======================================================================= ______ _ __ _ __ / ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / / / /_ / __ `/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ `/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ / / __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_) 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 17, NUMBER 1 January 2017 ISSUE #156 ======================================================================= Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. It's been a hell of a month... Just weeks after Benoit Glazer announced that January 13, 2017 would be his final performance with Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba, the conductor and trumpeter was seriously injured in a Thanksgiving weekend fall. According to the official Facebook page for Timucua White House, the arts venue operated out of his home, Glazer is recuperating from surgery after fracturing his skull, wrist and three ribs. "On Saturday morning, Timucua Founder and Board President (and chief engineer, architect and visionary) Benoit Glazer fell from a ladder and fractured his wrist, three ribs, and his skull. He was immediately taken to the hospital. His condition remained stable overnight and surgery was not required for his skull. Today he was cleared for surgery on his ribs." Benoit's surgery went extremely well, according to Timucua on December 1st. "He is already back on his feet, getting up and down stairs, talking about music, and making big plans. His doctors expect a complete recovery, and Benoit expects to come back better than ever." And that's very good news! What's also good news is that Karina, also from La Nouba (who had a very nasty fall from her silks a few months back, is also getting better! * * * SURPRISE! KURIOS FILMED IN MIAMI! * * * “The only major Kurios disappointment for many in the Cirque fan community was that the show would ‘never’ be recorded for DVD release," Jose Perez said over at TheChapiteau. "The recording of the DVD was actually scheduled to take place at the beginning of 2015, but the plans were later scrapped for reasons unknown. Cirque’s response to our inquiry was that there were no plans to film Kurios at that time. And just like that, the hope of many to own what seems to be one of the most popular shows, was gone. Out of nowhere on the 14th, however, an Instagram post from Christa Mercey (Bella Donna in Kurios), surprised many fans. (Which you can see here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=9417). Although no official announcement has been released by Cirque du Soleil, Christa’s caption clearly states they’re filming the DVD. But if Christa’s post was not enough to convince you, Kurios’ General Stage Manager post pretty much confirms it. (Which you can also see here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=9417). As with any filming, it will be months before the DVD is released, so stay tuned. And here’s hoping we’ll see TOTEM recorded for home consumption in the near future! * * * BUT... ERINI IS LEAVING! * * * But the announcement comes with a caveat... because Erini Tornesaki – KURIOS's singer - is leaving the show during the Dallas engagement. From Erini's various social media pages: "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: After 3 incredible years with Cirque Du Soleil, I have decided not to renew my contract with Kurios and to seek new adventures! My last city will be Dallas, TX and my last show will be on March 26. I feel extremely lucky to have been part of such a phenomenal show, to have done the creation in Montreal, to have performed 1,000 shows in front of 2 million people, to have lived in 15 cities in Canada and the USA, to have recorded the soundtrack and filmed the DVD, and above all to have worked with some of the most talented and amazing people on Earth! First, I will be taking a little break to rest and spend time with my family and then, I will share with you my next steps! Thank you all for your love and support throughout these years." We wish Erini all the best in her new endeavors! Sophie Guay, who is currently the lead singer in JOYA, will replace Erini shortly. Flor De María López will become JOYA's new singer! * * * AND WE SAY GOODBYE TO "Z" * * * End of the year marked some goodbyes for Mystère. After 23 years, Zdzislaw Pelka (affectionately referred to as “Z”) has left the show – and Cirque du Soleil. If you’ve seen Mystère at any time over these last few years, you would have seen him as the Vache à lait character. Previously, he was part of the house team as a Korean Plank artist (and was also featured in SOLSTROM and Nouvelle Experience). Although I personally did not know Z, I will miss him. He owned that role! But he’s not all Mystère is saying goodbye to at year’s end. Alexey Turchenko, who was performing the cube act, has left and been replaced with a new mixed duo straps act by Stu McKenzie and Luba Kazantseva (LOO-bah KUH-zant-suh-va). Neither are strangers to Cirque du Soleil. Stu joined Cirque in 2008, traveling with Kooza for just over five years before transferring to KURIOS to perform Aerial Straps. And Luba is a former Aerialist/Dancer at Zumanity, at Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, at the LIGHT Nightclub, at KA, and with 45 Degrees. Both joined Mystère in November 2016 and fully took on the opening of the show on January 1st. Additionally, Mystere said goodbye to the fast track and butterfly trampoline at years' end, with the fast track being replaced with a power track and the butterfly trampoline's ultimate replacement to be determined. Stay tuned! * * * WHERE'S THE WIZ? * * * When The Wiz Live was announced for television, it was also announced that the production seen on NBC would come to Broadway soon thereafter (for the 2016-2017 season). But according to Playbill, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are unable to find a theatre. “The goal was to get The Wiz Live to Broadway,” said Meron to invited press on a Hairspray Live conference call. “But, as anybody on the call who knows about what is going on in the theatre [knows that] there is always a log-jam in terms of the available and appropriate theatre that we need for this show. It’s kind of like jets lining up on the runway. Unfortunately, we’re still on the runway with that.” Zadan added, “We did plan to do The Wiz immediately after we did the television production, and as Neil said, there was a problem—not with the show, but the fact that when we went to the theatre owners, there were no theatres available, so it kept getting delayed because there were no houses. The future of that has not been determined…” With no solid plans in place for a Broadway revival of The Wiz, casting for the production is up in the air, but the producers hope to transfer as many of the NBC production’s players as possible. The cast included Shanice Williams as Dorothy, Stephanie Mills (The Wiz’s original Dorothy) as Auntie Em, Queen Latifah as The Wiz, Mary J. Blige as Evillene, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, Uzo Aduba as Glinda, Amber Riley as Addaperle, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, Ne- Yo as the Tin Man and Common as the Bouncer. It's an interesting conundrum as Cirque du Soleil Theatrical is currently facing housing issues for it's first-ever Broadway production - PARAMOUR - booted from The Lyric Theater to make way for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and for the company's upcoming installation of a resident show at the oft-delayed American Dream entertainment/retail project in New Jersey. Where they all will end up is still a mystery, but at least the powers that be over at PARAMOUR have something to smile about... their best week ever! Take a look, For the week ending 1/1/2017 the show grossed over $1.9 million! Week This Week Potential Difference Seats % Cap Ending Gross Grosses in Dollars Sold ------------------------------------------------------------------ 06-Nov $884,873.95 $1,805,456.00 -$120,514.45 10,981 72.40% 13-Nov $917,418.25 $1,805,456.00 $32,544.30 11,378 75.01% 20-Nov $883,963.20 $1,805,456.00 -$33,455.05 10,527 69.40% 27-Nov $1,078,535.00 $1,805,456.00 $194,571.80 10,412 68.64% 04-Dec $927,404.50 $1,805,456.00 -$151,130.50 10,356 68.28% 11-Dec $1,029,466.15 $1,805,456.00 $102,061.65 11,102 73.19% 18-Dec $1,039,208.90 $1,805,456.00 $9,742.75 11,230 74.04% 25-Dec $1,100,772.00 $1,805,456.00 $61,563.10 10,615 69.98% 01-Jan $1,908,018.00 $1,805,456.00 $807,246.95 15,125 99.72% 08-Jan $1,218,860.80 $1,805,456.00 -$689,158.15 14,491 95.54% Paramour hit show #250 on December 30, 2016 – the final for the year – but unless it finds a new home soon, it won’t have very many more. So don’t forget, the final show at The Lyric Theater is April 17, 2017. Catch it while you can! Well, that's all I have time for this month. Let's get to the rest! /----------------------------------------------------\ | | | Join us on the web at: | | < www.cirquefascination.com > | | | | At CirqueCast: | | < http://www.cirquecast.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 * Q&A –- Quick Chats & Press Interviews * CirqueTech –- The Technical Side of Cirque o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information * BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau * Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues * Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre o) Outreach -- Updates from Cirque's Social Widgets * Webseries -- Official Online Featurettes * Videos -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds o) Fascination! Features * "New Media to Fill Your Stockings!" Written By: Ricky Russo – Atlanta, Georgia (USA) * "Online Casino: Kooza Slot Review" A Special to the Fascination! Newsletter * "Casting Q&A's - Meet an Artist, Part 5 of 6" Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) o) Copyright & Disclaimer ======================================================================= CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS ======================================================================= --------------------------------------------------- LA PRESSE -- General News & Highlights --------------------------------------------------- Dominic Champagne Going ‘Off The Wall’ {Dec.07.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- It was the spring of 2014 when Pierre Dufour, then general director of the Opéra de Montréal, and Michel Beaulac, the opera company’s artistic director, approached Quebec composer Julien Bilodeau with the idea of turning Pink Floyd’s classic album The Wall into an opera. The company had a good contact, a person who was able to put them in touch with former Pink Floyd singer/bassist Roger Waters, who was the main songwriter and creative force behind The Wall. Waters responded by saying Bilodeau should come up with a sample of his proposed adaptation and they’d take it from there. So Bilodeau went straight to work and composed an operatic adaptation of three songs from The Wall — Another Brick in the Wall (Part I), The Happiest Days of Our Lives and Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) — in one block. Then they met noted Montreal director Dominic Champagne, best known for his involvement in Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles show Love, and he joined the team as stage director. Now came the tough part: they had to convince a fairly skeptical Waters that he should give them the rights to transform his most famous work into a full-scale opera. The Montrealers suggested they meet in person to play him what Bilodeau had composed, and the rock star agreed in the fall of 2014 to see them at his opulent home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Bilodeau said they made the trip to New York with one thing in mind: “If it’s ‘no’ for him, then it’s ‘no’ for us. That was the spirit we had. “So in December we went to New York to play music for him, and that was the moment. He was really touched and we felt that he was a wiser man — that he was detached from this anger (in The Wall). We felt that the (recent solo) tour he’d done with this project gave him the freedom to leave his baby. He had two things in mind that he was afraid of. The first was a pop arrangement of the album. The other one was, is the composer going in (an atonal) direction?” What he liked about Bilodeau’s score was that it remained in some ways faithful to his songs but that it was very much an opera, not a symphonic rearrangement of a rock album. Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera was played in rehearsal for the first time Tuesday, in the basement of Place des Arts, by the Orchestre Métropolitain with Alain Trudel conducting. The work will be performed March 11 through 26 at Salle Wilfrid- Pelletier of Place des Arts. The production will feature a 72- piece orchestra, a 48-member choir and a number of soloists. Trudel says Waters had been approached with other proposals to turn The Wall into an opera in the years since the album’s release in 1979, but was at last won over by Bilodeau’s work. “Roger Waters said, ‘You get it,’ ” recalled Trudel. “In opera, it’s the story that’s the lead of everything. A good story doesn’t need any kind of artificial (frills); a good story doesn’t need Botox. Roger Waters is the librettist, (the author of) the lyrics, and of course the tunes, the melodies, are the melodies from The Wall. But we’re going from 80, 90 minutes of the album to 2 1/2 hours, and the story has to be told. “He gave Julien all the liberty in the world. It’s a trust thing. He had to trust Julien because he’s giving away his baby to Julien. So Julien had the biggest pressure. The real pressure is taking the notes of Roger Waters, his words, and coming up with (Bilodeau’s) own take on it. It’s not a rock opera. It’s The Wall. It respects the core essence of what The Wall is, but it’s not with electric guitars or drums. Like Comfortably Numb has a classic guitar solo, but there’s no guitar solo here. So I think he came through with flying colours.” The central metaphor of The Wall is, of course, the wall that the main character, the tormented rock star Pink, builds between himself and his audience. The idea was inspired by Waters’s troubled memories of a terrible Pink Floyd concert at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in 1977 that included him spitting on a fan. The image is particularly timely, says Champagne, who points out that the man just elected president of the United States has promised to build a massive wall between the U.S. and Mexico. CHECK OUT A VIDEO OF EXCERPTS FROM ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL HERE: < VIDEO: https://youtu.be/eKVcl4KAD8c > “We’re now living in a world where people are building walls everywhere,” said Champagne. “You go into (Maison) Radio-Canada and there’s a wall. There’s someone who says, ‘Who are you? Where are you going? Put your name here, give us your number, here’s your badge.’ You go see a concert at the Bell Centre, it’s the same thing. Everything has to be secure and safe and we put walls everywhere. “The ultimate example of that is Trump. We didn’t invent it. In the climax of Pink’s paranoid delirium, Waters uses neo-Nazi choreography. But we don’t need Waters’s choreography in today’s world. The ordinary fascism is there, and it’s democratic. So we’re bringing out this work right when this is happening in the U.S. and we’re going to go say, ‘Tear down the wall … all in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.’ “It’s also the story of someone who tries to protect himself from the rest of the world by building a wall, and Pink comes to a realization in The Wall. He starts by complaining: ‘My dad is dead, my mother over-protected me, my wife left me.’ He complains and he becomes the fascist leader who killed his father. And finally he says: ‘Stop.’ Then he decides to tear down the wall and once again live in the world. That’s the fable.” There are plans to bring the opera to other cities around the world, but no dates have been booked yet. “So here we may well take this piece to opera houses across a country where someone has just been democratically elected to build walls between the U.S. and Mexico … and maybe the rest of the world. So I think this work is more pertinent than ever. Sometimes you have this kind of synchronicity. You can’t say The Wall is just something from the past, good for nostalgic Pink Floyd fans.” Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera will be performed March 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts. Tickets are available at operademontreal.com. { SOURCE: Brendan Kelly, Montreal Gazette | https://goo.gl/f39ZyP } Cirque Announces VOLTA to stop in… Gatineau? {Dec.08.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Cirque du Soleil is coming to the Zibi site in Gatineau next August, and if the shows are a hit and construction allows it could be the start of a six-year series of Cirque shows. The coming of Cirque du Soleil to Gatineau, which was the subject of discussion for several months, was confirmed Wednesday in an announcement involving politicians, business people, and representatives of the regional tourism scene. The Cirque’s new show is called VOLTA, and CEO president Daniel Lamarre promises it will be full of youth and dynamism. It’s still under development. Artists, he said, “are sweating right now in our Montreal studio.” The Zibi site is “probably the best in the world,” Lamarre said. “We are always influenced by our sites,” he said. “For one rare time we will have access close to the water, and we will have visibility all around — not only in Gatineau but also in Ottawa. So for us it could not be a better site.” He said VOLTA “will be extremely different from all our previous shows.” Publicity materials say it “tells a spellbinding story about the freedom to choose.” The 31 performances will run from Aug. 3 to 27 in a single tent that will seat 2,500. Tickets, as reporters were reminded five times at Wednesday’s announcement, are on sale now for Cirque Club members, and Dec. 10 for everyone else. The Cirque played just across the river on LeBreton Flats back in the 1990s, and crowds packed the seats. This will be the first Gatineau visit. “We always start our tour with us to Montreal because it’s close to our studios, but the first city [we’ll] visit later is Gatineau”, said President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Daniel Lamarre. “This is a historic opportunity for us, because usually we visit the world – we are ambassadors for Canada – and this time around, we’ll celebrate the 150th anniversary of our country in Gatineau.” The site will be vacant in the medium term, and Jeff Westeinde, executive chairman of Windmill Development Group, said this will bring a string of shows to the area looking downstream over the Ottawa River. “Place des festivals has a lease with us for six years, to attract not only Cirque du Soleil but also other major events to the site. There are very few sites in the region that can host such a large show. So depending on our construction schedule we will make the site available to the for up to six years.” Place des festivals is a not-for-profit group that works with Gatineau to bring in large shows. He said the Cirque itself “is looking to come back regularly over the next six years, not just the VOLTA show but with future show as well.” Windmill is investing $400,000 and the city of Gatineau $300,000 to make the site suitable. { SOURCE: Ottawa Sun, La Presse | https://goo.gl/dlL5FQ, https://goo.gl/CUhKl1 } Lisa Skinner in Good Spirits During Recovery {Dec.12.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Cirque du Soleil aerialist Lisa Skinner is in good spirits despite a horror fall in front of thousands of people. Ms Skinner is recovering from a fractured C1 vertebrae and a fractured radial bone on her right arm sustained during the November 27 performance of Kooza. Speaking from her parents’ Clear Mountain home, the former Albany Creek gymnast said she had been touched by how friends, family and strangers had rallied around her. “I received bunches of flowers from people I didn’t know so that was so lovely,” she said. “(I just want) to let people know that I’m doing better than ever and I’ve got a little bit of a road to recovery but I should be better than ever very soon. I’m in good spirits and thank you for everyone’s messages and such heartfelt messages and words sent my way.” Although she was in a neck brace, she said she was recovering very well. She expects to have a better idea of her recovery in five weeks. “I should know a bit more and be in the thing (neck brace) for a week or two longer then (have) some physio. It’s amazing (with the extent of injuries) from where I fell considering other people have done a lot worse falling from lower heights. I’m very, very lucky and I know I’ve used up one of my nine lives and I don’t really want to use up any more of them at this point.” A Workplace Health and Safety Queensland spokesman said there had been no breaches of safety regulations. A Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman said it was “reviewing carefully” all possible causes for the incident and was looking at ways to improve its “already stringent” safety standards. { SOURCE: Courier Mail | https://goo.gl/d0Mcb1 } A7X Hires Cirque for UK Tour? {Dec.13.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Avenged Sevenfold have hired the company behind Cirque du Soleil to manage the production on their upcoming live shows. The band launch their next wave of tour dates next month, starting in Glasgow, UK, on January 10 before a string of appearances across Europe. And frontman M Shadows says the band will consider restructuring entire venues to realise their vision for a unique stage setting. Wait. Who are Avenged Sevenfold? According to Wikipedia – Avenged Sevenfold (sometimes abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band’s current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman. Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. Avenged Sevenfold emerged with a metalcore sound on the band’s debut Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. However, Avenged Sevenfold’s style had evolved by the band’s third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success. Of course, we know that Canada-based Cirque du Soleil is the biggest theatrical producer in the world and is known for its spectacular shows. Shadows tells Metal Hammer: “The production that’s being built is different for us, different for anyone I’ve ever seen, the people we’ve hired don’t do tours, they do Cirque du Soleil. This is gonna be drawn out into different types of touring, we’re not going on tour for six months, it’ll be two weeks on, two weeks off. It’ll be a longer cycle but we’re gonna roll with the punches.” He continues: “We’re an oddball. A lot of bands live, breathe and die the 2016 metal scene, but we just live in our own world and try to do things different than everyone else. I don’t ever feel like we fit in. We’re going to be whatever we feel is right, and if it changes the industry, then great.” Avenged Sevenfold tour dates 2017: o) Jan 10: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK o) Jan 12: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, UK o) Jan 13: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK o) Jan 15: Sheffield Arena, UK o) Jan 16: Manchester Arena, UK o) Jan 18: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK o) Jan 19: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK o) Jan 21: London O2 Arena, UK o) Jan 22: London O2 Arena, UK o) Feb 12: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany o) Feb 13: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany o) Feb 15: Berlin Arena, Germany o) Feb 16: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Germany o) Feb 18: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands o) Feb 20: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany o) Feb 21: Milan Forum, Italy o) Feb 23: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria o) Feb 25: Munich Zenith, Germany o) Feb 26: Zurich Halle 622, Austria o) Feb 28: Lille Zenith Arena, France o) Mar 01: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg o) Mar 02: Paris AccorHotels Arena, France o) Mar 04: Copenhagen Valby Hallen, Denmark o) Mar 07: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland o) Mar 09: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden o) Mar 10: Oslo Telenor, Norway { SOURCE: Team Rock | https://goo.gl/IDysfv } How Cirque du Soleil Contorts to Create Change {Dec.14.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Something on everyone’s mind these days: what’s next? The end of a year heralds a period of reflection and anticipation, and this year is no different. For marketers, it’s an opportunity to ruminate on what could be the “next big thing” in content or strategy. To keep a brand fresh, one must inevitably change it, but Alma Derricks, VP of sales and marketing for the Resident Shows Division at Cirque du Soleil, knows that not every trend is suited to reach customers in every industry. In fact, Derricks’ discerning tastes are part of why The CMO Club awarded her with a Customer Experience Award earlier this year. Let’s follow this marketing ringleader as she guides us through how Cirque Du Soleil twists and turns to keep delighting audiences in a highly unusual, highly competitive market. STEP RIGHT UP Throughout her career, Derricks has gravitated towards moments of inflection, the latest of which found her with Cirque Du Soleil last July under a new ownership structure. It was her ideal scenario. “I love getting to ask questions, top to bottom, without any regard for how things have always been done. And that’s what I walked into,” she says. She soon learned that Cirque, a 30-year-old institution, largely grew organically. As a consequence, it hadn’t relied on marketing thinking to drive sales. Today, although ticket sales are still strong, the market has tightened in Las Vegas, thanks to competing residencies from artists like Britney Spears and Celine Dion. “In Las Vegas, we sell as many as 20,000 tickets a night,” she says. “It’s a lot of inventory in a very, very busy town. My job is all about keeping our shows top of mind.” To make Cirque the most prominent carnival barker in town, if you will, Derricks’ team must continually reinvent their marketing. “We have to always make the loudest noise in that environment and make sure that visitors are still aware that we’re around, that we’re exciting and that we’re vital,” she says. BACKSTAGE ACCESS A big barrier for Derricks’ team is helping consumers differentiate between Cirque’s shows. “One of the real challenges we have is needing to flip the brand script in Vegas and emphasize the show ahead of the Cirque brand,” she says. After all, no two productions are alike. “They all have very, very different personalities,” she says. “The thing that I’ve been working on quite a bit is, How do you communicate that each show is the only show you have to see?” One strategy involves pulling back the curtain — something Cirque had previously been reluctant to do. “It’s something that our founder was very, very cautious about in the early days of social media,” she says. However, audience expectations have changed, and social media is one marketing tool not to ignore. “So we’re trying to find ways to facilitate that via social media and social content and by creating events in Las Vegas that are complete behind-the-curtain experiences,” she explains. THE SHOW MUST GO ON - AGAIN Another strategy — one that Derricks says she’s most proud of — WAS to refresh one of its most popular shows: “The Beatles LOVE.” “I didn’t completely understand until we were well into the process that Cirque has never rebranded an existing show,” Derricks says. For “LOVE”‘s tenth anniversary, Cirque refreshed the music, show and visual identity of the production, recognizing that advancements in tech over the last decade would enable an enhanced experience. Derricks and her team reimagined the marketing program in parallel. “Cirque has always taken pride in its fusion of technology and artistry,” she says, “so it seemed very natural as the tenth anniversary approached to rethink the staging, effects, and imagery. The original show was very nostalgic. Today, it’s more colorful and, at the same time, showcases the fact that The Beatles are as relevant today as they were in the 60s.” For fans, the revamp was a couldn’t-miss. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Lastly, Derricks and her team seized the chance to use their expertise to generate an additional source of income. “We’ve actually created an entire line of business called SPARK that serves as a learning laboratory for corporate teams,” she says, adding that this provides interactive business training and team building with a customized curriculum. Companies like Adobe and Google number among the participants. “It’s both an amazing bucket list moment and a chance to really learn about trust, team building, operational excellence and customer service in a very tangible way,” Derricks says. “It’s taking off like a rocket, and has not only created a new way access the brand but also makes a strong statement about who we are.” In other words, Derricks’ team has Cirque Du Soleil primed and ready for 2017. { SOURCE: Drew Neisser, Advertising Age | https://goo.gl/kdVIcr } 45 DEGREES Presents: Série Hommage – Luc Plamondon {Dec.15.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- It’s official! The next show in the Hommage Series by 45 DEGREES is one in tribute to Luc Plamondon, a French Canadian lyricist who has written for many artists, notably the Québécois singers Bruno Pelletier, Diane Dufresne, Robert Charlebois, Céline Dion, Ginette Reno, Fabienne Thibeault, Martine St. Clair, and Garou, as well as the French singers Julien Clerc, Nicole Croisille and Johnny Hallyday. He is the co-author of a number of musicals. The two most successful are Starmania (music composed by Michel Berger) and Notre-Dame de Paris (music composed by Riccardo Cocciante). Creative team: o) Daniel Fortin – Executive Director, Creation o) Jean-Guy Legault – Director o) Jean-Phi Goncalves – Musical director and arrangements The show Homage Series – Luc Plamondon, imagined by Cirque du Soleil will be presented at Cogeco Amphitheatre on July 19, 2017. Tickets from $ 49 go on sale Saturday, December 17 from 11 am online at www.amphitheatrecogeco And at the ticket office of the J.-Antonio-Thompson Room at 819-380-9797 or 1-866-416-9797. { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } 45 DEGREES Designs Helene Fischer’s 2017 Arena Tour {Dec.16.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- {Translated from German via Google Translate} She is the most successful artist in Europe and has broken all records in the German-speaking music business in recent years. In the course of her last live tour to the hit album “Farbenspiel” she was able to inspire more than 1.2 million viewers. But not only the scale of their tour, but above all also the bombastic, imaginative and breathtaking production of the stage shows, can withstand any international comparison effortlessly. The live shows of Helene Fischer have always been very special, and you can safely say without exaggeration that in recent years you have set new standards and created a genre of your own. “For me it is the most beautiful thing in my profession to be able to perform live with my band and my dancers. We just want the fans a great, perhaps prepare unforgettable evening ” , says the exceptional artist. Helene Fischer is currently working on her new album, which will be released in the first half of next year. At the same time, the plans for a new live tour, which will be launched in the autumn of 2017, are already running in the background. The show is produced in co-operation with 45 DEGREES, a department of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL specializing in exceptional major events – so you can surely say today that this show is unrivaled. “We really want the audience to present something spectacular and unique – the creative expertise of” Cirque du Soleil “in combination with Helene Fischer is something very special to be” so creative and Stage Director Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar, the artistic head of these and other productions The famous Canadian entertainment company. It is extraordinary that Helene Fischer does not appear every day in a different city, but in every city a week at a time, and will give five concerts per hall. Altogether, Helene Fischer is playing a total of 69 shows in fourteen cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as part of her new live tour in autumn 2017 / spring 2018. 45 DEGREES – a division of Cirque du Soleil, is approaching the new show concept innovatively and experimentally with the aim of creating a unique entertainment experience together with Helene and her team. Guided by the shared vision of creating a symbiosis of the latest technical achievements and highly professional artistic performance. At the same time, however, with the best entertainment, the positive ease of a Helene Fischer concert – with the most popular as well as new hits. { SOURCE: 45 DEGREES | https://goo.gl/UU2OPh } Sarah Steben Looks Ahead to a Career Move in LA {Dec.21.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- West Islander Sarah Steben, raised in Beaconsfield and presently a resident of Ste. Anne de Bellevue, is a professional dancer on the rise and en route to Los Angeles. She’ll head there for a few weeks in January, with the hope of returning in April for a more extended stay. Sarah, 27, recently performed on the La Voix Junior Finale, viewed by 2.3 million on TVA. In past years she made it to the top 60 on CTV’s former So You Think You Can Dance Canada show, where her drive for pursuing dance professionally blossomed. She was selected amongst thousands of dancers in 2013 to be a part of the Monsters of Hip Hop cast in LA, where she is also now part of a hybrid dance company (R.ED) directed by celebrity choreographer Rhapsody James. For Sarah, a career in dancing began at the age of 15 at Studio A. During her time there she became a member of the two-time world Hip Hop champion crew Extreme, which allowed her the opportunity to travel to various cities in the US, Canada and Europe. Following her experience with Extreme, Sarah became a part of the all-female crew Aftermath, directed by Erik Saradpon. This was a pivotal moment in her career as she also became passionate about teaching and choreography. Since then, she has had the opportunity to work choreographically with local artists such as Jaden Chase, Red Roche and Chris James. She has made several network TV appearances and worked with large local production companies like Moment Factory and Cirque du Soleil. “My ultimate career goals are to teach internationally overseas, as well as dance for a major recording artist whether it be a world tour, music video, or award show,” Sarah says. In the meantime, Sarah earns a living here as a kickboxing instructor at 30 Minute Hit in Kirkland. “My sister was a trainer there,” she explains. “I started out as a member and became a trainer as well. I enjoy the experience. It is good for self-defence.” Sarah also spends several nights a week in studio to keep her dancing up to speed. “I am really appreciative of my boss at 30 Minute Hit,” she says. “I come and go due to my dance commitments, but he always holds my spot.” Want to know more about Sarah? Log on to her website here: < http://www.sarahsteben.com/about/ > { SOURCE: The Suburban | https://goo.gl/KjRxFL } Saudis Draw on Cirque Talent for Entertainment {Dec.28.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Saudi Arabia’s new entertainment agency has brought Cirque du Soleil inside its tent. As the kingdom tries to expand its tourism offerings, the government’s council of ministers has approved board members for the new General Entertainment Authority, said a news release yesterday. Among the board members are Jonathan Tétrault, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer at Cirque du Soleil. Also approved was Joe Zenas, the chief executive at Thinkwell, a US theme park designer whose resume includes work in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Cirque du Soleil shows are a popular fixture on the Dubai entertainment calendar. And next year the Montreal-based circus is expected to perform in Saudi Arabia, reported Arab News. California-based Thinkwell was behind the concept design of Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates and was involved in the design packages for Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s Expo 2020 winning bid. “We are particularly delighted to welcome international experts who will further help us in our aim of both developing and investing into the burgeoning Saudi entertainment industry,” said Ahmed Aqeel Al Khateeb, the chairman of the board of the entertainment authority, which was created in May. “We have made progress in recent months and there will be much more delivery over the next year.” Other members of the board include Majid Abdullah Al Qasabi, the kingdom’s minister of trade and investment; Lama Abdulaziz AlSulaiman, a former vice chair and board member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce; and Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, the chairman and chief executive of the Jeddah-based conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel. The Saudi entertainment authority has helped bring live performances to the country and expects to organise Saudi Arabia’s first Comic Con in February. Other Arabian Gulf countries such as the UAE have gained popularity among Saudi tourists as a holiday destination thanks to their shopping and leisure facilities. In Dubai, Saudi Arabia was the second largest source market for tourists after India in the first 10 months with 1.36 million visitors, a rise of 4 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to Dubai Tourism. The Saudi tourism industry is heavily dependent on religious tourism for Haj and Umrah and while there has been a proliferation of the hotel sector in the country, it has been largely concentrated in Mecca and Medina. In July, though, Riyadh-based Al Othaim Leisure and Tourism Company opened Snow City in the Saudi capital. US company Six Flags Entertainment Corporation said is in talks with Saudi Arabia to build three theme parks in the country, with the first one by 2021, according to Reuters. The low oil price for the past couple of years has taken a toll on its non-oil economy but consumers began to regain confidence in the fourth quarter. “Consumer confidence is showing signs of recovery, following lull in the second and the third quarters,” said Nayal Khan, the head of institutional equities sales at Saudi Fransi Capital in Riyadh. The Saudi government’s Vision 2030 includes plans to expand the non-oil economy, including tourism. --------------------------------------------------- Q&A –- Quick Chats & Press Interviews --------------------------------------------------- Soda Stereo’s New Album and Cirque Spectacular {Dec.14.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- While members of Cirque du Soleil were in Buenos Aires this week rehearsing their acts for Sép7imo Dia — the show inspired by the music and story of Argentine rock band Soda Stereo — Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio were in a studio in Los Angeles working with Grammy-winning engineer Gustavo Borner on the mixes of the music that will be heard both in the show and on an album set to be released to coincide with its March 9, 2017 premiere. “The songs that people want to hear will be there,” assures Alberti. For now, he names just two: “Primavera Cero,” and the song that gives the Cirque show its name, “(En) El Séptimo Día.” The album (and recorded music for the show, as there will be no live band), represents a year of work by Alberti and Soda bassist Zeta Bosio, who have gone through Soda’s legacy, to “take apart the songs and then totally rebuild them.” Cirque has staged few productions dedicated to musical artists; its performers have paid tribute to The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. The collaboration between Cirque and the Latin American rock heroes has proved to be as anticipated as it was unlikely: 50,000 tickets were sold in the first day of sales for the Buenos Aires shows, breaking a record in Argentina. Twenty-six of 65 consecutive over 5,000-capacity performances at Buenos Aires’ Luna Park are sold out. Sép7imo Día comes ten years after Soda Stereo, who sowed their fame in the 1980’s, first in Buenos Aires and then by forging a path in Latin America, played a reunion tour attended by over a million people in nine countries, including the US. Since then, the artists, and Soda’s now multi-generational fans, have mourned the loss of Gustavo Cerati, the trio’s frontman, who died in 2014 at age 55. “If this wasn’t about the music we wouldn’t have done it,” says Alberti. During an early morning phone conversation earlier this week in which his voice revealed a rollercoaster of emotions, he deemed the Cirque show both an homage and “a fantasy.” Q. Would you call the new album a soundtrack? ALBERTI: Yes, basically it’s a soundtrack. It represents almost the entire show. The show is 90 minutes long and you can’t put 90 minutes on an album, so possibly what will be left out is, more than anything, the intervals that come between each song; the incidental music that allows for scene changes or preparing for a new act. The important thing is that the songs are there, and the album will respect the set list of the show…it will allow you to navigate through your memories of one act after another as experienced in the show. For a concert, we consider each song and we put together a set list according to the emotions that you want to keep following with that music during the length of the concert. This has that too, but obviously it’s led by visual concerns and by the artistic interpretations you see in the show. So the set list might not be exactly in the order that we would have put together, but the songs themselves are the ones that we would have chosen. And that really makes it even more interesting, because it breaks with the norm for what we would have done. Q. How closely does Sep7imo Dia follow the Soda Stereo story? Basically, it is a fantasy. It takes you to a place where listening to Soda Stereo takes you. Michel [Laprise, Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Director] understood that Soda Stereo was a band whose career was driven by creativity and by going further. He and other people from Cirque du Soleil spent months and months of being immersed in our world, interviewing us, interviewing people around us, interviewing our fans, going to my house where we had started rehearsing. They went to Buenos Aires several times, and they experienced Latin America. In creating the show they were immersed in what it was that made this world of Soda Stereo. And that’s what it’s based on. But it’s not chronological, it doesn’t respect time. Q. So you wouldn’t call it biographical? Maybe you would expect something more of a story, something that documents historic moments. But it’s nothing like that. It’s much more about fantasy, and that makes it much more amazing for me; incredible things happen. Q. You and Zeta worked together in the studio for the past year. How did you approach the project? What we basically did was take the multi-tracks of the [Soda] albums, digitize them, take apart the songs and then totally rebuild them. New mixes, new versions, things that people have never heard, different takes…technology has allowed us to do incredible things. What was always a priority for us, and for Cirque also, was that the musical parameters were set by Zeta and I. It’s not like all of a sudden a song is going to cut off after two minutes. If this wasn’t about the music, we wouldn’t have done it. Two things will come out of this mix – the album and the music for the show. The album will be in stereo, and the music for the show will be have surround, it wil have effects; There are incredible things that happen with the music in the show that you can’t do on an album. Q. How did you feel about re-visiting Soda’s past, especially after Gustavo’s death? There were so many different emotions, because listening to the albums, listening to Gustavo’s voice, listening to the three of us laughing, it makes you sad. But the same way that we would have done with Gustavo, we respected the process. This work has the same characteristics as it would have if Gustavo had been with us. People may say, ‘well Gustavo isn’t here and it’s not the same’. No, he’s not, and obviously we wish he were. But the truth is that we worked the same way as if he were. We always worked as a band in the studio. It was the three of us in the rehearsal room. We had to get used to not working as a trio. It was always so great, because if two of us didn’t agree, there was always someone who would make the decision. When Zeta and I were together, there was no one to break the tie. So that was a little conflict for us, but it also made us work on our personal relationship. Q. Is there a moment in the show when there is a specific memorial or homage to Gustavo? We’re sure that in each country a lot of amazing things are going to happen, because it’s not about one specific moment that’s a tribute to Gustavo. The whole thing is the moment. From the moment you come in until the moment that you leave, it’s an homage to the band, and the fact that one of us is no longer here makes it much more emotional. And you’re going to think about him and you’re going to envision him. We wanted to avoid that sometimes kitsch element of a tribute. It is implicit in the show. When we first got together to talk with the people from Cirque du Soleil, it was a very delicate moment because it was just after Gustavo had passed. And the first thing that we said was, ‘we’re going to celebrate the story of the band.’ Q. Have you been going to the rehearsals? No. I want to give them time to rehearse and see the show when it’s ready. Because you can get really anxious about it, and really we haven’t had time. I’ve been with Zeta this whole time preparing the album. But soon will come the moment for us to see everything. They have been rehearsing for the last two months in Buenos Aires, and January 1 they’ll be moving to Luna Park to rehearse there until the show premieres. Once they are there, we will have to prepare the music with the sound system we’ll have at Luna Park. Q. Will you and Zeta actually be present at the shows? We will be at the premiere, and at the premieres in each country. The first year, the show will go to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Then after, other countries in Latin America and the United States. There’s a lot of demand, the tickets are selling fast. Maybe it will do a tour of Latin America and then come back to Buenos Aires for more shows. Or maybe it will be installed permanently there. It remains to be seen. At this point, we know when it starts, but not when it ends. { SOURCE: Judy Cantor-Navas, Billboard | https://goo.gl/69DiL0 } Meet Laura Kmetko – Kooza Teeterboard Flyer {Dec.21.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Acrobat Laura Kmetko recently marked her 900th show with Cirque Du Soleil’s KOOZA in Brisbane. “Brisbane is my 18th city with this show,” she said of her far-flung schedule, which includes up to 10 shows a week. “I’ve been through a lot of Europe, North America, Vancouver in Canada, three cities in South America...” Now homeward bound, the bubbly 32-year-old performer was looking forward to getting away to the mountains and visiting family. Born in Moonee Ponds, Kmetko grew up in the Macedon Ranges before moving to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. The former elite gymnast was scouted by the Victorian Institute of Sport in Albert Park with her twin sister at nine and represented Australia before a career flip, swapping the uneven bars and balance beam for life under the big top. With her sights set on Cirque Du Soleil’s Grand Chapiteau she trained at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Prahran, specialising in the Chinese pole and handstand contortion. As a gymnast her favourite event was the floor. “I started with ballet, and I enjoyed doing the tumbling and dance. I still enjoy the movement and the artistic side of things that we do in our show,” she said. Now a teeterboard flyer, Kmetko had to wait years before earning her chance to run away with the world’s best known circus. “I think it was the opportunity to travel, to still use the skills I had from gymnastics on a performing scale, and artistically their shows are known for being awe-inspiring and I wanted to see if I could be a part of it,” the high-flyer said of the inspiration for her dedication. “I definitely love the teamwork aspect, which is very different from gymnastics, which is a solo kind of a sport. The teeterboard act that I am part of is definitely the part of the show I enjoy the most. It’s exciting for me, and feeling like I contribute to a really exciting finale.” Her fellow Australian in Cirque du Soleil, former Olympic gymnast Lisa Skinner, fell during a trapeze act in November. She is recovering from a fracture in her neck and a broken arm, but that doesn’t scare Kmetko. The show must go on. “She’s an incredible human being,” Kmetko said. “I’ve actually been really inspired by the bravery that I’ve seen from a lot of the artists over the years. Doing what we do, it’s important that we overcome those challenges. I’ve always believed that how you get up is more important than how you get down … It’s something I learnt from gymnastics.” { SOURCE: Hearald Sun | https://goo.gl/vWf8zo } --------------------------------------------------- CirqueTech -- The Technical Side of Cirque --------------------------------------------------- Quebec helps Moment Factory with its growth spurt {Dec.14.2016} ------------------------------------------------------- Montreal company Moment Factory, for instance, has seen such a surge in demand for its innovative multi-media creations in recent years that it can’t keep up with demand. “We get about 20 invitations a week now. We can’t do them all. We’re actually handling only about 10 per cent,” said the company’s executive producer, Eric Fournier. Moment Factory is hoping to significantly increase that percentage in the next three years by doubling, to 500, a workforce where the average age is 30. The Quebec government will help that happen with a contribution of $2.6 million toward manpower training. At a press conference Tuesday at the company’s spacious new studios on Parc Ave., where employees skateboard through the halls and pets are welcome, Employment and Social Solidarity Minister François Blais said it was a large outlay for his ministry, but Moment Factory was a model enterprise for many Quebecers, a creative and forward-thinking business with international reach in a sector experiencing rapid growth. The company also is investing an extra $7.8 million of its own, he noted. Fournier thanked the government for “encouraging Quebec enterprises” in their expansion dreams. Finding qualified workers is a development challenge for many Quebec companies these days, particularly with the provincial unemployment rate lower than Ontario’s at 6.2 per cent, Blais said. Moment Factory’s multi-disciplinary team includes graphic and motion designers, multimedia directors, illustrators, architects, lighting designers, programmers and engineers. Founded 15 years ago, Moment Factory has grown exponentially thanks to the exposure provided by Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show in 2011, installations like Singapore’s Changi Airport and travelling shows by the likes of Miley Cyrus, Arcade Fire and Cirque du Soleil (helping to bring the Microsoft Kinect Launch, the launch of the McLaren F1, The Beatles Revolution Lounge, and more to life). About 85 per cent of its revenues now are generated outside Quebec. For Montreal’s 375th anniversary in 2017, it will be lighting the Jacques Cartier Bridge and providing effects for a special Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal performance. { SOURCE: Montreal Gazette | https://goo.gl/6XFl2E } ======================================================================= ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION ======================================================================= o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau {Amaluna, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia & Totem} o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues {Varekai, TORUK, OVO & Séptimo Día} o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre {Mystère, "O", La Nouba, Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE, MJ ONE, JOYÀ & Paramour} 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/ >, or for a more comprehensive tour listing, visit our Itinéraire section online at: < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?page_id=6898 >. ------------------------------------ BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau ------------------------------------ Amaluna: London, UK -- Jan 12, 2017 to Feb 26, 2017 Vienna, AT -- Mar 9, 2017 to Apr 17, 2017 Rome, IT -- Apr 30, 2017 to May 28, 2017 Koozå: Brisbane, AU -- Nov 24, 2016 to Jan 8, 2017 Melbourne, AU -- Jan 20, 2017 to Mar 26, 2017 Perth, AU -- Apr 13, 2017 to May 7, 2017 Manila, PH -- Jun 25, 2017 to Jul 30, 2017 Kurios: Miami, FL -- Dec 10, 2016 to Jan 29, 2017 Dallas, TX -- Feb 17, 2017 to Mar 26, 2017 Houston, TX -- Apr 6, 2017 to May 21, 2017 Winnipeg, MB — Jun 2, 2017 to Jun 25, 2017 Portland, OR — Aug 28, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017 Vancouver, BC — Oct 19, 2017 to Dec 31, 2017 Luzia: San Francisco, CA -- Nov 17, 2016 to Jan 29, 2017 San Jose, CA -- Feb 9, 2017 to Mar 19, 2017 Seattle, WA -- Mar 30, 2017 to May 21, 2017 Denver, CO -- Jun 1, 2017 to Jul 9, 2017 Chicago, IL -- Jul 21, 2017 to Aug 20, 2017 Phoenix, AZ -- Sep 22, 2017 to Oct 22, 2017 Totem: Nagoya, JP –- Nov 10, 2016 to Jan 15, 2017 Fukuoka, JP –- Feb 3, 2017 to Mar 19, 2017 Sendai, JP -– Apr 6, 2017 to May 21, 2017 Sochi, RU -- Jul 1, 2017 to Jul 30, 2017 Brussels, BE -- Aug 31, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017 Paris, FR -- Nov 2017 VOLTA: Montreal, QC -- Apr 20, 2017 to Jun 11, 2017 Gatineau, QC (Ottawa, ON) -- Aug 3, 2017 to Aug 27, 2017 Toronto, ON -- Sep 7, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017 ------------------------------------ ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues ------------------------------------ Varekai: Lisbon, PT --Jan 5, 2017 to Jan 15, 2017 Seville, ES -- Jan 18, 2017 to Jan 21, 2017 Gijon, ES -- Jan 25, 2017 to Jan 29, 2017 Sheffield, UK -- Feb 2, 2017 to Feb 5, 2017 Dublin, IR -- Feb 8, 2017 to Feb 12, 2017 Newcastle, UK -- Feb 15, 2017 to Feb 19, 2017 Leeds, UK -- Feb 22, 2017 to Feb 26, 2017 Birmingham, UK -- Mar 1, 2017 to Mar 5, 2017 Nottingham, UK -- Mar 8, 2017 to Mar 12, 2017 Glasgow, UK -- Mar 15, 2017 to Mar 19, 2017 Copenhagen, DK -- Mar 23, 2017 to Mar 26, 2017 Lyon, FR -- Apr 13, 2017 to Apr 16, 2017 Amsterdam, NL -- Apr 20, 2017 to Apr 23, 2017 Bratislava, SK -- Apr 27, 2017 to Apr 30, 2017 Bucharest, RO -- May 3, 2017 to May 7, 2017 Budapest, HU -- May 12, 2017 to May 14, 2017 Prague, CZ -- May 19, 2017 to May 21, 2017 Sofia, BG -- May 26, 2017 to May 28, 2017 Ljubljana, SL -- Jun 2, 2017 to Jun 4, 2017 Vilnius, LT -- Jun 8, 2017 to Jun 10, 2017 Helsinki, FI -- Oct 5, 2017 to Oct 8, 2017 TORUK - The First Flight: Inglewood, CA -- Jan 12, 2017 to Jan 15, 2017 Las Vegas, NV -- Jan 18, 2017 to Jan 22, 2017 Wichita, KS -- Jan 26, 2017 to Jan 29, 2017 New Orleans, LA -- Feb 1, 2017 to Feb 5, 2017 Guadalajara, MX -- Feb 10, 2017 to Feb 12, 2017 Mexico City, MX -- Feb 16, 2017 to Feb 19, 2017 Monterrey, MX -- Feb 23, 2017 to Feb 25, 2017 Cleveland, OH -- Mar 3, 2017 to Mar 5, 2017 Philadelphia, PA -- Mar 8, 2017 to Mar 12, 2017 Hartford, CT -- Mar 15, 2017 to Mar 19, 2017 Dayton, OH -- Mar 22, 2017 to Mar 26, 2017 OVO: Sioux Falls, SD -- Jan 4, 2017 to Jan 8, 2017 Loveland, CO -- Jan 11, 2017 to Jan 15, 2017 Colorado Springs, CO -- Jan 18, 2017 to Jan 22, 2017 Tulsa, OK -- Jan 25, 2017 to Jan 29, 2017 Spokane, WA -- Feb 16, 2017 to Feb 19, 2017 West Valley City, UT -- Feb 22, 2017 to Feb 26, 2017 Rio Rancho, NM -- Mar 1, 2017 to Mar 5, 2017 Lubbock, TX -- Mar 8, 2017 to Mar 12, 2017 Cedar Park, TX -- Mar 15, 2017 to Mar 19, 2017 Laredo, TX -- Mar 22, 2017 to Mar 26, 2017 Corpus Christi, TX -- Mar 29, 2017 to Apr 2, 2017 Oklahoma City, OK -- Apr 6, 2017 to Apr 9, 2017 El Paso, TX -- Apr 12, 2017 to Apr 16, 2017 Tuscon, AZ -- Apr 17, 2017 to Apr 23, 2017 Jacksonville, FL -- Aug 2, 2017 to Aug 6, 2017 Salzburg, AU -- Oct 18, 2017 to Oct 22, 2017 Leipzig, DE -- Oct 25, 2017 to Oct 29, 2017 Hamburg, DE -- Nov 1, 2017 to Nov 5, 2017 Berlin, DE -- Nov 8, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017 Mannheim, DE -- Nov 15, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017 Cologne, DE -- Nov 22, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017 Stuttgart, DE -- Nov 29, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017 Nuremberg, DE -- Dec 6, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017 Munich, DE -- Dec 13, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017 SÉPTIMO DÍA – NO DESCANSARÉ: Buenos Aires, AR -- Mar 9, 2017 to May 14, 2017 Cordoba, AR -- May 25, 2017 to May 31, 2017 Lima, PE -- Jun 17, 2017 to Jun 21, 2017 Santiago, CL -- Jul 19, 2017 to Jul 27, 2017 Bogota, CO -- Sep 3, 2017 to Sep 23, 2017 Mexico City, MX -- October 2017 Guadalajara, MX -- November 2017 Monterrey, MX -- December 2017 Select US Cities -- 2018 --------------------------------- RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre --------------------------------- Mystère: Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday Two shows Nightly - 7:00pm & 9:30pm 2017 Dark Dates: o January 7 - 19 o February 5 o March 8 o May 6 - 10 o July 12 o September 9 - 13 o November 8 Special Performance Dates: o Fri, Dec 30, 2016 o Fri, Jan 20, 2017 | Dress Rehearsal 7:00 pm o Thu, Apr 6, 2017 o Thu, Aug 17, 2017 o Fri, Nov 24, 2017 o Fri, Dec 29, 2017 o Sun, Dec 31, 2017 | 4:30pm & 7:00pm 2017 Single Performance Dates: o Fri, Jan 20 | 9:30 pm o Sun, Jan 29 | 7:00 pm o Fri, Mar 03 | 9:30 pm o Sat, Mar 11 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Mar 26 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Apr 02 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Apr 09 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Apr 16 | 7:00 pm o Sat, Jun 17 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Aug 13 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Oct 01 | 7:00 pm o Fri, Oct 20 | 7:00 pm o Sun, Oct 22 | 7:00 pm o Fri, Dec 08 | 7:00 pm "O": Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 9:30pm (as of Aug 12, 2015) 2017 Dark Dates: o February 5 o April 5 - 9 o June 11 o August 2 - 6 o October 8 o November 29 - December 12 La Nouba: Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm Zumanity: Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm KÀ: Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm LOVE: Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm MICHAEL JACKSON ONE: Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Two Shows Nightly - Dark: Wednesday/Thursday Schedule: 7:00pm & 9:30pm on Friday, Saturday, Monday & Tuesday 4:30pm & 7:00pm on Sunday JOYÀ: Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday One/Two Shows Nightly: 9:00pm (Weekdays) 7:00pm & 10:15pm (Fri, Sat & Holidays) PARAMOUR: Location: Lyric Theater, Broadway, New York City Performs: Wednesday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday *** CLOSING APRIL 17, 2017 *** One/Two Shows Daily: 2:00pm (Wednesday) 7:30pm (Thursday & Monday) 8:00pm (Friday) 2:00pm & 8:00pm (Saturday) 2:00pm & 7:00pm (Sunday) ======================================================================= OUTREACH - UPDATES FROM CIRQUE's SOCIAL WIDGETS ======================================================================= o) WEBSERIES -- Official Online Featurettes o) VIDEOS -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds --------------------------------------------------- WEBSERIES: Official Online Featurettes --------------------------------------------------- *) C:LAB WORKSHOP SERIES o) EPISODE 14: TRAPEZE January 10, 2017 In the Workshops series, Cirque du Soleil explores a new acrobatic repertoire by reaching out to athletes from other disciplines. In this episode, acrobats from different disciplines explore new Trapeze techniques! LINK /// < https://youtu.be/rKIRnvrwoz4 > *) VOLTA - "FREEDOM MOMENTS" "Freedom Moments" is a new series about how the artists from Cirque du Soleil's NEW 2017 Big Top show, VOLTA, found their free. VOLTA is a story about the FREEDOM to choose and the thrill of blazing your own trail. Get up close and personal with VOLTA's artists, discover their "Freedom Moments” and share yours with #FindYourFree! o) EPISODE 1: ELENA SUAREZ - BALLERINA January 6, 2017 Freedom = dance for VOLTA's s ballerina Elena, who says being onstage is “the best feeling in the world”. LINK /// < https://youtu.be/23DBoIQU6cI > --------------------------------------------------- VIDEOS: Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds --------------------------------------------------- *) CIRQUECAST CirqueCast is a Vodcast (that’s video podcast) for Cirque fans by Cirque fans – featuring artist interviews, Cirque headlines, and the inside scoop to your favorite Cirque du Soleil shows! Join your hosts José Pérez (TheChapiteau), Richard “Richasi” Russo (Fascination!), Ian Rents (Hardcore Cirque Fans), and Dario Shame (a big 'ol fan), as we bring you a behind-the-scenes look into Cirque du Soleil, complete with discussions and the latest Cirque news. o) EPISODE 9 - DAVID RESNICK INTERVIEW November 8, 2016 David Resnick is an acrobat currently touring with TOTEM, currently in Japan. Watch our exclusive interview where David shares his experience with Cirque du Soleil, including how he made it to the famous circus. Want to know what Cirque show David is going to next? Watch to find out! LINK /// < https://youtu.be/PGZ_WjI8sKM > o) EPISODE 10 - DAVID RESNICK INTERVIEW November 22, 2016 We are back with another discussion episode! In this episode, we discuss the Toruk DVD and Paramour Soundtrack, Corteo's return in arena format, the NFL + Cirque du Soleil project announcement, and Richard goes over a few details from the Celebrate Project, Cirque du Soleil's first theme park opening in Mexico in 2018. LINK /// < https://youtu.be/ASAXKfh7sOs > o) EPISODE 11 - INTERVIEW WITH JAMIESON LINDENBURG December 10, 2016 Jamieson Lindenburg is a singer currently touring with Cirque du Soleil's Varekai. Join us this episode as Jamieson graciously answers some of our questions about his time at Quidam, his transition to Varekai, and his solo projects! LINK /// < https://youtu.be/WFpBtKiGqZY > o) SPECIAL - BLOOPERS AND OUTTAKES FROM EPISODE 1 December 29, 2016 We recorded our first episode almost a year ago! Check out some bloopers and outtakes from our first attempt to create our very first CirqueCast episode! LINK /// < https://youtu.be/5FpHvtGc2F4 > ======================================================================= FASCINATION! FEATURES ======================================================================= o) "New Media to Fill Your Stockings!" Written By: Ricky Russo – Atlanta, Georgia (USA) o) "Online Casino: Cirque du Soleil Kooza Slot Review" A Special to the Fascination! Newsletter o) "Casting Q&A's - Meet an Artist, Part 5 of 6" Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------ "New Media to Fill Your Stockings!" Written By: Ricky Russo – Atlanta, Georgia (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------ It’s morning and a small shard of light has prickled across your face, tempting you to stir from a blissful night’s rest. You resist, snuggled in under a large, fluffy comforter because there’s still a chill in the air. The sun has not had enough time to bring warmth to the day yet and you’d rather wait it out than face the cold, harsh reality of a frosty morning. But then a stray thought wanders into your consciousness… there’s something about this particular morning you’ve been waiting for. Slowly your eyes open and focus; blood begins to flow more freely as your heart begins to beat more strongly. Then it hits you: it’s no ordinary morning, it’s Christmas morning! A time for making snowmen, savoring a big mug of hot cocoa with melted marshmallow by a warm fire, snuggling into a big, warm sweater and… oh yeah! Presents! Off the comforter is thrown and at once you bolt out of bed – cold or not – and rush downstairs to check under the tree and in your stockings hanging neatly over the fireplace for the wonderful things Santa may have brought you. What do you find? This year I found three special somethings from Cirque du Soleil in my stockings: The TORUK DVD, the LUZIA DVD, and the FLOWERS IN THE DESERT DVD. Now, let’s unwrap our presents and take a quick peek into these new media offerings... LUZIA DVD --------- UPC –- 4-00005-23445-3 Catalog — 523445 Video — 1.78:1 Wide screen Audio — English 2.0/5.1 Run Time –- 81 minutes Region –- 0/All If you can imagine a Cirque du Soleil show that is creatively and freely inspired by the richness of Mexican culture in all its exhilarating spirit, then you've conjured Luzia - A Waking Dream of Mexico. Where rain predicts the future and light reveals the truth. Through its set design, costumes, acrobatic performance, and music, LUZIA (loo-zee-ah), fusing the sound of “luz” (light in Spanish) and “lluvia” (rain) – two elements at the core of the show’s creation – becomes a poetic and acrobatic ode to the rich, vibrant culture of a country whose wealth stems from an extraordinary mix of influences and creative collisions – a land that inspires awe with its breathtaking landscapes and architectural wonders, buoyed by the indomitable spirit and mythology of its people. Filmed in Montreal in May, and released on November 17, 2016 on site in Toronto, the LUZIA DVD is an interesting conundrum to me: At once it’s a record of the live show we fans wanted, and yet the filming feels all over the place: disjointed, off, and wrong, like it’s a mere shadow of what you’ll experience live under the Grand Chapiteau. While this has been a criticism by many fans of many Cirque du Soleil shows recorded for DVD – Amaluna, Varekai, and Alegria immediately come to mind - this is the first time I’ve actually felt the filmed presentation did not live up to the full potential of its subject. I personally have no issues with the way Alegria, Varekai, Kooza, and Amaluna were filmed, even though their run times vary wildly (Alegria is 90 minutes, Varekai is 112 minutes, Kooza is 120 minutes, and Amaluna is 108 minutes). I recognize this view places me in the minority of fans, but having seen those shows live again either shortly before or shortly after they were filmed presents a great souvenir from my time at each. This doesn’t mean the recordings are perfect... I wouldn’t mind a slightly longer Alegria, or perhaps a little edited down version of KOOZA (I could do without the extended pick-pocket/clown running-around scene with the confetti cannon fire, if you please.) That being said, coming in at just 81 minutes in length, the LUZIA DVD is TOO edited for my tastes. While it comes as no surprise that most of the clown’s antics were removed to shave off some run-time (which was just fine with me, as many of his numbers run a bit long in the live show), many of the remaining edits served only to water down LUZIA’s acrobatic presentation. I mean, switching angles in the middle of a twist, dive, throw, or some other “trick” (although I am loath to use that word) is simply cinematography 101 - DON’T DO IT. I don’t know how many times I screamed out in frustration in the first five minutes alone, as the camera would cut right in the middle of a dive during the Hoop Diving act to switch angles. And what was with the choice of some of the angles anyway? Blocking and angles did get better for the Adagio Quatuor act, but I felt there was something missing out of that routine. Cyr Wheel & Trapeze was a mess, in my opinion. Same for Hand-balancing, the filming seemed to sap all the fun and charm out of that presentation. And don’t even get me started on the Pole Dancing and Contortion numbers. During these acts it seemed to me the camera didn’t know where they should be focusing! A number of times during Contortion I wanted to kill them for the angles they chose – they were ridiculous! Some were so far away! As my friend Jose Perez reflected, “It’s like the people who recorded the show didn’t really watch it!” For all my kvetching, Cirque, it IS nice to have a visual representation of the show I can enjoy at home, I just wish the editing team wouldn’t have made so many cuts and quick camera shots in this one, but what can you do? Maybe my feelings about it will change with future viewings. But one thought will not change: Luzia should have gotten a blu-ray release. Or at the very least, be available in High-Definition online! (But that’s a gripe for another time.) Besides the show itself, the DVD also comes with one bonus feature, a 25 minute documentary on the creation of the show, entitled “The Story of an Encounter”. The Story of an Encounter was a web series that explored the inspiring love affair between Cirque du Soleil and Mexico, shining a spotlight on some of the creators of LUZIA, revealing their longstanding or budding love affair with Mexico and its people. The series also explored the protagonists’ individual roles and respective approaches in the creation of LUZIA. Everything you saw in the original web-series is available here. At present the DVD can only be bought on site at the show, but I have it on good authority you can find one or two copies on eBay. Happy hunting! TORUK DVD --------- UPC –- 4-00005-23002-8 Catalog — 523002 Video — 1.78:1 Wide screen Audio — English 2.0 Run Time –- 82 minutes Region –- 0/All Cirque du Soleil presents the cinematographic adaptation of TORUK-The First Flight, a multimedia experience inspired by James Cameron's Avatar and imagined by Cirque du Soleil. TORUK – The First Flight envisions a world beyond imagination set thousands of years before the events depicted in the film. The word Toruk, in the Na'vi language, refers to the great leonopteryx, the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky. Central in Na'vi lore and culture, this fascinating creature is crucial to the Na'vi clans' sense of destiny and interconnectedness – and is about to be ridden for the very first time by a Na'vi. Narrated by a "Na’vi Storyteller", the show follows three young adults - Ralu, Entu, and Tsyal - and the first flight of the Toruk. Before I progress any further I have to tell you something: unlike Luzia, I have yet to see TORUK live. Considering the upcoming touring schedule, it doesn’t appear that I’ll ever get the opportunity to do so. The DVD will likely become my only window into this live production, which I find a little disappointing. Seeing the movie four times in the theater, it’s safe to say I rather enjoyed AVATAR and its’ world. When Cirque du Soleil announced this show I was quite skeptical, but looking forward to seeing what they could do. Technologically, the show is a marvel; the projections look fantastic! But I was concerned that the human factor would be dwarfed by it all, lost in all the colorful eye-candy. I wasn’t wrong, but I also wasn’t right. The recording started off well enough... the story’s set up from the Storyteller comes across loud and clear, and is quite visually impressive, but then he largely disappears and scenes seem to come and go without any kind of context. I got lost on Pandora and I almost never came back. Where were the main characters going? Where were they at now? And who did they meet this time? It wasn’t until I read through the new programme book again that I understood what was happening, which could have been alleviated if the Storyteller’s narrations had continued to be included along the way. I also find it unfortunate that TORUK was recorded so early in its run – at the premiere in Montreal – rather than later on, as the show went through a few changes afterward, bringing on a number of acrobatic additions that would have been very welcome in fleshing out what was on-screen. I also feel this release should have been given HD treatment via Blu- ray, for the colors alone. Scaling up the standard definition video of the DVD to HDTV proved problematic during many action scenes, especially those involving multi-colored props and costumes – the quality of the video degraded so much it looked like I was watching TORUK on a VHS tape; quelle horreur! Cirque, we know there’s a High-Def version of the show because both 4K and HD versions were broadcast via bell Fibe TV1, so if you’re not interested in releasing a Blu-Ray of the show (which I can understand why you wouldn’t be interested), how about releasing this on your On- Demand page instead? Some of us would love to pay for a 1080p or higher quality version of the show! Okay, moving on... Like the Luzia DVD, the TORUK DVD comes with one bonus item – a 23- minute long documentary on the creation of the show. In “Toruk Takes Flight”, viewers will meet Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, the writers and directors of TORUK: The First Flight; Jean-François Bouchard, the show’s creative guide; Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté; and the director of Avatar, James Cameron. Viewers will also go behind the scenes with several of the production’s main designers and performers and witness their struggles and uncertainties as the pressure builds towards the launch of this unprecedented multimedia experience. “Toruk Takes Flight” is directed by award- winning Montreal film maker Adrian Wills, who received a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for “All Together Now”, a documentary on the creation of another Cirque du Soleil show, The Beatles – LOVE. He also filmed LUZIA. The TORUK DVD is presently only available on its tour. FLOWERS IN THE DESERT DVD ------------------------- UPC –- NONE Catalog — NONE Video — 16:9 Wide screen Audio — English 2.0 Stereo Run Time –- 84 minutes Region –- 0/All One of the most enigmatic DVD releases for Cirque du Soleil fans is “Flowers in the Desert”, a special release from PBS films in late 2010 for viewers who gave $100 or more to their local PBS station. Copies of the DVD would appear on eBay from time to time, but at prohibitively high prices. But if you’re lucky enough to snag one at auction, you’ll find a wonderful collection of mesmerizing performances of Mystère, "O", KÀ, LOVE, and Viva ELVIS, as well as small sneak peeks of Zumanity and BELIEVE. Although the materials for the package suggest all these segments were recorded in High Definition, upon viewing I find that not to be the case. Many times compression artifacting in some of the footage is so prevalent, it’s embarrassing. But, that being said, the visuals we do receive from this package are very, very welcome. Since many of the Las Vegas shows have not been fully recorded and released (no, documentaries don’t count), it’s good to have these elements for our viewing pleasures at home. So, what will you find on this DVD? o) MYSTERE (12:10) – After a brief introduction into the world of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, this segment features clips and long-views of the show’s arousing “Opening”, the “Bungees” (the Kunya Sobe segment only), “Hand-to-Hand” with the Alexis/Lorador Brothers, and a good run of the “Korean Plank / Fast Track / Trampoline” numbers. o) “O” (8:43) – Here you’ll find brief peeks at the show’s “Synchronized Swimming” number, and then longer views of “Bateau”, “Russian Swings”, and the show’s closing segments. o) KÀ (19:41) – This segment features a number of scenes from the show, including: “Pageant”, “The Storm” (aka The Boat), “The Deep”, an amalgam of “Archer’s Den” and “Flutes”, the “Slave Cage” (aka The Wheel of Death), and the “Final Battle”. o) THE BEATLES LOVE (20:24) – Featuring goodly portions of “Get Back / Glass Onion”, “Octopus’ Garden”, “Within You, Without You”, “A Day in the Life”, and “Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)” segments of the show, interspersed with documentary footage and interviews. Great stuff! o) VIVA ELVIS (17:16) – Here you’ll find “Blue Suede Shoes” in all its big shoe glory, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Got a Lot of Livin’ to Do”, and “Hound Dog” scenes from the show. Disappointingly, the last two or three minutes of the main event is all that is given to ZUMANITY and BELIEVE, with very little footage from either actually seen on-screen. The documentary suggests these two shows represent a darker representation of Cirque du Soleil and although PBS is not wrong, they’re also not entirely correct. Still, I can understand why PBS would not want to film and broadcast the sexy Zumanity, or the bizarre magical world of BELIEVE, as neither make for good family-friendly public programming. But perhaps to make up for this oversight, the DVD does contain three extra performances as a bonus (from the “extras” menu option on the main menu) – from KA: the “Wash Up on Shore” scene (5:49), from Mystere: “Aerial Cube” (5:16), and from “O”: “Aerial Hoops” (4:20). Now that’s more like it! Since this DVD was never wide-released publically, its availability is spotty at best. Your best chance is to monitor eBay religiously and pounce on a listing for it as soon as it becomes available. Prices have been known to reach above $100.00 on the auction site, so be prepared to pay heavily for this DVD if you really want it! And there you go, all the goodies in my Cirque Christmas stocking this year! ------------------------------------------------------------ "Online Casino: Cirque du Soleil Kooza Slot Review" A Special to the Fascination! Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------ Kooza is one of the touring circus productions of the famous Cirque du Soleil, a Canadian entertainment company that is the largest theatrical producer across the globe. The Kooza show consists of impressive acrobatic and clown acts, was used as a main theme in a couple of films so far, but for the first time it is used as a topic for a video slot game. SG Interactive developed an entertaining five- reel, 40-pay-line slot packed with action, which just might leave the audience in awe, just like the famous circus show, thanks to plenty of fun and rewarding features that will keep spinners chained for their seats. DEVELOPER --------- SG Interactive is one of the leading casino software provider in the iGaming industry, using cutting edge software technology, which is why their product are easily integrated into most of the platforms used in the online gambling market. The company houses several independent studios under its roof, such as Barcrest, Williams, Shuffle Master and Bally. The company has been in the business for more than 70 years now, providing excellent video slots, table games and 3rd party brands to their respective clients. CHECK OUT A DEMO OF THE GAME HERE: https://www.onlinecasino.org/slots/cirque-du-soleil-kooza-slot-review HOW TO PLAY IT -------------- Before you enter the circus ring of this amazing colorful show, you first need to set the desired bet, which can go from $0.20 per spin, up to whopping $400. The slot offers 40 fixed pay-lines that pay left to right, starting from the leftmost reel, with three of a kind being the minimum for landing payouts. You will notice that symbols may appear in stacks during the base game by themselves, or by the little help of the animated figurines of the Cirque, and this is called Mystery Stacked Reels. Before the reels stop spinning, those figurines will randomly appear and mark one or more random reels on which a certain symbol may appear in stacks, creating plenty of possibilities for hefty payouts. And, since we are talking about symbols, you will be entertained by the most important members of the Kooza show: the Wheeler, Skelly, Chari and Innocent. There will also be a Red Mask, a Pink Mask and Ace, King and Queen playing cards, representing low-paying symbols. Wild substitutes for all regular symbols, while Bonus Box and Bonus symbols are Scatters crucial for triggering of the Bonus Features. SPECIAL FEATURES ---------------- Bonus Box Scatters land only on reels 1, 3 and 5, and once you get all three of them on the reels, you will trigger the Box Pick Bonus feature, with three boxes on the screen. You need to pick one of the boxes to win an instant 6.00 – 100.00 coin prize, or to get to the Bonus Wheel. When talking about Bonus Scatters, they appear on reels 2, 3 and 4 and three of them give you an instant access to the Bonus Wheel, plus a prize of 2x the triggering bet. The Bonus Wheel will offer you several instant cash prizes, Trickster Free Games, Wheel of Death Free Games and a Jackpot. The Trickster Free Games award you with 10 freebies and a 2x multiplier, while the Trickster may appear and form stacked symbols from high-paying symbols, giving you the opportunity to land bigger payouts. If you land the Bonus Wheel on the Wheel of Death Free Games, you will get 7-12 freebies to start with, accompanied by a 2x-4x multiplier. More Free Games icon may appear on reels 2, 3 and 4, and if you land at least two of them, you can get from 4 to 15 additional free spins. If the Bonus Wheel stops on Jackpot, you will now have to spin the Jackpot Wheel, and win one of four possible Jackpots – Mini, Grand, Colossal, or Tres Magnifique. The amount you can win in Jackpot will depend on the triggering stake. The bigger the stake is, the bigger the Jackpot gets. MAXIMUM PAYOUTS --------------- Jackpot feature offers the maximum possible payout in Cirque du Soleil Kooza slot. The Tres Magnificue Jackpot can get up to insane $200,000, provided you place the maximum possible bet of $400. Lots of rewarding payouts can be landed during the Bonus features, thanks to lots of freebies and multipliers, but you can be generously rewarded during base game as well, thanks to Mystery Stacked Reels. SUMMARY ------- Even though the 2016 release may seem complicated at first glance due to plenty of additional features incorporated, after a couple of spins gamers will realize that the game-play is simple as 1, 2, 3. There is a lot to play for in the SG Interactive product, because spinners might be lucratively rewarded both during the base game and during the Bonus features. Truth being told, the Bonus Wheel is pretty damn hard to trigger, so you will need to invest time and money in this circus show before you get some results. Visually speaking, Cirque du Soleil Kooza is simply impressive, boasting state-of-the-art graphics and a matching soundtrack. { SOURCE: Online Casino | https://goo.gl/B1BYgF } ------------------------------------------------------------ "Casting Q&A's - Meet an Artist, Part 5 of 6" Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------ Ever wonder what it would be like to become a Cirque du Soleil artist? Of course you have! Who hasn’t? Wonder no longer! Through a series of interviews on their casting website, Cirque du Soleil invites us to get to know some of their performers (past and present), and discover how each of them went from a career as an athlete, circus performer, instrumentalist, singer, dancer, actor, clown, or in another specialty to becoming a Cirque performer. They’re fantastic reads if you’ve had the pleasure, and if you haven’t, well, don’t despair. We’ve collected all 30 artist interviews for you to peruse in this series, which, due to the page count, we’ll publish in six parts. In September, we began with Q&A's from Anthony Gatto, Claudel Doucet, Denise Stefanie Gonzalez, Eric Scribner, and Eve Castelo Branco. Then Hassan El Hajjami (Hip-hop & Breakdance), Jean-François Houle (Bandleaders), Jeanne Dioman Gbou (Ethnic & Traditional dance), Julia Lopatkina (Acrobatic gymnastics), and Kristin Allen (Gymnastics) in October. We continued in November with Lionel Hamel (Stringed instruments), Lisa Skinner (Artistic gymnastics), Marco De Santi (Extreme sports), Melissa Urbano (Martial arts), and Michael Joseph Hachey (Stringed instruments). And last month with Miho Kono (Synchronized swimming), Miro Lacasse (Physical Actors), Noriko Takahashi (Diverse abilities), Odmaa Bayartsogt (Other disciplines), and Oleksandr Pylypenko (Athletes). And now in Part Five: Paulo Lorador (Balancing), PJ Bogart (Diving), Raphaël Sanchez (Keyboards), Ross Gibson (Tumbling), and Sabú Alegría (Wheels). # # # PAULO LORADOR | Portugal Hand to Hand Q. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND PREVIOUS TO JOINING CIRQUE: I was performing Hand to Hand with my brother, Marco (we are third generation circus performers). Q. WHEN DID YOU JOIN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? April 1992. Q. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION? My brother and I were performing in Monte Carlo at the Circus Festival when Cirque du Soleil approached us. Q. WHAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE WAS YOUR AUDITION? Because our act is so specialized we did not have to audition. Q. HOW DID YOUR INTEGRATION GO (EITHER IN MONTREAL OR IN A SHOW)? We arrived before the premiere of Saltimbanco and only had to make changes to our costumes and music. Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? The work conditions are great. Q. HOW DID THE TRANSITION GO BETWEEN YOUR FORMER CAREER TO YOUR CURRENT CIRQUE CAREER? For us there was no transition in our career because we were already performing in a circus setting, we just moved into better working conditions. Q. WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AN ARTIST TO JOIN CIRQUE? It’s a great company to work for. Q. HOW IS LIFE ON TOUR AND IN LAS VEGAS? I enjoyed touring but I prefer being in Las Vegas. * * * PJ BOGART | United States Diving Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT PRIOR TO JOINING CIRQUE? Alternate 2000 Olympics 3m, 3 time NCAA Champion, 7 time National Champion, 1998 World Championship team member Q. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR ATHLETIC BACKGROUND PREVIOUSLY? I have been a diver since I was 11. Q. WHEN DID YOU JOIN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? November 2001. Q. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION? I saw Saltimbanco in 1998 in Australia. Q. WHAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE WAS YOUR AUDITION? I loved every minute of it but it was very challenging. Q. HOW DID YOUR INTEGRATION GO IN MONTREAL AND IN THE SHOW? Being in Montreal was an adjustment, but joining "O" was easier for me. Q. HOW DOES BEING PART OF A CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SHOW ALLOW YOU TO EXPRESS YOURSELF IN YOUR DISCIPLINE? I’ve always considered myself a showman, and Cirque du Soleil gives me an outlet for that. Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? I love that I can earn a living doing what I love to do! Q. HOW DID THE TRANSITION GO BETWEEN YOUR FORMER CAREER TO YOUR CURRENT CIRQUE CAREER? Before Cirque I was working as a waiter/bartender so I really enjoyed the change. Q. WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AN ARTIST TO JOIN CIRQUE? It is the best job in the world and who wouldn’t want to be able to say that they get paid to do something they love. Q. HOW IS LIFE IN LAS VEGAS? There is always something to do in Vegas at any time of day, so I love it here! Q. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? Once you join the Cirque du Soleil team, you will never want to leave! * * * RAPHAËL SANCHEZ | France Music Conductor Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT PRIOR TO JOINING? My ten-year artistic collaboration with Annie Fratellini (Cirque Fratellini, Paris) as composer and music director Q. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR ARTISTIC BACKGROUND? Composer for movies, theatre and traditional circus (Annie Fratellini) Conductor for many productions including, Les Miserables, Cats, Chicago, Hello Dolly, 42nd Street and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo Conductor, arranger and/or orchestrator for many movie soundtracks, albums and other experimental projects Pianist with a strong classical background, I also play jazz, fusion, and traditional music like Argentinean tango Q. WHEN DID YOU JOIN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? November 2004. Q. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION? I met the Cirque casting/scouting team in Paris while they were auditioning singers. Q. WHAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE WAS YOUR AUDITION? I didn’t really do an “audition": I gave Cirque a DVD of my work and they called me a few months later for Varekai. They sent me the DVD of the show and a CD with 4 songs on which I was to record some keyboard parts. Q. HOW DID YOUR INTEGRATION GO IN MONTREAL AND IN THE SHOW? It went very fast. I spent 3 days in Montreal learning make-up, getting fit for my costume, having meetings with the composer and the artistic director, finalizing my contract and getting up to speed on administrative procedures. Then I flew directly to Dallas, TX where Varekai was performing for its last 10 days with its former bandleader Michel Cyr. The artists, the coaches and the technical team were very helpful and I’d like to thank them for their kindness. Q. HOW DOES BEING PART OF A CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SHOW ALLOW YOU TO EXPRESS YOURSELF IN YOUR DISCIPLINE? After more than 850 performances of Varekai I still feel the same as when I began 30 months ago. Every show is a “Premiere" that requires the same awareness, sensitivity and energy… Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? The quality of everyone’s involvement… from all the “dreamers" and performers, to the amazing support staff: technical, logistics, wardrobe, concessions, administration, Tour services, Food & beverages, Information technology, VIP, carpentry, rigging, schooling, kitchen, security, cleaning, etc. I am part of an amazing team! If we could collect and transform the energy that everyone gives on Varekai into electricity, we could light a city! Q. HOW DID THE TRANSITION GO BETWEEN YOUR FORMER CAREER TO YOUR CURRENT CIRQUE CAREER? For me to have to concentrate my energy on one only project was kind of new and almost scary! My former career was very eclectic… in a typical day I could be conducting a recording session in the morning, rehearsing with a traditional tango orchestra in the afternoon, conducting a theatre show in the evening and finally composing, or writing arrangements and orchestrations for my next project at night! Fortunately, given the complexity of the show, the interaction between departments during the show and the fact that there are plenty of adjustments to do all the time, my role as bandleader keeps me really busy! Q. WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AN ARTIST TO JOIN CIRQUE? It is a very unique experience you’ll never forget. Q. HOW IS LIFE ON TOUR / IN LAS VEGAS / IN ORLANDO? “Intense" doesn’t begin to describe it, but traveling with my family makes a big difference compared to everything I knew before. I’ve never had so much time with them! Also, I’d like to mention that Cirque provides schooling for the children on tour with the best teachers, better than we could have ever dreamed of. In the past 18 months my son has learned English, is learning Russian and taking lessons in juggling and acrobatics. * * * ROSS GIBSON | United Kingdom Tumbling/Dancing Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT PRIOR TO JOINING CIRQUE? Tumbling: 1997 – Ranked # 3 Junior in World, 1999 – Team Silver Medal Champs, 2002 – Finished second in the World Cup Final Dancing: Backing dancer for Anastasia and for Will Young in the 2002 Royal Variety Show Q. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR ARTISTIC BACKGROUND? I was an international tumbler for 6 years and a professional dancer in various UK productions. Q. WHEN DID YOU JOIN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? March 2006. Q. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION? After Cirque saw me in the World Championships I was invited to audition in 2000. Q. WHAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE WAS YOUR AUDITION? The audition was grueling. After that it took many years until I the right role came along. Q. HOW DID YOUR INTEGRATION GO IN MONTREAL AND IN THE SHOW? It was very quick! I spent 2 weeks in Montreal, 2 weeks in Vegas and then I was performing in the show. Q. HOW DOES BEING PART OF A CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SHOW ALLOW YOU TO EXPRESS YOURSELF IN YOUR DISCIPLINE? Cirque takes a sport and makes it into an act, something I could never do in competition. Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? Being a part of Cirque gives you a certain sense of pride and sort of makes you a celebrity in the art world. Q. WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AN ARTIST TO JOIN CIRQUE? They give you many opportunities to expand, grow and create new talents. Q. HOW IS LIFE IN LAS VEGAS? Life in Vegas is very different from touring; it gives you a stable lifestyle. Q. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? Be prepared to work, push yourself and to never give up! * * * SABÚ ALEGRÍA | Mexico Wheel of Death Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST ACROBATIC ACHIEVEMENT PRIOR TO JOINING? For over 20 years I performed in Europe with some of the best circuses in the world like the Circus Knie and the Circus Krone; I also participated in the Festivals of Monte Carlo and Paris. Q. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND PREVIOUS TO JOINING CIRQUE: At 9 years old I began performing in my family’s circus, Circo Alegría, as a trapeze artist as well as an animal tamer (I worked with elephants, lions and tigers). I also played a lot of soccer and other sports. Q. WHEN DID YOU JOIN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? I started in Montreal in 2004. Q. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION? Through my brother, Octavio, who is a juggler in Varekai. Q. WHAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE WAS YOUR AUDITION? For me it was a great experience, different from anything I had done before. The facilities, lodging and very kind staff were all wonderful. Q. HOW DID YOUR INTEGRATION GO IN MONTREAL AND IN THE SHOW? Everything went very well. It’s a fantastic organization. Everybody made me feel very welcome, both in the offices and in the theatre. Q. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL? Everytting. I love being an artist at Cirque du Soleil. Q. WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AN ARTIST TO JOIN CIRQUE? Because Cirque du Soleil has a culture of creativity and provides many opportunities for its artists. Q. HOW IS LIFE IN LAS VEGAS? I like it in here Vegas because I am stable. After traveling so much all over the world I feel more relaxed and am now able to concentrate on my work more. Q. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? I would like to thank all my team-mates and all the staff for everything. * * * Next month we’ll conclude this Q&A series by hearing from Suo Liu (Martial arts), Tumelo “Michael" Moloi (Other dance styles), Vanessa Convery (Jazz & Tap dance), Zara Tellander (Female vocals), and Zeng Jiao Jian (Martial arts). ======================================================================= COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= Fascination! Newsletter Volume 17, Number 1 (Issue #156) - January 2017 "Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (C) 2001-2017 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., and Créations Méandres, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement intended. { Jan.11.2017 } =======================================================================