Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter.
It should come as no surprise that Alegría: In a New Light takes center stage in this month’s issue, as the show made its worldwide premiere on April 18th, followed by its gala premiere on April 25th. Inside you’ll find texts from the Press Kit, which was released at the end of April (“ALEGRIA: The Return of an Icon, in a New Light”) and a small collection of articles/reviews found in the press on the show’s premiere (“Alegria Returns in Force” – A Collection of Articles Celebrating Alegria’s Premiere). Of course, we also wanted to talk about the show’s new soundtrack but as many of you know, the new album – which was due to be released on April 25th – was delayed for reasons not shared. With no new release date given, we can only speculate as to the reasons for the delay (the addition of an accordion? A complete change in music from what was recorded?), but there’s no denying the new music is certainly in demand. And considering some of the hatred this new version of Alegria has stirred up amongst some fans, this is a good thing, even if it’s frustrating to wait. What we don’t have to wait for is Alegria’s tour plans through early 2021. Check out the ITINERAIRE section to see where Alegria’s blue-and-white swirled big top (so named “SOHÏEL” by Guy Laliberte before the final dress rehearsal audience. The name means “Messenger of the Sun”) will be TENTATIVELY going throughout 2019 and 2020!
That being said, there’s PLENTY of other news to highlight this month. In fact, thanks to an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal (that you can read in full within, we can celebrate the fact that Mystère, (which just celebrated its 12,000 performance) has had its contract extended another five years. “… and if I believe (hotel owner) Phil Ruffin, and I do, the show is there forever,” Lamarre said. Lamarre also went on to say that Cirque never considered reassessing its staging of MJ ONE following the explosive HBO Documentary “Leaving Neverland”, nor is it ready to pink-slip the acrobats in its shows. “I think the challenge for us is each show has to be distinctive, to have new ideas to apply to acrobatics. We’re not saying no, forever. But now, our clientele looking for acrobatic shows is very well served.” Mr. Lamarre is speaking of the company’s new show “R.U.N”, which does not feature the acrobatics that Cirque du Soleil is famous for. Opening October 24th, “R.U.N” is presented as a kind of “Fast & Furious” action-adventure film set for the stage – a new project you also can read all about within.
In addition to other projects – which include SYMA, VARELIA, VITORI, REBEL, and JOYEUX CALVAIRE from Cirque du Soleil’s recently re-branded Events + Experiences subsidiary (previously 45 DEGREES), there’s something called “Cirque du Soleil AXEL” on its way. Registered on April 11th, this trademark is to be used for “Entertainment services, namely, conception, creation, production, and presentation of theatrical performances; conception, creation, production, distribution and presentation of audio-visual performances and multimedia entertainment content rendered live and recorded for the purpose of distribution through broadcast media; production of multimedia theatrical performances.” As always we’ll have to wait and see what this will end up being!
And I think that will do it for this month.
So, let’s go!
RSS FEED — https://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2
TEXT FILE — https://www.cirquefascination.com/Issues/Issue184.txt
