From the Las Vegas Sun:
With preplanned military precision, a fearsome fleet of more than 45 semis, buses and vehicles for the 220-strong cast, crew, equipment, instruments, scenery and theatrical-rigging equipment of Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” spectacular will roll onto the Strip early this week. It will take some 14 hours to set up the largest-ever rock road show for Saturday’s glittering gala premiere, which kicks off the near monthlong run at Mandalay Bay.
More Cirque executives and show creators in the celebration convoy will arrive to join festivities for the first-ever and only Estate-authorized Michael Jackson Fan Fest, with memorabilia and authorized items from Neverland curated especially for the history-making 24-day, twice-nightly run. In all: 117 people in the production team, including 68 technicians; 90 people in the artistic team, including 65 performers; and 16 people in the touring management. An additional 75 Las Vegas workers will be hired as local crew.
Ahead of the Las Vegas extravaganza, which features 32 of Michael’s hits in each 2-hour performance, I flew to Cirque’s world headquarters in Montreal for the show’s world premiere in October. I can tell you it is absolutely amazing, riveting and extraordinarily entertaining — unlike anything you’ve ever seen before in an arena touring concert. The legend not only lives on, but also will live forever!
It took more than 9,000 hours to create the props and puppets used in “Immortal,” including the 6-foot-tall elephants inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s gifts of Baba and Gypsy to Michael. Twelve video projectors are used on the screens, and the cast changes in and out of 252 costumes, which have thousands of individual pieces.
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{ SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun }
