CirqueTech – “KÀ Tech Specs, 3/4”

Cirque du Soleil has been, over the years, very guarded about the technical aspects of its productions and in the past it was quite rare to receive a glimpse into what made each show tick. But no longer. Today we can explore the many facets of these shows, from its theme to the brand of speaker or light shining overhead; including this list provided by Cirque du Soleil. In this edition of CirqueTech, we explore the third of four of these KÀ Tech Specs: Lighting, Audio and Costumes and Makeup.

KÀ Tech Specs, Part 3:

LIGHTING

  • There are 24 dimmer racks and 2 portable dimmer packs with 24 dimmers for a total of 2260 dimmers.
  • The lighting system requires 22,528 control channels to operate it from 10 specialized lighting computer consoles running on a fiber optic backbone.
  • There are 436 custom LED fixtures just for lighting the post and beam structure front of house, capable of producing over 1,000,000 different colors.
  • 44 automated luminaries – moving lights.
  • 3,228 total lighting fixtures.
  • There are 130 color scrollers capable of up to 32 colors each.
  • There are 12 follow-spots run by 8 technicians.
  • The lighting system uses 2.2 million watts of power – if all lights are on at once.
  • One fixture uses 70000 watts of power and produces a lightning effect.
  • There are three 18000 lumen video projectors that are computer controlled and interactive via three different systems with the artists on stage.

AUDIO

  • To fill the KÀ Theatre with sound takes 524,150 total watts of amplifier power pumping an intricately layered mix of sound effects and music to 4,774 loudspeaker drivers in 2,139 cabinets.
  • The sound system weighs 43,868 pounds.
  • The main audio system covers 1,980,000 cubic feet of air space.
  • Every seat in the KÀ Theatre has two speakers built into its headrest which allows sound effects to be targeted, manipulated and customized to any of 16 seating zones.

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP

  • Seventy specialists worked more than 35,000 hours to produce the first full set of KÀ costumes at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal.
  • All costumes, head pieces (wigs and hats) and shoes are custom-made for the 75 KÀ artists.
  • There are approximately 400 pairs of shoes for the artists.
  • There are 15 wigs used in the show.
  • The body imprints on the blue Forest costumes are taken from one male and one female KÀ artist.
  • There are six different body tattoo designs on the unitards worn by the Archers and Spearmen.
  • One Forest hat takes 40 hours to make.
  • The Spearmen shoes are created to look like they aren’t wearing shoes, with molded rubber toes affixed to a show base.
  • All KÀ artists apply their own make-up, and it takes from 45 minutes to two hours to complete.
  • There are three make-up technicians who airbrush the faces of artists for each performance.
  • Many artists glue Austrian crystals to their faces as part of their make-up.
  • The Chief Archer character has the most complex make-up application, with 43 steps and 22 different brushes.

{ Source: Cirque du Soleil Press Room }