Robin Leach, through The Las Vegas Sun, has some interesting tidbits about Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour show, now playing the Mandalay Bay Events Center until December 27th:
It’s earning: Pollstar reports that “Immortal” has become the highest-grossing live show in the country, and the figures are staggering, with nearly $2 million in tickets sold for each night of its run (it has accumulated nearly $100 million in ticket sales). Pollstar says that’s an incredible $500,000-plus more than Taylor Swift, who is the next highest-earning touring show, and she plays larger arenas in different cities nightly, whereas “Immortal” is fixed here at 8,500 seats for two more weeks.
Opening date is set: Cirque founder and billionaire Guy Laliberte and Mandalay Bay President Chuck Bowling have set May 13, 2013, as the opening date for the permanent show.
Plans are underway: Cirque President Daniel Lamarre has confirmed to me that planning for the residency show is underway, and it began the day after “Immortal” opened at Mandalay Bay. When Disney’s “The Lion King” departs Dec. 30, Cirque construction crews will begin dismantling the venue to prepare for the one-year makeover starting Jan. 2.
Jamie King signs on: It’s now confirmed that touring show author, chief choreographer and Director Jamie King has been signed to a new contract to mastermind the residency production. Extraordinary costume director Zaldy Goco, who designed the “Immortal” wardrobe, also will repeat his genius for the new show.
100% different show?: “It would be a 100 percent different show — you would know that — but I would say there would be certain elements from this touring show that would be incorporated — our favorite moments from this show would definitely be in there. There are some beautiful moments, and I’d like to carry them over. It would be far more theatrical like a Cirque show than a rock arena show.”
Michael Jackson museum: Michael Jackson Estate executor attorney John Branca has told me that a museum honoring the King of Pop will be part of the residency show’s attractions with some of the Neverland memorabilia from the Michael Jackson Fan Fest on display. Reliable sources indicate that the Neverland gates and giving tree will be an entranceway to the new theater.
Michael Jackson nightlife: An interactive arcade with Michael Jackson games will be featured. Plans for a nightclub attraction haven’t yet been finalized and might not, but Cirque has partnered with the Light Group to take over the currently shuttered Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay to open with a new entertainment concept in fall 2012.
It keeps on going: New dates and international venues are still being scheduled, and Cirque estimates that its debut touring juggernaut show will run five years in North America and the rest of the world, with bookings already set for Europe and Asia.
Read the original article here.
{ SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun }
