Speakeasy (at the Wall Street Journal) caught up with Zarkana’s writer and director, Francois Girard, to discuss changes to this summer’s performances, why he likes straddling the stage and the screen and just how many accidents there have been on his watch.
WSJ: Tell us about some of the changes for this year’s “Zarkana.”
Francois Girard: The show now runs 90 minutes with no intermission and the lyrics have been translated into “Cirquish” – the invented language that Cirque has made famous. No intermission is mostly driven by business. I like the no intermission version. It’s high energy theater, you don’t want your audience to stop and eat popcorn because the energy gets lost. Some artists have been replaced and there’s normal, natural improvement. You’ll see a tighter show, a better show. Paul Bisson has taken over for Garou, which was planned. He stepped up the lead in Moscow and Madrid.
Why is the show returning to New York?
This isn’t my decision. It’s a big commercial enterprise. It was always meant to start and live in New York, so it’s just according to plan. That wasn’t planned to go to Las Vegas. It was a business decision to keep it there. Cirque has produced resident shows and touring shows, this one is sort of in between. “Zarkana” is a new breed. There’s an experimental quality to the adventure.
Read the rest of the interview here.
{ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal }
