220) – July 2023 "Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (C) 2001-2023 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., All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement intended. { Jul.14.2023 } =======================================================================