======================================================================= ______ _ __ _ __ / ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / / / /_ / __ `/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ `/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ / / __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_) 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ E X P A N D E D I S S U E ------------------------------------------------------------ ======================================================================= VOLUME 8, NUMBER 3 MAY/JUN 2008 ISSUE #59e ======================================================================= Bonjour et bienvenue! Welcome to another exciting edition of Fascination!, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. In this edition we bring together press releases from the three recently announced Cirque du Soleil productions: Zaia, Cris Angel BELIEVE and Zed in "ZAIA: 'A Journey Through Time and Space'", "Criss Angel BELIEVE: 'Do you Believe in Magic?'" and "ZED: 'From A to ZED'". There are also two issue exclusive feature articles for you to find this month. The first of these is an interesting peek into Cirque du Solil's partnership with Circus Knie in 1992, and an overview of the recently released Koozå DVD and CD! Oh, and out of the Archives comes a wonderful piece by Paul Roberts who took the plunge into the world of "offshoot CDs" from current and former Cirque du Soleil singers and musicians back in 2002. Also, last month we accidently ran the January/February Cirque history column again rather than the current period. Therefore, to make up for our mistake, we've not only include May/June but also March/April! We apologize for the oversight - there's some really great stuff in there! As always be sure to check out the Itinerary section for any last- minute changes and extensions to tour stops; however, these dates are subject to change. This period you'll find some rumored dates for Alegría in Seoul and Taiwan, as well as some future Koozå dates! That about wraps up this issue. Until next time! Join us on the web at: < www.cirquefascination.com > Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed: < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > - Ricky "Richasi" Russo =========== CONTENTS =========== o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings o) Oyez! Oyez! -- New Show Announcements *) ZAIA: "A Journey Through Time and Space" *) Criss Angel BELIEVE: "Do you Believe in Magic?" *) ZED: "From A to ZED" o) Compartments -- Information on Tour and Behind the Curtain * Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information * Didyaknow? -- Facts About Cirque * Historia -- Cirque du Soleil's History * CirqueTech -- The Technical Side of Cirque o) Fascination! Features *) "Cirque du Soleil and KNIE, 1992" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, Florida (USA) {Issue Exclusive} *) "Koozå: 'Live it up' on CD and DVD!" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, Florida (USA) {Issue Exclusive} o) From the Fascination! Archives... *) "Musicians' Family Tree" By: Paul Roberts - Hamilton, Ohio (USA) {Originally Published: Issue #14 - October 2002} o) Parting Quote o) Copyright & Disclaimer ======================================================================= CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS ======================================================================= Wintuk to... Tour? [EXPANDED] {May.02.2008} ------------------------------------------ We're getting back into the swing of things here - news wise - after returning from a weekend in Seattle for Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. One of the news items released recently that has caught our eye we find to be very interesting indeed. What might that be? That MSG/Cirque du Soleil has plans to tour their seasonal show Wintuk nationally throughout the United States starting with the 2010 season. From the article: Madison Square Garden Entertainment's plan to launch a touring arena version of its Radio City Christmas Spectacular is the latest move in an increasingly aggressive strategy that will see the company launch other tours in the next few years. [...] If the Spectacular tour reaches projections north of $30 million, it is likely that MSGE will remain bullish in this market. In fact, a touring version of the MSGE/Cirque du Soleil production "Wintuk," which debuted in 2007 at the WaMu Theatre at MSG, will mount a national tour in 2010. "We believe what our friends at Cirque du Soleil have done for the circus genre can be applied to other presentations," Marciano says. "All venues are always on the lookout for new content." With more than $25 million in startup costs, not including marketing and promotion, the Spectacular tour certainly shows that MSGE is jumping in with both feet. "We're in it for the long haul," Marciano says. "And it's not like we're working with a show that's untested. We're working with one of the biggest live entertainment draws in the world -- we're just re-creating it for the arena space." {SOURCE: Reuters} NEW Tapis Rouge at LOVE {May.06.2008} ------------------------------------------ LOVE Tapis Rouge invites you on an exclusive behind-the-scenes psychedelic journey. Take a contemporary virtual trip into the world of The Beatles LOVE, while immersed in the ultimate VIP sensory experience created by Cirque du Soleil! Be a part of an exclusive reception before the show at The Beatles REVOLUTION Lounge - created by Cirque du Soleil - only at The Mirage, Las Vegas. o) An open bar with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails inspired by LOVE and The Beatles. o) Delight in an uniquely-designed, festive, musical atmosphere inspired by LOVE. o) Hosts with information about the show and The Beatles, and backstage video images of the making of LOVE, hosted by one of its characters. o) Pick up a specially-designed LOVE gift bag (including a LOVE souvenir program). o) Then, experience LOVE itself, in preferred seating. o) And after the show, enjoy REVOLUTION lounge through a VIP Entrance with no cover fees (valid for one week after seeing the show!) and one free drink! Tapis Rouge for LOVE begins Thursday, June 26, 2008. Tickets are now on sale and cost $295.00 USD (+ tax). For tickets and further information regarding the LOVE Tapis Rouge experience - call 1-866-236-5652. {SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil} Alegría in Dubai [EXPANDED] {May.07.2008} ------------------------------------------ Now here's a surprise - Alegría is going to the Middle East! * * * Nakheel, a Dubai World company and one of the world's largest and most innovative real estate developers, today announced that Palm Jumeirah will host Cirque du Soleil's world famous touring show "Alegria" in Spring 2009 as a prelude to the permanent show which is due to open on the island in Summer 2011. The announcement, made at Arabian Travel Market 2008, comes one year after Nakheel and Cirque du Soleil announced a major partnership to develop a permanent show on Palm Jumeirah. In May 2007, an initial 15-year deal was signed with the two organizations announcing the intention to jointly design and build a 1,800-seat theatre that will be home to the first ever Cirque resident show to be staged outside of the USA and Japan. Designs for the theatre are underway, as are the plans for the completely original show, which is being custom produced for Palm Jumeirah. The company also announced the location for the permanent show, which will be housed in Palm Mall, Palm Jumeirah - the major retail hub at the top of the trunk of the island and one of five mega-malls which Nakheel announced last month. Chris O'Donnell, CEO, Nakheel, said: "When we announced the partnership with Cirque du Soleil to have a purpose built theatre and unique show on Palm Jumeirah, it created a huge amount of excitement in the tourism industry and reaffirmed our intention to make Palm Jumeirah the premier tourist destination in the region. Plans for the permanent show are going very well but we did not want Dubai to wait until 2011 to experience Cirque du Soleil again so we are delighted to be bringing Alegria to Palm Jumeirah next year." Alegria, which is Spanish for "jubilation" is one of Cirque du Soleil's most established shows, having been created 13 years ago. Currently on world tour, it will play in Taipei before arriving in Dubai. Daniel Lamarre, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cirque du Soleil said: "Alegria is one of our most loved shows and currently enjoying an extremely successful world tour. We are delighted to be bringing it to Dubai where we enjoyed enormous success with our touring show Quidam in January 2007. Quidam's success led to the long term partnership with Nakheel and we are sure that Alegria will be even more successful." Of the announced location of the permanent show, Chris O'Donnell said: "Palm Mall on Palm Jumeirah will be a major destination in its own right - a luxury retail, dining and entertainment destination covering 1 million square feet of space and including three floors of luxury retail. Having our purpose built Cirque du Soleil theatre as the anchor attraction will increase further the appeal of Palm Mall and add to the diverse set of attractions throughout the island, from Trump International Hotel & Tower and Atlantis to Golden Mile and the QE2." {SOURCE: AME Info} Koozå CD Now Available {May.09.2008} ------------------------------------------ Once scheduled to be released on November 1, 2007 along with the Wintuk CD, we're happy to say that fans no longer have to wait for the music of Koozå! From Cirque's website: The music of KOOZA beautifully demonstrates the spirit of the live show with it's themes of human connection and fun in a world of duality. With a stream of uplifting songs with timeless influences where forms and styles intertwine seamlessly, the music of KOOZA is inspired by the sounds of western pop culture, from 1970s funk to full orchestral arrangements. It also draws heavily on traditional indian music. Cirque du Soleil: Koozå ZING/Cirque du Soleil Musique CDSMCD-10026-2 Run Time: 68:26 SRP: $19.50 USD / $19.50 CDN Track Listing: 01. KOOZA Dance (3:28) 02. Superstar I (2:27) 03. L'Innocent (5:50) 04. Royaume (3:40) 05. Junoon (5:31) 06. Alambre Alto (4:59) 07. 16- Papillon (5:08) 08. Pearl (4:07) 09. Cabaret Satã (3:12) 10. Aankh Micholi (4:28) 11. Diables (3:36) 12. El Péndulo de la Muerte (3:02) 13. Petit-Jaune (1:43) 14. Superstar II (3:23) 15. Imposteur (1:21) 16. Prarthana (4:50) 17. Don't Be Afraid (3:46) 18. Hum Jaisa Na Dekha (3:53) Currently the CD can only be purchased directly from Cirque du Soleil at certain on-site tents and, of course, through the Online Boutique. (It is not yet available through iTunes.) Get yours today! La Presse: "A Soleil Surprise" [EXPANDED] {May.19.2008} ------------------------------------------ Koozå is winning the hearts and minds of folks in Philadelphia and recently was reviewed by Jonathan Takiff of the Philadelphia Daily News. His take on Koozå is rather refreshing. From the article: Have you grown accustomed to Cirque du Soleil spectaculars that seem less like a circus and more like a surreal aerial ballet or Asian action movie fantasy? You know - shows that come saddled with some convoluted, mystical plotline (at least in the program book) about the quest for truth, beauty and humanity? Or maybe you've come to think of Cirque for its permanently installed mega-productions in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., where the tens of millions of dollars spent on high-tech stage machinery often dwarfs the mere mortal performers. If so, the most intimate and circuslike of Cirque shows, newly landed in Philadelphia and called "Kooza," will really surprise you, thanks to a creator named David Shiner who's steeped in traditional, one-ring circus arts. "I wanted a more traditional show, a show created around the artists, not on all the stuff around them," explained the writer/director recently. "I wanted to take the high-tech out of it, to really get back to the basics." The costumes are still magnificent, sometimes offbeat and occasionally a bit unsettling (unless a Broadway-style chorus line of skeletons and a carpet of dancing rats is your idea of dreamy). The world-conscious music coming from the traditional, circus- styled bandstand also is true to the Cirque performance-art school. This time, the score mixes a rock core with the spicy rhythms of Latin America and India, and featuring a singer Shiner first heard in Mumbai. But listen closely. Some of the lyrics are in English this time, not that otherworldly Cirque-gibberish! Clowns also have more to say in this one show, in recognizable speech, than this fan has seen collectively in seven or eight Cirque shows. "We're playing in the U.S., so why not talk in English?" said Shiner. Another difference this time, the plotline can be boiled down to a one-line essence: Innocent, kite-flying fella waves a magic wand over a box; out pops a jester and we're off to the circus - a particularly terrific circus - where acrobats and clowns rule the roost. (But no chickens, or elephants, or tigers.) By the way, "Kooza" comes from the Sanskrit word kaza which means both "box" and "treasure." BORN IN THE USA David Shiner is U.S.-born - a rarity among the high creative ranks for the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil enterprise - and is best known in the States for his clowning in the film "Lorenzo's Oil," his guiding role as the original Cat in the Hat in the Broadway musical "Seussical" and especially for the two- man, all-mimed show with Bill Irwin, "Fool Moon," "that we played for three engagements on Broadway in the '90s, and still talk about reviving a fourth time," Shiner said. (Irwin, by happy coincidence, is also here in town, through June 15, world-premiering a show at the Philadelphia Theatre Company, "The Happiness Lecture." He and Shiner have agreed to do a "talk back" panel discussion, "Not Just Fooling Around," after the matinee June 7. Admission to the chat is free for all.) Like Cirque's French Canadian founders, Shiner also started out a street performer, though in Boulder, Colo. And like them, he's been quite the globe traveler. When he couldn't find good work and appreciation in the U.S. for his funny business, Shiner moved to Paris in 1981, first working in the streets and then landing jobs clowning in traditional, one-ring European circus troupes - France's Cirque de Demain, then Germany's Circus Roncalli (about which he speaks in especially reverent tones) and then with the Swiss National company, Circus Knie. WELCOME TO THE MACHINE Shiner first made a Cirque connection doing a two-man show with a company principal, Rene Bazinet. He formalized the relationship in 1990, joining the cast of Cirque's fourth show "Nouvelle Experience," which spent 19 months on the road and a year planted in Las Vegas. "It was actually the very first show they took to Vegas, for a tented engagement on a hotel parking lot [at the Mirage] that just went on and on and on." Now, of course, Cirque du Soleil has five permanent shows playing the gambling town in customized mega-theaters and two more installations in the works, including a magic-centric show opening in September at the Luxor called "Chris Angel - Believe," and an on-again/off-again Elvis Presley tribute that hopefully will come together and as well as their amazing Beatles-themed show, "Love." There are also 10 more tented Cirque shows floating around the world, and plans to expand the empire even more, with three big shows just for Macau, the resort destination off the coast of Hong Kong. Shiner agrees that those permanent Vegas ventures are "amazing" to behold but "a daunting task" for a director - and not really where his head is at. "I cut my teeth in the one-ring circus, so it's got a special place in my heart. That's what 'Kooza' is celebrating. It's really about the artistry of the performers, the emotion they create." CIRQUE, HIS WAY For sure, there's some staggering, spine-tingling stuff in this show, starting off with three very young female contortionists who twist themselves into unbelievable sculptural works. It hurts just to watch. Shiner calls this magical routine "like watching living jewelry. It's just so elegant." The director/writer also is very high on the silver-sequined and otherwise dazzling Anthony Gatto, calling him "the best juggler in the world. After I saw him, I had to have him for the show." And how about that pair of fearless, gravity-defying guys who run, jump and skip rope inside and atop two wheels spinning at the ends of a giant rotating pendulum? They don't call it the Wheel of Death for nothing. Shiner agrees. "It's terrifying, a great act, so dangerous. The momentum on that huge spinning thing is so great. It's so easy to go flying off, and the dismount, if you do it wrong . . . " While he offers some input on the acrobatic acts, Shiner's training and interest really come to the fore with "Kooza" 's clowns. For a change, the Cirque funny guys aren't just time killers meant to distract us while the set is being reconfigured. These merry pranksters seem central to the show's devil-may-care spirit, often working on the edge in an old school, slapstick, Keystone Kops-meet-the-Three Stooges vein. Confetti flies everywhere and so do people. A fluffy dog does a nasty deed that could easily upset the ticketholders. A slimy pickpocket artist works his con on a hapless victim pulled out of the audience. You're glad it's not you. NOT ALL'S FUNNY BUSINESS All went well in our conversation until I dared to ask Shiner if spectators pulled out of the seats by the clowns were authentic ticket buyers or "plants" - part of the show. Suddenly, he became agitated. "I can't tell you that," he declared. "You don't really want to know that, now do you? Asking me that is like asking a magician how he does his tricks. These are wonderful secrets that you like to keep that way. I won't spoil anything for the audience." Shiner also argued that it would be disrespectful to the clowns to share their business. "In the U.S., we tend to dismiss clowns as simple characters in baggy pants, big shoes, a fright wig and a big red nose. But in Europe, and with Cirque, clowning is a highly respected profession for an artist and a highly refined art. Truth is, it takes years for these guys to come up with a great 10 minutes of material." But that's not to say that the clown bits (or the other acts) in "Kooza" are fixed in stone. "I encourage the performers to keep trying different things, especially at matinees when there are lot of kids in the audience," tipped Shiner. "Children are more generous with their laughter, and more forgiving when something doesn't go exactly right." {SOURCE: The Philadelphia Daily News} Glow in the Dark {May.22.2008} ------------------------------------------ Wonder what Benoît Jutras has been up to these days? He's glowing in the dark at Six Flags Adventure Parks! An all-new nighttime parade lights up the night at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Mexico. Glow in the Park is the brainchild of world-renowned creative director Gary Goddard, the mastermind behind a host of major attractions including the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, Star Trek: The Experience, and The Jurassic Park River Adventure at the Universal theme parks. Goddard has enlisted one of Cirque Du Soleil's premiere composers, Benoit Jutras, to create the music for the parade. For float designs, the internationally acclaimed conceptual parade designer Raul Rodriguez was commissioned. Michael La Fleur, whose resume includes artistic coordinator for Celine Dion's "A New Day" in Las Vegas and Imagineer for Disney, will create fluid choreographed numbers for the Glow in the Park performers. {SOURCE: CNN News/NPR} DELIRIUM Coming to the Big Screen? {May.22.2008} ------------------------------------------ According to the New York Times, SONY Pictures is tapping into the motion-picture theater exhibitions niche, currently serviced by Fathom Events, by creating a competing line of business. Its first event will be the broadcast of rock musical RENT's final performance. Cirque du Soleil fans may want to take notice, as this new unit will also beam DELIRIUM, Cirque du Soleil's musical experience, to movie theaters later this year. DELIRUM's final curtain was filmed in London and will also be released to DVD in the near future. {SOURCE: New York Times} Macau Home to new Cirque Regional Office [EXPANDED] {Jun.04.2008} --------------------------------------------------- This doesn't come as a surprise to us - Cirque du Soleil's newest regional offices are now located in the Zhu Kuan Building, NAPE, Macau. This newest office joins other regional affiliates in Melbourne (Australia), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Las Vegas (USA) and, of course, Montreal (Canada). * * * Cirque du Soleil, which recently confirmed its first permanent production, ZAIA, in Macau, has opened an Asia Pacific Regional Office in Zhu Kuan Building, NAPE, Macau. The new office joins the company’s other offices in Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Melbourne and the International Headquarters in Montreal. BASE Entertainment Asia shares the new Cirque du Soleil Macau office space. “We are extremely pleased to establish a base in Macau and bring our first permanent production into Asia,” said Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil. “The Asia Pacific Regional Office will represent Cirque du Soleil throughout the region, including our permanent show in Macau and Tokyo, Japan as well as touring shows in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China.” Cirque du Soleil Asia Pacific Regional Office is led by Alan Hills, Vice President and Managing Director and Milan Rokic, Vice President Marketing Asia Pacific. The office currently has 25 staff managing over 400 show employees representing more than 22 nationalities, including Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, Italy, Russia, Macau, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, and United States. Cirque du Soleil has to date successfully toured to 13 cities in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei and Shanghai with Big Top productions but ZAIA will be the first production to be housed within a permanent theatre in the region. ZAIA will be presented in a custom-built 1,800 seat theatre at the Venetian Macau-Hotel-Resort. The combined cost of show creation and the custom-built theatre for ZAIA is believed to be in excess of US$150 million. Preview performances begin July 26, 2008 and the Gala Premiere will be held Thursday, August 28, 2008. {SOURCE: AsiaTravelTips.com} Cirque Partners with YuuZoo [EXPANDED] {Jun.04.2008} ------------------------------------------ Not to be confused with YouTube, the online video sharing website; Cirque du Soleil is partnering with YuuZoo to provide its content to mobile device users. From the TMCNet Article: Cirque du Soleil, renowned across the world as a traveling troupe that has performed for as many as 80 million spectators across 200 cities and five continents, has entered into a partnership agreement with YuuZoo. For the first time, as a result of this partnership, the troupe will be extending their global reach through global mobile content, media, and advertising provider, YuuZoo. Cirque du Soleil fans are able to download video excerpts of shows, graphics, and wallpapers to their mobile devices from anywhere in the world, using the new service from YuuZoo. Ron Creevey, president of YuuZoo, said, "One major objective we have is to expand beyond traditional mobile offerings by providing our customers with a broad selection of popular, unique subjects. That's one reason we're very proud to be associated with such an innovative, creative world brand as Cirque du Soleil." In celebration of the new partnership, a mobile promotion program will award an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to five winners (and one friend each) to see KA, which is an award- winning Cirque du Soleil show. Global operator YuuZoo now serves over 1 billion consumers in North America, Europe, and Asia, giving them the option to subscribe to a wide range of content and services, all of which can be downloaded and used on mobile devices. YuuZoo’s service is built on an advanced and robust technology platform and offers an extensive library of content from up to 400 major global and local content providers. YuuZoo provides access to its services through billing agreements with more than 160 carriers from up to 50 countries. YuuZoo also offers targeted advertising opportunities for advertisers interested in reaching billions of mobile users across the world. The company’s primary offices are in Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Beijing, and Helsinki. Cirque du Soleil started out as a troupe of 20 street performers in 1984. Today, from its base in Quebec and international headquarters in Montreal, Canada, the company employs 4,000 individuals, of which 1,000 are artists, from more than 40 countries. The company has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Emmy, Drama Desk, Bambi, ACE, Gémeaux, Félix, and Rose d'Or de Montreux. {SOURCE: TMCnet.com} Arias with a Twist [EXPANDED] {June 05, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Wonder what Joey Arias has been up to since leaving Zumanity? He's returned to New York City (his home)... with a Twist! [T]he ambitious Arias with a Twist: a collaboration with the brilliant puppeteer Basil Twist, in which Arias sings roughly a dozen numbers in a wild variety of settings, from an alien spaceship to the depths of Hell. The show is the latest chapter in a book notable for crazy shifts of character. [...] In Arias with a Twist, he plans to explore his own variety, via songs that range from the Holiday standard "You've Changed" to tunes by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, as well as originals by Propellerheads' Alex Gifford and several that Arias has co-written. [...] The musical numbers are built into a wild scenic adventure that Twist is designing. * * * HERE is still under construction. Rows of lights hang like bats from the ceiling, and set pieces from the refurbished Soho arts complex’s inaugural production, Arias with a Twist, litter the stage: a foam-board skyline, a gynecological exam table, a kick line of nude puppets. Joey Arias, dressed in black sweats, easily navigates the chaos. The notorious singer and drag artiste—a fixture of Gotham’s demimonde for most of the past three decades—has been away since 2002. But now he’s back, and HERE is where he belongs. Leaving town to join the circus is not, as a general rule, considered a move toward respectability. But when the corporate megalith Cirque du Soleil lured Arias to Las Vegas to host its X-rated extravaganza, Zumanity, the decision raised painted eyebrows all over town. “People didn’t think I was going to be able to make it,” Arias recalls with pride. “They knew about my past, in bathrooms all over the world. But I blew their minds.” Performing ten shows a week for five years at the New York–New York Hotel & Casino, however, eventually grew old. “I started losing my grip on what I was doing,” he says. “And my art clock started ticking.” Hence the return to New York, and hence, too, the ambitious Arias with a Twist: a collaboration with the brilliant puppeteer Basil Twist, in which Arias sings roughly a dozen numbers in a wild variety of settings, from an alien spaceship to the depths of Hell. The show is the latest chapter in a book notable for crazy shifts of character. “Everything has been a mistake in my life,” Arias notes. “I never plan things. But sometimes a left turn becomes the right turn.” There have been many such moves. As a teenager in Los Angeles, Arias was briefly signed by Capitol Records as part of a teen- pop band called the Purlies. After moving to New York in 1976, he fell in with the new-wave pioneer Klaus Nomi, with whom he backed David Bowie on Saturday Night Live. In the 1980s Arias performed with the troupe Mermaids on Heroin at Danceteria; in the ’90s, along with fellow drag stars Raven O and Sherry Vine, he sang for packed crowds at the West Village dive Bar d’O. Along the way, his persona has continually evolved, from petrified alien to devil and beyond; recently, he has tended toward Bettie Page fetish gear and a geometric hairstyle, with Aztec bangs that square off the top of his face. (He describes himself as “a polymorph, a shape-shifter.”) Musically, a major shift came in the 1980s. In England, while recording an album with Iggy and the Stooges, Arias began what he calls “channeling Billie Holiday” while doing a mike check. The recording crew was stunned, and soon he started modeling his singing after Lady Day’s. “Something about her voice just transcended,” he observes. “You go in, you go out, you dream of love and of something that you’ve lost.” He began performing in drag at the 1991 Wigstock festival. “I was at a standstill with the male thing,” he says. “But the moment I put that dress on, my life changed.” In Arias with a Twist, he plans to explore his own variety, via songs that range from the Holiday standard “You’ve Changed” to tunes by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, as well as originals by Propellerheads’ Alex Gifford and several that Arias has cowritten. The musical numbers are built into a wild scenic adventure that Twist is designing. “When Basil and I talked about this show, I had some ideas,” Arias says. “I knew I wanted to be abducted by aliens. I knew I wanted to be on acid. And I knew I wanted a Busby Berkeley something, with a cake and a million legs and chorus girls.” The puppet master has admired Arias for years. “Joey is like a sorcerer,” Twist says. “He conjures or connects with this completely other world and makes everything else melt away.”Arias, for his part, is ready to cast his spell over New York again. “When I was in Vegas, I kept hearing that Manhattan was dead,” he says. “But the magic is still here and will always be here. If you feel the magic is gone, you need to go—because your magic is gone. New York is always changing. You’ve got to go with the change.” {SOURCE: Time Out New York} Touché, Cirque du Soleil {June 05, 2008} ------------------------------------------ From Media in Canada: Touché!PHD announced yesterday that it has conjured up a two- year contract with Cirque du Soleil. Effective immediately, the Montreal-based agency will be responsible for media strategy and media placement for all the famous circus troupe's Canadian touring shows. "Cirque saw in Touché a media partner that best understood our environment and our reality," explains Marie-Ève Lafrenière, Cirque du Soleil's media manager for North America touring shows. "Touché possesses the infrastructure and adapted to Cirque's challenges with respect to commercial communication." {SOURCE: Media in Canada} C|Net Goes Behind the Curtain at La Nouba [EXPANDED] {June 11, 2008} ---------------------------------------------------- ORLANDO, Fla.-If you've seen the Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas shows Ka, Love or O, you've probably been led to expect that every one of the company's performances is full of wonderful technical achievements. The truth is that it doesn't take that much technology to make a great Cirque show, as the folks who put together La Nouba, the Cirque's show here, explained to me Tuesday. "La Nouba is all about the artists," said technical director Ken Ramsey, by way of explaining that I wouldn't be seeing too much of the uber-tech behind some of the Vegas shows. "The technical side takes a very silent rest, as opposed to being the spectacle like in Ka and O. But that doesn't mean La Nouba is a dud. It's one of the most energetic Cirque shows around, and there is, in fact, plenty of tech to go around. We started our tour on the La Nouba stage, where I felt the presence of dozens of Olympic-caliber gymnasts all around me. The show's operations production manager, Robert Shuck, explained that the stage has five lifts built into it, each one of which can rise out of the floor up to 16 feet. To prove the point, Shuck got on a walkie-talkie and asked someone to demonstrate. Seconds later, one of the lifts began to push up out of the floor, and before I knew it, it was towering over Shuck. Not to focus too much on what the lifts look like when they're above the stage, we next went down into the theater's lower levels where the lifts live when they're not on display. And these are no light platforms. According to Shuck, the one lift I got into requires a 14,000 pound counterweight to get its 30,000 pounds and up to 3,000 pounds of "live load," otherwise known as performers, to rise. We started talking about the visit I took last summer to Ka and how I was told at the time that one of the biggest challenges facing the Vegas shows is the steady increase in the amount of interference that makes it hard for that show's crew to communicate by wireless headsets. I had figured that was a Vegas problem, but Ramsey and Shuck explained that the same problem is creeping up in Orlando. That's because HDTV stations are coming online nearby and crowding out the available frequency for the kinds of wireless communications the Cirque needs. "Everything went to hell," Shuck said. "We (now have to) run wired headsets until the manufacturers" figure out a solution. At this point, we headed back up into the theater where the show's trapeze artists were about to begin their twice-weekly training exercises. The best part about that, other than getting to watch these incredibly gifted athletes perform without hundreds and hundreds of other people in the room, was getting to see them setting up the safety net the artists perform above. It takes the crew about 15 minutes to set up the net during the training sessions. But according to head rigger Dave Phillips, the same task takes just a couple of minutes during the actual show (he attributed that to the fact that it's not the main crew that does the setup during training). Also, it was pretty clear that there was a much more relaxed mood going on at that point than during the show. Next up, we rode an elevator up to the theater's top floor, the 9th, otherwise known as the "grid." Here is where most of the rigging is controlled, and this was Phillips' domain. All around us were various pulley and counterweight systems, and not a lot of automation. But that's not a problem for pulling off a great show, Phillips insisted. "Sometimes low tech is the best stuff," he said, pointing out a chandelier hanging down from below the grid as an example. He said that a rigger takes the chandelier off its hook and drops it down into the theater. It is backed up by a bungie so it has a slow, smooth motion when it goes down. "We just couldn't get the right look for it" by using technology, Phillips said. "Sometimes the best solutions are the easiest and cheapest." Another fairly low-tech solution Phillips explained was the method he and his crew used to design one of the show's sets, a group of flapping doors that behave a bit like birds. He said that Cirque management demanded the look, but it was no easy task coming up with a way to do it. Finally, though, he and his team settled on a motor system that wags the doors with what he called "rotisserie action" on the end. In the 10 years since La Nouba opened, a lot has changed for Cirque du Soleil. It is now a much bigger organization; it has basically taken over Las Vegas--with five shows there already and at least two more in the works, as well as new resident shows planned for openings in Tokyo and Macao later this summer. But to people who have worked in the company for years, like Ramsey, the low-key, small-crew nature of La Nouba is preferable to the highly structured huge and expensive shows the Cirque is creating these days. La Nouba has just 32 crew members, while shows like Ka require more than 150. "This allows everyone to work a lot closer together," Ramsey said. And Phillips added, "It gives everyone an appreciation for what every department does." Down below, on the theater's seventh floor, is where we finally encountered the show's high technology. Of course, this is not the latest gear available to the theater industry, but pretty much the stuff La Nouba has been using since it opened. But according to Rob Pooley, head of operations for the show, that's no big deal. He showed me Dynatrac, the software used to control the gear that runs the show's many cues, and said it's the same program he's been using since the beginning. And, while it once took one of his engineers three eight-hour shifts to figure out how to do something that newer software used by the Ka crew could do in 30 minutes, he said there's no need to change the system since La Nouba itself has barely changed in its ten years. Our last stop was on the main floor of the theater, and it was a place I had not gotten to see in all my previous behind-the- scenes-at-the-Cirque visits: the costume room. Here, Mary Amlund, the head of wardrobe, and her team of 12, put constant attention into making sure that the 67 performers in La Nouba always have perfect costumes. Amlund explained that there are people in the costume room from 6:30 a.m. until about 12:30 in the morning on show days doing laundry, inspecting costumes for holes and rips, mending, and making new outfits. She said the average costume lasts about six weeks, while some last up to six months. For a Cirque fan like me, this room was a special treat. Everywhere I looked were outfits exploding in reds and blues, gorgeous hats and much more. And while we talked, some of the costume crew were hard at work, inspecting every inch of some of the outfits for tears, moving slowly and methodically as they did so. Finally, the tour was over, and we emerged into an office space full of cubicles. It was hard to believe that this was still Cirque du Soleil. But then again, even the circus needs office workers. {SOURCE: C|Net} A Cirque Buyout? {June 16, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Over the weekend, an article within ThisIsMoneyUK suggested that Cirque du Soleil had been approached by a Dubai-based investor for a £1 billion investment (or buy-out) of its operation, which would give the fund a "significant" stake in the company. While surprising news, here's some other tidbits from the article that are equally fascinating: o) Cirque du Soleil has annual sales of about £350m and attracts ten million visitors a year, making it one of world's richest entertainment businesses alongside Disney and the UK-based Merlin Entertainments, which runs Madame Tussauds and the London Eye. o) Its Quidam show in 2007 was the most successful single entertainment project ever to be staged in Dubai, with more than 100,000 people attending the month-long run. o) It is estimated to have drawn 80 million spectators in more than 200 cities in five continents since 1984. The permanent shows generate about £100m a year. The international tours are on average 90% sold out and contribute another £180m. o) The company has no debt and makes 20% profit margins, half of which Laliberte ploughs back into expansion and research on new show formats. This morning, however, Bloomberg released a brief statement by Cirque du Soleil in response to the news: An unidentified Cirque representative said it was "rumor and speculation" that the company had been approached by Istithmar, a leveraged-buyout firm affiliated with Nakheel, the newspaper said. {SOURCES: ThisIsMoney.com, Bloomberg} Cirque: Not For Sale... {June 17, 2008} ------------------------------------------ "Cirque Du Soleil is not for sale..." Renee-Claude Menard, director of Montreal-based Cirque's public relations, stated in an e-mail. This comes after speculation from a British press report claiming that there had been several bids, including a Dubai- based holding company that was "in talks" with Cirque about a possible "buy-out". "The Cirque du Soleil is a very attractive business and we regularly receive offers from individuals or companies. So occasionally, rumors and speculation of our sale abound, In this case, it is just that, rumour and speculation." Menard said. {SOURCES: AFP, The Canadian Press} "All Together Now" Coming to DVD {June 18, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Just in case you missed it, Apple Corps Ltd. & Cirque du Soleil will release the feature-length documentary "All Together Now" on DVD on June 24, 2008! NOTE: THE RELEASE HAS BEEN DELAYED UNTIL AUTUMN 2008 What should we expect when the DVD is finally released? Here are some tidbits about the upcoming release from beatles.fanfire.com: o) Total Running time: 128 minutes (this includes the 84 minute documentary "All Together Now" and other bonus features). o) Sound is presented in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Dolby Digital Stereo. o) Bonus Features include: - "Changing the Music" (22:00): A behind-the scenes look at the decision-making process for the "LOVE" concept and music production. - "Music In The Theatre" (07:00): A look at the process of creating the "LOVE" show's unique audio design. - "Making 'LOVE'" (09:00): A backstage pass to explore the design of "LOVE," including the art direction, costumes, props, screen imagery and the use of The Beatles' voices in the "LOVE" stage production and its soundtrack. See a Preview Here (YouTube): < http://youtube.com/watch?v=t2Q91LjUYkY > {SOURCE: Beatles.Fanfire.Com} The NYTimes Becomes "Twist"ed [EXPANDED] {June 20, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Earier this month we wondered what Joey Arias, former Zumanity Diva, had been up to since leaving the show and found out he returned to New York City (his home)... with a Twist! "Arias with a Twist" opened on Wednesday and the New York Times had a peek into this newest incarnation of fabulous Joey Arias: Eat your heart out, Madonna. The chanteuses who play Madison Square Garden and football stadiums have never experienced the imaginative heights of spectacle with which Basil Twist surrounds Joey Arias in “Arias With a Twist,” which opened Wednesday night at the newly renovated Here Arts Center. Mr. Twist is the inspired puppet master who, a decade ago, turned wet pieces of cloth into a Folies Bergère-style corps de ballet in his head-tripping interpretation of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” set in a giant aquarium. Now he returns to the scene of that career-making triumph, the Dorothy B. Williams Theater, to ply his surreal magic on the venerable downtown drag show. Mr. Arias, a cross-dressing vocalist notable for the weight of his false eyelashes and his gift for replicating the raspy wail of Billie Holiday, returns to New York after doing time in Las Vegas as a mistress of ceremonies for the racy Cirque du Soleil show Zumanity. And while the stage he commands at Here is, in size, but a fraction of the one he played at the New York New York hotel, it cannot be said that he has hit the small time. That’s because Mr. Twist, along with an accomplished technical team, has whipped up a vast enchanted troupe of effigies — from a marionette supper-club combo to a life-size chorus line of plump, plumed dancers — to back up Mr. Arias’s song stylings. Well, perhaps back up is not quite the way to put it, since Mr. Twist’s creations have a way of stealing the spotlight, even when they’re in the shadows. This show even has a spotlight that steals the spotlight, a roving disc of illumination that shrinks and expands capriciously, a diva unto itself, before the curtain goes up. (Ayumu Saegusa did the lighting.) There are, in fact, an assortment of curtains, which part and fall and drop teasingly, like Salome’s veils. Finally they uncover Mr. Arias, looking like the vintage pin-up model Bettie Page in dominatrix mode, strapped to a giant, rotating silver wheel and being probed by ghostly aliens. The script, devised by Mr. Arias and Mr. Twist, uses this very close encounter as a dropping-off point for a series of earthly, and often earthy, adventures. These include Mr. Arias tumbling through space and landing in a glorious Edenic rain forest; eating a magic mushroom that takes him straight to hell; stalking Manhattan as a 50-foot woman; and, at last, arriving at a cozy little boîte to sing soulfully before being propelled into the dizzying realm of a Busby Berkeley fantasy number. The apparitions that show up in these locales are often delightful (the blissful marionette jazz ensemble) and sometimes sinister (the giant slithering serpent in the rainforest). Flowers blossom before your eyes; white-gloved hands, ice cream cones and cymbal-banging monkeys float through the air; and what looks like the entire island of Manhattan materializes as a sky- scraping Oz. Did I mention the rotating wedding cake? And how about those giant dancing devil puppets, which move like Las Vegas chorus boys? Their outsized assets include flailing phalluses, a reminder that though children might find much to revel in here, this is definitely not a kiddie show. Mr. Arias’s dialogue, delivered in a deadpan mix of little-girl breathlessness and big-girl worldliness, will sound familiar to anyone who’s seen a New York drag show during the last few decades. (“I didn’t even get his phone number,” Mr. Arias sighs after dancing with the devil.) And of course he sings, with varying effectiveness, pop standards (“All by Myself”), acid rock (“Kashmir”), a charming original composition by Alex Gifford (“Jungle of Eden”) and, most memorably, the Holiday standard “You’ve Changed.” As an actor Mr. Arias is not a seamless illusionist. We’re always aware of the big lug beneath the Joan Crawford maquillage and Thierry Mugler corsets. But in a way, this makes him the perfect escort into Mr. Twist’s wonderland. Mr. Arias registers as a figure of solid human flesh aching to be transported into a world of celluloid dreams. Costumes and makeup can only take a fellow so far. That’s where Mr. Twist comes in, with a fluid mise-en-scène that allows Mr. Arias — and, vicariously, you and me — to go the distance, all the way over the rainbow. ARIAS WITH A TWIST Created by Joey Arias and Basil Twist; directed by Mr. Twist; lighting by Ayumu Saegusa; sound by Greg Duffin; video design by Daniel Brodie; costume concepts by Thierry Mugler, designed by Chris March; musical arrangements and production by Eliot Douglass and Jean Houle Francoise; songs by Alex Gifford; production stage manager, Neelam Vaswani; produced by Barbara Busackino. Presented by Here’s Dream Music Puppetry Program and Tandem Otter Productions in association with Johnnie Moore. At the Here Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, at Dominick Street, South Village; (212) 352-3101.Through July 13. Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes. WITH: Joey Arias, Oliver Dalzell, Randy Ginsburg, Kirsten Kammermeyer, Matt Leabo, Jessica Scott and Lindsay Abromaitis Smith. {SOURCE: New York Times} Cirque Goes Blu {June 24, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - the distributor of Cirque du Soleil spectacles on DVD, through its subsidiary Columbia/Tri- Star, has announced that beginning September 2, 2008 Cirque du Soleil goes Blu - Blu-Ray that is: Starting with CORTEO, and hopefully continuing through the catalog (as sales allow, I'm sure), Cirque du Soleil's filmed specials will be released on Blu-Ray HD discs! Details as far as specifications, special features and price are forthcoming. {SOURCE: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment} It's Official - 'Believe' DELAYED {June 30, 2008} ------------------------------------------ Rumors have been floating around the mill over the past few weeks that Criss Angel's show BELIEVE would be delayed due to some unforeseen circumstances and now there's finally truth to that rumor. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Cirque du Soleil announced this morning that the debut of "Criss Angel - Believe" will be pushed back two weeks. Ticketed previews that were to begin on Sept. 1 now will begin Sept. 12. The private party to mark the "official" debut has been pushed from Sept. 12 to Oct. 9. Spokeswoman Anita Nelving says technical delays made the cast about five weeks late moving into the custom theater at the Luxor from an off-Strip warehouse. The move will affect 14 shows that already were on sale. Early birds, mostly from Angel's fan club, will be given corresponding seats at other performances or get refunds if they can't be in town on the new night. Anyone holding tickets should call 1-800-557-7428. {SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal} ======================================================================= OYEZ! OYEZ! -- NEW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS ======================================================================= Within... o) ZAIA: "Journey Through Time and Space" o) Criss Angel BELIEVE: "Do you Believe in Magic?" o) ZED: "From A to ZED" ------------------------------------------------------ "ZAIA: Journey Through Time and Space" { Press Releases } ------------------------------------------------------ Macau, China - May 29, 2008 - ZAIA was unveiled today as the name of the very first permanent Cirque du Soleil production set to open in Asia. ZAIA will be presented at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in Macau and will hold its Gala Celebration August 28, 2008 to coincide with the 1st Anniversary of its host resort-hotel, with preview performances beginning July 26, 2008. Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian-based global entertainment company providing high-quality artistic entertainment. Cirque du Soleil productions have played to almost 80 million spectators in over 200 cities on five continents. In 2008, Cirque du Soleil will present 17 shows simultaneously throughout the world. Each production fuses innovative acrobatics, theatre, dance and music with spectacular costumes, lighting and make-up. Cirque du Soleil has successfully toured to 13 cities in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei and Shanghai with Big Top productions but ZAIA will be the first production to be housed within a permanent theatre in the region. THE NAME ZAIA is about the dream of a young girl who journeys into space. The title, ZAIA, comes from a Greek name meaning "life" and is also reminiscent of "Gaia," the living, self-aware, spirit of earth. "We are extremely excited to bring this unique show to the Cotaï Strip as our first permanent step in China," said Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil. "The creative challenge is very interesting for us as this area has yet to be developed for its entertainment offers. Thanks to our partnership with Las Vegas Sands, we are anxious for Asian audiences to discover this Cirque du Soleil production. "We are both proud and delighted to be partnering with Cirque du Soleil and bringing this internationally acclaimed production to Macau and to its first ever permanent base in Asia," said Mr. Mark Brown, President of Sands Macao and The Venetian Macao- Resort-Hotel. "Cirque du Soleil will surely give the people of this region a chance to experience wholly unique and world-class entertainment, an aim to which we are also committed." THE SHOW ZAIA is about a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth. ZAIA presents a young girl's perception of the stars and planets, space and infinity, all populated by a panoply of fantastic, literally out-of-this-world creatures. ZAIA is a show that highlights dance, movement and aerial acrobatics, soaring to the farthest reaches of space and human beauty. ZAIA will be presented in a custom-built 1,800 seat theatre at the Venetian Macau-Hotel-Resort. The combined cost of show creation and the custom-built theatre for ZAIA is in excess of $USD150 million. Preview performances begin July 26, 2008 and the Gala Premiere will be held Thursday, August 28, 2008. THE CREATIVE TEAM Guy Laliberté Guide Gilles Ste-Croix SVP, Creative Content Gilles Maheu Writer/Director Neilson Vignola Director of Creation Guillaume Lord Set Designer Dominique Lemieux Costume Designer Violaine Corradi Composer and Musical Director Martino Müller Choreographer Jeff Hall Acrobatic Choreographer Rob Bollinger Acrobatic Performance Designer Guy Lemire Acrobatic Equipment & Rigging Jimmy Lakatos Projections Designer Raymond Saint-Jean Projections Designer Steve Dubuc Sound Designer Nathalie Gagné Make-up Designer Leonid Leykin Clown Acts Designer SHOW SCHEDULE The preview period for ZAIA will be from July 26, 2008 to August 27, 2008. During this preview period there will be no shows on Mondays and Tuesdays and the show schedule will be irregular. Please consult the most current show schedule at www.cirquedusoleil.com. The Gala premiere is scheduled for August 28, 2008. Regular performances will begin August 29, 2008. Regular performances for ZAIA will run Tuesday through Sunday. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the show time will be at 8p.m. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays the show times will be at 7p.m. and 10p.m. On Sundays, shows will be at 4p.m. and 7p.m. There will be no shows on Mondays. Please consult the most current show schedule at www.cirquedusoleil.com. Schedule is subject to change without notice. TICKET INFORMATION Tickets on sale May 30, 2008! Adult ticket prices: MOP$1288, MOP$788, MOP$588, MOP$388 Children* ticket prices: MOP$688, MOP$488, MOP$288 *Children: Aged between 2 and 11 To reserve tickets: Phone: Macau - (853) 2882 8818 / Hong Kong - (852) 6333 6660 Online: www.cirquedusoleil.com In person: The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel Box Office THEATER AND SET "For me, ZAIA is an inner journey through time and space. The set, in which arcs and perspective lines predominate, evokes the viewpoint of a human eye looking through a large observatory telescope. " - Guillaume Lord, Set Designer The Theatre: The ZAIA Theatre is reminiscent of ancient architectural telescopes such as Jaipur in India and the vast stone Mayan observatories of Central America. It is not a planetarium as such, however it contains many visual cues and references that add to the show's underlying theme of cosmic exploration. In keeping with the primary theme of a journey into space, verticality is an important component of the show and the theatre was designed with a higher than 80-ft/24-meter ceiling and the set elements are intended to recreate the experience of being in space - an experience that is both mysteriously alien and strangely familiar. This is a timeless journey from through the stratosphere and beyond, while keeping an eye on Earth. The Set: When the audience enters the theatre, one of the main set elements, a gigantic sphere, appears to be a chandelier and the house is illuminated by light sources at ground level, creating the effect of a deep dark cave. When the sphere is revealed in all its constantly-changing glory following the opening number, its full scope and the effect of its trajectory over the heads of the audience is nothing less than stunning. The proscenium is made up of several layers that create a sense of depth through perspective lines and curves made of bronze that converge on the single focal point located at the centre of an enormous sun-like gong set against the backdrop, known as the "Star Drop," which recreates the night sky with 3,000 fiber optic "stars." Designer Guillaume Lord used a star map to give the Star Drop an accurate representation of the constellations at the exact location of the theatre. Some figures: o) The theatre has a capacity of 1,852. o) The Proscenium is 88' high and 97' Wide. o) The 12,221 sq. ft. Star Drop measures 121' x 101'. o) The polished bronze-plated Gong Sun has a 20' diameter. o) The 25'-diameter Sphere moves on three axes. It consists of an aluminum exoskeleton covered in Lexan and weighs 4,000 lbs. It contains 6 projectors that beam integrated images through a full 360 degrees. o) Above the audience the Oval Track transports performers and set elements (such as the 600-lb ice blocks) on 148' x 95' 5 chariots that weigh 800 lbs. o) It takes 30-40 backstage technicians to operate the set. ------------------------------------------------------ "Criss Angel BELIEVE: Do you Believe in Magic?" { Press Releases } ------------------------------------------------------ WHY BELIEVE? On his death bed, legendary magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini told his wife the following; "After my death, many people will claim that they are still able to communicate with me. If their claims are valid, they will be able to tell you a code word - that word is BELIEVE. ABOUT THE SHOW CRISS ANGEL Believe(tm) will be a haunting exploration deep inside the inventive mind of mystifier Criss Angel as he hovers between the land of the living and a surreal world uniquely woven together by the distinctive imaginations of Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil. Unlike traditional magic-themed shows, CRISS ANGEL Believe(tm) transcends any preconceived notion of what it means to be truly emotionally engaged by the arts of mysticism and illusion. Imagine a fantasy, an allegory, a highly theatrical tableau of mood, reverie and emotion set against a backdrop of dreamlike darkness and light. Criss Angel stars as a surreal, enigmatic Victorian Noble. Along a path of imaginative exploration, he encounters Kayala and Crimson, two women who represent different aspects of femininity, four bizarre Ushers, who will introduce the audience to the baroque theater of Criss's mind and a high-energy troupe of characters and dancers who mix a multitude of styles into a high-energy visual feast, punctuated by moments of grace and sensuality. The stunning illusions in CRISS ANGEL Believe(tm) will not be presented as stand-alone elements, but as interdependent components using heightened imagery, fantastical creatures and impossible feats of legerdemain, which will all be integrated into the dazzling, colorful fabric of the story. TICKETS The show will hold its Gala Premiere on September 12, 2008, with preview performances beginning September 1, 2008. CRISS ANGEL Believe will be performed Friday through Tuesday with no shows on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Beginning September 1, there will be two shows nightly at 7p.m. & 10p.m. Please consult the most current show schedule at www.cirquedusoleil.com/ crissangel and www.crissangel.com. Schedule is subject to change without notice. Ticket Information: Tickets are on pre-sale to Cirque Club members, Criss Angel Loyals and Luxor Insiders starting April 17, 2008. Ticket prices: $150, $125, $99, $79, $59 plus tax. All preview performances* will be discounted 25 percent. To Reserve Tickets: During the pre-sale period tickets will be exclusively available to Criss Angel Loyals, Cirque Club members and Luxor Insiders. These groups can purchase tickets online at: www.cirquedusoleil.com/crissangel and www.crissangel.com. Following the pre-sale, an announcement will be made outlining when tickets will go on sale publicly. THE CREATIVE TEAM Guy Laliberté Guide Gilles Ste-Croix SVP, Creative Content Criss Angel Illusions Designer/Star Serge Denoncourt Director & Co-Writer Pierre Phaneuf Director of Creation Christiane Barette Associate Director of Creation Ray Winkler Set Designer Mérédith Caron Costume Designer Éric Serra Composer, Musical Director & Arranger Wade Robson Choreographer Jeanette Farmer Lighting Designer Francis Laporte Images and Projection Jonathan Deans Sound Designer Jaque Paquin Acrobatic Equipment & Rigging André Simard Acrobatic Performance Michael Curry Props & Puppets Designer Nathalie Gagné Make-up Designer ------------------------------------------------------ "ZED: From A to ZED" { Press Releases } ------------------------------------------------------ URAYASU, CHIBA (JAPAN), June 3, 2008 - Oriental Land Co., Ltd. and Cirque du Soleil are pleased to announce that "ZED" will be the title of the new original show to be performed at the Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo, which will open at Tokyo Disney Resort(r) on October 1, 2008. ABOUT THE SHOW ZED is a living poem, a timeless evocation that draws on the Tarot and its arcana, an imaginary world that conjures the vitality of the human condition and holds up a mirror to our true selves. The central, larger-than-life character Zed represents all of humanity in all its guises, from wisdom to folly, from discovery to adventure. Zed grows as he discovers the world on his journey of initiation. Through this undertaking the people of the sky and the people of the earth are trying to connect with each other; through Zed, they come together. The world of the arcana, in which ZED finds its inspiration, teems with life and vibrant characters, including the Great Goddess, The Fool, The Sphinxes and the Satyrs - all engaged in a lyrical odyssey to the heart of the human experience. Performance Time -- About 135 minutes (including a 30-minute intermission) Official Website -- www.zed.co.jp (PC and cell phone) THE CREATIVE TEAM Guy Laliberté Guide Gilles Ste-Croix SVP, Creative Content François Girard Writer and Director Line Tremblay Director of Creation François Séguin Set Designer Renée April Costume Designer René Dupéré Composer and Arranger David Finn Lighting Designer Debra Brown Choreographer Jean-Jacques Pillet Choreographer François Bergeron Sound Designer Scott Osgood Acrobatic Equipment & Rigging Designer Florence Pot Acrobatic Performance Designer Eleni Uranis Make-up Designer SUPPORTERS Special Presenting Sponsor -- JCB Co., Ltd. Sponsor -- Family Mart Co., Ltd. Support -- Canadian Embassy, Quebec Delegation in Japan Special Cooperation -- Japan Airlines International Planning Cooperation -- Disney Production -- Cirque du Soleil Hosting Company -- Oriental Land Co., Ltd. SET DESIGN "The scenic atmosphere of ZED evokes the pinnacle of the High Renaissance and the dawn of the Mechanical Age." -François Séguin The Astrolabe: To establish the set design concept, designer François Séguin started with a form inspired by the astrolabe. His underlying intention was to fill the whole stage as if it were a frame from a film, and in terms of aesthetics, his design evokes the High Renaissance and the Mechanical Age. Brass and copper components, precision engineering, painstaking craftsmanship and scientific ingenuity combine to create the impression that the audience is actually inside - and sometimes outside - a complex mechanical astrolabe floating in space. The set takes its inspiration from many eras and influences. Ancient science, the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, the products of the early days of the Mechanical Age, nautical instruments and astronomy all play a part in creating an atmosphere of solidity and tradition, floating in a space that looks toward the future. Diderot's Encyclopedia, which began to be published in 1751, also informed the designs. "Diderot, the first French encyclopedia, codified knowledge and is filled with images of mechanical devices," says designer François Séguin. The Scenic Environment: When the audience first enters the theatre, the set is wrapped in a large sheet and the auditorium gives no clues or visual cues as to where they are or where the show is situated. The spectacular imagery is revealed when the cover is whisked away in a sudden, sweeping gesture by a character inspired by The Fool in the Tarot. This dramatic moment instantly plunges the audience into an environment that recalls antique astronomical and navigational instruments set in an ancient cosmos that is at the same time new and somehow familiar. In keeping with the physical dimensions of the theatre and the themes of the show (in which one community of characters inhabits the sky and the other community is earthbound), the set emphasizes verticality as a visual reinforcement to the narrative, as well as meeting the demands of the show's acrobatics. While the materials are unquestionably rich, the colors - suggesting an antique patina of burnished metals and polished wood tones - are intentionally somewhat monochrome and muted, and the look is quite dark, reminiscent of 19th century interiors. The objective is to focus more attention on the performing artists than on their surroundings. Since this is a Cirque du Soleil show, the set must also accommodate a large amount of acrobatic rigging, lighting and sound equipment, and designer François Séguin decided to integrate it into the set as much as possible, rather than impose it on the décor. His design minimizes the visibility of all the winches, rigging, cables and the setting up needed to perform complex acrobatic numbers. Some Details: o) Made mostly of steel, the suspended astrolabe weighs 19, 504 kg (43,000 lbs). o) The enormous 10m globe, which can move vertically, is decorated with meridians and parallels and fitted with a net that can deploy and retract as needed. o) Winches hidden inside the globe are used to transport the artists, stage equipment and acrobatic equipment throughout the show. o) On the floor of the stage, there is a representation of the Milky Way and symbols referring to the different phases of the moon. o) A door leading under the stage is installed inside a book that the clowns Oulaï and Nalaï find at the beginning of the show. When they open it, they plunge inside, literally engulfed by the pages. o) The Vortex, the white canvas that wraps the stage at the start of the show, comprises more than 5,600 square meters of material. Two motors pull it at a speed of six meters per second, making the entire surface vanish in 25 seconds. o) During the Birth of the Sky scene, the set features a firmament of thousands of stars. To achieve this effect the vault of the Astrolabe is covered with 3,500 LEDs and the floor of the stage has more than 900 fiber optic points of light. o) An alphabet of 26 symbols, The Zed Alpha, was created for the production. It appears in the set design and shows the periodic table of the elements as well as words related to components of the show. o) Five spheres of various diameters, each displaying its own special effects, form a miniature representation of the Astrolabe - a micro world that reflects the macro world. ======================================================================= COMPARTMENTS -- INFORMATION ON TOUR AND BEHIND THE CURTAIN ======================================================================= o) ITINÉRAIRE - Tour/Show Information o) DIDYAKNOW - Facts About Cirque o) HISTORIA - Cirque du Soleil History ================ ITINÉRAIRE ================ NOTE: The information presented below is for historical purposes only. For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts, please visit our website < http://www.CirqueFascination.com/ >. Alegría: Rio de Janerio, Brazil -- Dec 27, 2007 to Jan 27, 2008 Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Feb 7, 2008 to May 4, 2008 Porto Alegre, Brazil -- May 15, 2008 to Jun 8, 2008 Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Jun 20, 2008 to Jul 27, 2008 Santiago, Chile -- Aug 8, 2008 to Sep 21, 2008 Seoul, South Korea -- TBA Taipei, Taiwan -- TBA Dubai, UAE -- Spring 2009 Corteo: San Diego, California -- Jan 11, 2008 to Feb 3, 2008 Portland, Oregan -- Mar 1, 2008 to Apr 13, 2008 Seattle, Washington -- Apr 24, 2008 to Jun 1, 2008 Vancouver, BC -- Jun 12, 2008 to Jul 20, 2008 Calgary, AB -- Jul 31, 2008 to Sep 7, 2008 Ottawa, ON -- Sep 16, 2008 to Oct 26, 2008 Miami, Florida -- Nov 13, 2008 to Dec 28, 2008 Tokyo, Japan -- Feb 4, 2009 to May 5, 2009 Dralion: Tokyo, Japan -- Jan 25, 2008 to Apr 6, 2008 Fukuoka, Japan -- Apr 23, 2008 to Jun 15, 2008 Sydney, Australia -- Jul 17, 2008 to Aug 17, 2008 Canberra, Australia -- Oct 23, 2008 to Nov 16, 2008 Brisbane, Australia -- Nov 27, 2008 to Jan 11, 2009 Perth, Australia -- Jan 28, 2009 to Mar 29, 2009 Melbourne, Australia -- Apr 9, 2009 to Jun 14, 2009 Koozå: San Francisco, California - Nov 16 to Jan 20, 2008 San Jose, California -- Jan 31, 2008 to Mar 16, 2008 Hartford, Connecticut -- Apr 1, 2008 to Apr 27, 2008 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 8, 2008 to Jun 15, 2008 Chicago, Illinois -- Jun 26, 2008 to Aug 3, 2008 Boston, Massachusetts -- Sep 5, 2008 to Oct 19, 2008 Washington, DC -- Oct 30, 2008 to Dec 7, 2008 Atlanta, Georgia -- Jan 2, 2009 to Feb 15, 2009 Baltimore, Maryland -- Spring 2009 New York, New York -- Spring 2009 Quidam: Mexico City, Mexico - Nov 16, 2007 to Jan 13, 2008 Monterrey, Mexico - Jan 17, 2008 to Feb 10, 2008 Veracruz, Mexico -- Feb 27, 2008 to Mar 16, 2008 Lisbon, Portugal -- Apr 20, 2008 to May 25, 2008 Màlaga, Spain -- Jun 5, 2008 to Jul 13, 2008 Alicante, Spain -- Jul 24, 2008 to Aug 31, 2008 Barcelona, Spain -- Sep, 11, 2008 to Oct 19, 2008 Brussels, Belgium -- Oct 30, 2008 to Dec 21, 2008 (*) London, England -- Jan 7, 2009 to Feb 22, 2009 (*) Varekai: London, UK - Jan 6, 2008 to Feb 3, 2008 Amsterdam, NL -- Feb 28, 2008 to May 25, 2008 Berlin, Germany -- Jun 5, 2008 to Jul 13, 2008 Oberhausen, Germany -- Jul 31, 2008 to Sep 14, 2008 Vienna, Austria -- Sep 25, 2008 to Nov 9, 2008 Madrid, Spain -- Nov 20, 2008 to Dec 28, 2008 Bilbao, Spain -- TBA Seville, Spain -- TBA Hamburg, Germany -- TBA Oostende, Belgium -- TBA Zurich, Switzerland -- TBA Munich, Germany -- TBA [Arena Shows] Delirium: Oberhausen, Germany - Feb 1 & 2 Hanover, Germany - Feb 5 & 6 Bremen, Germany - Feb 9 & 10 Stockholm, Sweden - Feb 13 & 14 Turku, Finland - Feb 16 & 17 Zurich, Switzerland - Feb 25 & 26 Budapest, Hungary - Feb 29 & Mar 1 Berlin, Germany - Mar 6 Nurnberg, Germany - Mar 8 & 9 Milan, Italy - Mar 11, 12 & 13 Turin, Italy - Mar 15, 16 & 17 Birmingham, UK - Mar 22 & 23 Liverpool, UK - Mar 25 & 26 Paris, France - Mar 31 & Apr 1, 2 Antwerp, Belgium - Apr 5 & 6 Glasgow, UK - Apr 9 & 10 Belfast, UK - Apr 12 London, UK - Apr 17, 18 & 19 (Delirium's final curtain call was in London) Saltimbanco: Quebec, Quebec - Jan 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 Chicoutimi, Quebec - Jan 16, 17, 18 & 19 Detroit, Michigan - Jan 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27 Cleveland, Ohio - Jan 29, 30, 31 & Feb 1 Memphis, Tennessee - Feb 20 & 21 Charlottesville, Virginia - Feb 26, 27, 28, 29 & Mar 1 Little Rock, Arkansas - Mar 4, 5, & 6 Shreveport, Louisiana - Mar 8 & 9 San Antonio, Texas - Mar 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 Laredo, Texas - Mar 18 & 19 Corpus Christi, Texas - Mar 21 & 22 Wichita, Kansas - Mar 26, 27, 28, 39 & 30 Omaha, Nebraska - Apr 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Des Moines, Iowa - Apr 10, 11, 12 & 13 Moline, Illinois - Apr 15, 16, 17 & 18 Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Apr 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27 Alberquerque, New Mexico - May 14, 15, 16 & 17 Boise, Idaho - May 21, 22, 23, 24 & 25 Victoria, BC - May 29, 30, 31 & Jun 1 Kelowana, BC - Jun 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 Kamloops, BC - Jun 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15 Edmonton, Alberta - Jun 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Jun 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29 Regina, Saskatchewan - Jul 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Winnipeg, Manatoba - Jul 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 Kansas City, Missouri -- July 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20 Newark, New Jersey -- Aug 7, 8, 9 & 10 Toronto, Ontario -- Aug 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24 Hamilton, Ontario -- Aug 27, 28, 29, 30 & 31 Amherst, Massachusetts -- Sep 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 Buffalo, New York -- Sep 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 Trenton, New Jersey -- Sep 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21 Minneapolis/St-Paul, Minnesota -- Sep 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28 Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Oct 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Highland Heights, Kentucky - Oct 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 Honolulu, Hawaii - Oct 30, 31 & Nov 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 [Resident Shows] NOTE: (*) Prices are in United States Dollars (USD) unless otherwise noted. (*) Price reflected in brackets [] is inclusive of 10% Las Vegas Entertainment Tax where applicable, but does not include Sales Tax. La Nouba: Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA) Performs: Tue through Sat, Dark: Sun/Mon Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm 2008 Ticket Prices (adults) / (child 3-9): o Category 0: $121.41 / $96.92 o Category 1: $105.44 / $84.14 o Category 2: $86.27 / $69.23 o Category 3: $69.23 / $55.38 2008 Dark Dates: o January 22 to 26 o March 25 o May 20 to 24 o May 27 to 312 o July 29 o September 23 to 27 o November 18 Mystère: Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday Two shows Nightly - o Saturday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm o Sunday: 4:30pm & 7:00pm o Monday - Wednesday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm 2008 Ticket Prices: o Category 1: $95.00 [$104.50] o Category 2: $75.00 [$82.50] o Category 3: $60.00 [$66.00] 2008 Dark Dates: o January 3 to 18 o February 3 o March 12 o May 1 to 9 o July 9 o September 4 to 12 o November 5 o December 24 "O": Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm 2008 Ticket Prices: o Orchestra: $150.00 [$165.00] o Loggia: $125.00 [$137.50] o Balcony: $99.00 [$108.90] o Limited View: $93.50 [102.85] 2008 Dark Dates: o February 10 o April 7 to 15 o June 8 o August 11 to 19 o October 12 o December 8 to 23 Zumanity: Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:30pm 2008 Ticket Prices (18+ Only!): o Sofas: $129.00 USD [$141.90 USD] (Sold in pairs) o Seats: $99.00 USD [$108.90 USD] (Lower Orcestra) O Seats: $79.00 USD [$86.90 USD] (Upper Orchestra) o Balcony: $69.00 USD [$75.90 USD] o Stools: $69.00 USD [$75.90 USD] 2008 Dark Dates: o Feburary 3 o February 19 & 20 o April 6 to 14 o June 9 to 11 o August 3 to 11 o October 14 & 15 o December 1 to 16 KÀ: Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Fri through Tue, Dark Wed/Thu Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 5-12): NOTE: Category locations change based on Early vs Late Show o Category 1: $150.00 [$165.00] / $75.00 [$82.50] o Category 2: $125.00 [$137.50] / $62.50 [$68.75] o Category 3: $99.00 [$108.90] / $49.50 [$54.45] o Category 4: $69.00 [$75.90] / $34.50 [$37.95] 2008 Dark Dates o January 13 to 28 o March 16 to 19 o May 11 to 19 o July 13 to 16 o September 7 to 15 o November 2 to 4 LOVE: Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 10:30pm 2008 Ticket Prices: o Lower Orchestra: $150.00 [$165.00] o Upper Orchestra: $125.00 [137.50] o Lower Balcony: $99.00 [$108.80] o Middle Balcony: $93.50 [$102.85] o Upper Balcony: $69.00 [$75.90] 2008 Dark Dates: o February 3 & 4 o February 11 o April 1 to 9 o May 12 o June 12 o July 29 to August 6 o October 9 o December 2 to 17 Wintuk: Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark Monday/Tuesday Multiple Shows Daily - Wednesday: 2:00pm, 7:30pm Thursday: 11:00am, 7:30pm Friday: 2:00pm, 7:30pm Saturday: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm Sunday: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm 2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 2-12): Wednesday & Sunday: o Category 1: $99.00 / $89.55 o Category 2: $65.00 / $59.95 o Category 3: $40.00 / $36.45 Thursday, Friday & Saturday: o Category 1: $200.00 / $180.45 o Category 2: $110.00 / $99.45 o Category 3: $75.00 / $67.95 o Category 4: $50.00 / $45.45 Information regarding the 2008 season is not yet available. ZAIA: Location: VENETIAN, Macao (China) Performs: Tuesday through Sunday, Dark Monday One to Two Shows Daily - Tuesday: 8:00pm Wednesday: 8:00pm Thursday - Saturday: 7:00pm & 10:00pm Sunday: 4:00pm & 7:00pm PREVIEW PERFORMANCES - July 26th through August 27th GALA PREMIERE - AUGUST 28, 2008 2008 Ticket Prices (adult) / (child 0-12): o Category 1: MOP$ 1288 / No Child o Category 2: MOP$ 788 / MOP$ 688 o Category 3: MOP$ 588 / MOP$ 488 o Category 4: MOP$ 388 / MOP$ 288 BELIEVE: Location: Luxor, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark Wednesday/Thursday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 10:00pm PREVIEW PERFORMANCES - BEGIN SEPTEMBER 12th GALA PREMIERE - OCTOBER 9th, 2008 NOTE: Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Children under the age of five are not permitted into the theater. 2008 Ticket Prices (all): o Category 1: $150.00 +tax o Category 2: $125.00 +tax o Category 3: $99.00 +tax o Category 4: $79.00 +tax o Category 5: $59.00 +tax 2008 Dark Dates: o September 8 & 9 o September 13 o November 5 to 13 ZED: Location: TOKYO DISNEYLAND, Tokyo (Japan) Performs: Varies One to Two Shows Daily - Varies PREVIEW PERFORMANCES - August 15th through September 30th GALA PREMIERE - October 1, 2008 2008 Ticket Prices (all): o Category 1 ("Premium"): ¥18,000 o Category 2 ("Front"): ¥15,000 o Category 3 ("Regular"): ¥9,800 o Category 4 ("Overview"): ¥7,800 ================================= DIDYAKNOW? - Facts About Cirque ================================= o) Did you know that Gilles Ste-Croix, Senior Vice President of Creative Content at Cirque du Soleil, worked on and opened a new equestrian show in 2007? The show is "SAKA" and it is the second equestrian show for Gilles; he presented "Cheval Theatre" from 2001 until 2003. The name Saka evokes a group of nomadic tribes of the same name that inhabited the plains of central Asia in 4000 BC. These peoples, who still have descendants in Iran, India, Pakistan and countries bordering Russia and China, were the first to domesticate horses to be ridden or harnessed. o) Did you know that Cirque du Soleil produced award winning toys? That's right! The Cirque du Soleil toys collection won in the "Best Product of the Year" in Fit Pregnancy Editors' Choice Awards in 2007 for its Twisterella toy. The Choice Awards are a once-a-year selection covering a variety of cateories: safety, usefulness, cool/unique and fun toys by Fit Pregnancy magazine. o) Did you know that Cirque du Soleil "got the ball bouncing" at the 56th NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 18, 2007? "Several artists from KÀ dazzled the audience with a spectacular display of acrobatic martial arts inspired by the opening moments of the show. Then Roxane Potvin, then lead singer of "O", performed the national anthem. o) Did you know that Varekai runs on biodiesel? Varekai's launch was the first time that biodisel was used in Cirque du Soleil's power generators on tour. Cirque explains that, "unlike traditional diesel, biodiesel is partly a renewable resource. It is made from vegetable oil, recycled cooking oil or animal fats; it is usually mixed with traditional diesel in a proportion of 2% or more." At the time of launch, Varekai was using 20% biodiesel in its generators. o) Did you know that Cirque du Soleil won an award for its "Patience"? On Wednesday, November 9, 2005, Cirque du Soleil was honored with the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction's Coup de coeur (Jury's Pick) award for set structure known as "patience" in Corteo. This arch-shaped set element is 33.5 meters long, self-supporting, and specifically designed to withstand the many setup and teardowns of touring. ==================================== HISTORIA: Cirque du Soleil History ==================================== [March] * Mar.01.1988 -- Le Cirque Reinvene opened Santa Monica (third time) * Mar.01.2008 - -Corteo opened San Diego, California * Mar.04.1999 -- Quidam European Tour Began in Amsterdam * Mar.04.1999 -- New Tour Name Released -- Dralion * Mar.04.2005 -- Quidam opened Melbourne * Mar.05.2004 -- Saltimbanco opened Lyon * Mar.06.1997 -- Alegría opened Amsterdam * Mar.06.2001 -- Alegría opened Melbourne, Australia * Mar.06.2002 -- Dralion opened Los Angeles * Mar.06.2003 -- Alegría opened Houston * Mar.06.2003 -- Varekai opened Atlanta * Mar.07.2007 -- Madison Square Garden Show "Winter Tale" Announced! * Mar.07.2007 -- Saltimbanco "Arena Tour" Announced! * Mar.09.1995 -- Saltimbanco opened Amsterdam (European Tour Began) * Mar.10.2006 -- Dralion opened Geneva * Mar.11.1994 -- Saltimbanco Japan Tour Began (ends 9/11) * Mar.11.2007 -- "O" celebrated its 4000th performance [Sunday, 10:30pm] * Mar.13.2003 -- Dralion opened Raleigh * Mar.14.1999 -- Alegría: Le Film showcased in Santa Barbara * Mar.14.2003 -- La Nouba celebrated 2000th Performance [Friday, 6:00pm] * Mar.14.2006 -- Varekai opened Portland * Mar.15.1998 -- Mystère celebrated 2000th Performance [Sunday, 7:30pm] * Mar.15.2006 -- Saltimbanco opened Santiago, Chile * Mar.15.2007 -- Varekai opened Canberra, Australia * Mar.17.2003 -- IBM and Cirque come together in 3-Year Partnership * Mar.17.2005 -- Dralion opened Barcelona, Spain * Mar.18.1999 -- Saltimbanco opened Sydney, Australia * Mar.18.2004 -- Varekai opened San Diego * Mar.19.2002 -- Saltimbanco Extended CD Released (BMG/CDS Musique) * Mar.19.2006 -- Quidam opened Long Beach * Mar.20.2007 -- Quidam opened Seoul, South Korea * Mar.22.1996 -- Alegría Japanese Tour (until Sep. 8, 1996) * Mar.22.2005 -- Zumanity CD Released (CDS Musique) * Mar.22.2007 -- Corteo opened Houston * Mar.22.2007 -- Cirque Luxor (Criss Angel) Announced! * Mar.23.1993 -- Nouvelle Expérience CD Released in Canada (RCA/Victor) * Mar.23.1999 -- Alegria: Le Film CD Released in Canada (RCA) * Mar.23.2000 -- Alegría celebrated 2000th performance [8:00pm/Biloxi] * Mar.24.1998 -- Cirque Collection CD Released in US (RCA/Victor) * Mar.24.2002 -- Cirque performed at the 74th Academy Awards * Mar.24.2004 -- "The Bar at the Edge of the Earth" opened * Mar.25.2004 -- Alegría opened Atlanta * Mar.28.1995 -- Alegría opened New York City * Mar.29.1994 -- Mystère CD Released in Canada (RCA/Victor) * Mar.29.2002 -- Quidam opened Charlotte * Mar.30.1993 -- Saltimbanco opened New York City * Mar.30.2000 -- Quidam opened Valencia, Spain [April] * Apr.01.2003 -- "Varekai: Cirque du Soleil" Book Published * Apr.01.2008 -- Koozå opened Hartford, CT * Apr.02.1998 -- Alegría opened Barcelona * Apr.02.2002 -- Name of "Cirque 2002" Announced - Varekai * Apr.02.2003 -- BRAVO announced Cirque Variety Series ("Solstrom") * Apr.04.2001 -- Dralion opened in New York * Apr.04.2006 -- M.A.C. became Official Cosmetic Supplier * Apr.04.2006 -- Cirque inked 3-year TV deal in UK * Apr.05.1996 -- Saltimbanco opened in Amsterdam (again) * Apr.05.2001 -- Quidam opened in Antwerp * Apr.05.2005 -- Name of "Cirque 2005" Announced - Corteo * Apr.06.2000 -- Dralion opened in San Jose, California * Apr.06.2006 -- "O" selected "Favorite Production Show" by "What's On, The Las Vegas Guide" * Apr.06.2006 -- Cirque outsourced IT Department to CGI Group * Apr.08.1988 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened San Francisco * Apr.08.1998 -- Quidam opened New York City * Apr.08.2005 -- Saltimbanco opened Paris * Apr.09.2004 -- Varekai opened Pittsburg * Apr.10.2007 -- Cirque announced Saltimbanco Arena Tour * Apr.11.1991 -- Nouvelle Expérience opened New York City * Apr.11.2003 -- Dralion opened Baltimore * Apr.11.2006 -- "The Spark" Book Published * Apr.11.2007 -- Name of "Cirque 2007" Announced - Koozå * Apr.13.1989 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened Miami, Florida * Apr.15.2008 -- APM Music Launches New Film Trailer Library with Cirque du Soleil Composers * Apr.16.2003 -- SOLSTROM began filming in Montréal * Apr.17.2008 -- Name of "Cirque Luxor" Announced - "Criss Angel: BELIEVE" * Apr.18.2002 -- Dralion opened San Diego * Apr.18.2003 -- Saltimbanco opened Geneva * Apr.18.2006 -- Ground is broken on Tokyo Permanent Production * Apr.19.2006 -- Cirque announced "LOVE" at The Mirage * Apr.19.2007 -- Varekai opened Melbourne, Australia * Apr.19.2007 -- Koozå Premired in Montréal * Apr.20.2001 -- Saltimbanco 2000 opened Nagoya, Japan * Apr.20.2005 -- Alegría opened Nagoya, Japan * Apr.20.2008 -- DELIRIUM's final curtain call [London, UK] * Apr.20.2008 -- Quidam opened Lisbon, Portugal * Apr.21.1994 -- Alegría premiered in Montréal * Apr.21.2005 -- Corteo premiered in Montréal * Apr.22.1999 -- Dralion premiered in Montréal * Apr.22.2003 -- Cirque announced "Zumanity" at NY-NY * Apr.23.1992 -- Saltimbanco Premiered in Montréal * Apr.23.1996 -- Quidam premiered in Montréal * Apr.23.2005 -- La Nouba celebrated 3000th performance [Saturday, 9:00pm] * Apr.23.2008 -- Dralion opened Fukuoka, Japan * Apr.24.1997 -- Quidam opened Santa Monica * Apr.24.2002 -- Varekai premiered in Montréal * Apr.24.2003 -- Alegría opened Austin * Apr.24.2003 -- Varekai opened New York City * Apr.24.2007 -- Name of "WinterTale" Released - Wintuk * Apr.24.2008 -- Corteo opened Seattle, Washington * Apr.26.2002 -- Saltimbanco opened Barcelona * Apr.26.2008 -- Artisans de I'maginarie: The World of Cirque du Soleil is staged in Omotesando Hills, Tokyo * Apr.27.2000 -- Mystère celebrated 3000th Performance [Thursday, 10:30pm] * Apr.27.2006 -- Alegría opened Rome * Apr.27.2006 -- Corteo opened New York * Apr.29.1997 -- Quidam opened in Santa Monica (again) * Apr.29.2004 -- Varekai opened Phoenix * Apr.29.2004 -- Saltimbanco opened Milan * Apr.30.1999 -- Alegría: Le Film premiered in Québec * Apr.30.2003 -- Alegría celebrated 3000th Performance [8:00pm/Austin] [May] * May.01.1986 -- Cirque Performs at Expo 86 in Vancouver * May.01.2003 -- Cirque nominated for Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Set Design in a Musical - Stephane Roy Outstanding Costume Design - Eiko Ishioka Outstanding Sound Design - Francois Bergeron Unique Theater Experience - Varekai * May.02.2000 -- Journey of Man (IMAX) premiered in USA * May.02.2000 -- Journey of Man CD Released in US/Canada (RCA/Victor) * May.02.2006 -- Cirque announced Macau permanent production * May.02.2007 -- Cirque announces Dubai 2010 show * May.04.2006 -- Dralion opened Valencia * May.04.2006 -- Varekai opened Seattle * May.05.2006 -- Saltimbanco opened Buenos Aires * May.06.2004 -- Quidam opened Vancouver * May.06.2004 -- Alegría opened New York City * May.07.1987 -- Le Cirque Réinventé Premiered in La Salle * May.08.1990 -- Nouvelle Expérience Premiered in Montréal * May.08.2006 -- Cirque announced Elvis-themed productions * May.08.2008 -- Koozå opened Philadelphia, PA * May.09.2002 -- Quidam opened Pittsburgh * May.09.2008 -- Koozå CD unofficially Available * May.10.2007 -- Alegría opened Saint-Denis, France * May.11.1986 -- Cirque leaves Expo 86 * May.11.2000 -- Saltimbanco Pacific-Northwest Tour Began (Portland) * May.11.2007 -- Corteo opened Columbus, Ohio * May.11.2007 -- Cirque Celebrates 20 Years in Los Angeles * May.12.2005 -- Quidam opened Adelaide * May.13.2006 -- La Nouba celebrated 3500th performance [Saturday, 6:00pm] * May.13.2006 -- Dralion celebrated its 2500th performance [Valencia, Spain] * May.14.1985 -- 1985 Tour Began in Montréal [Vieux-Port de Montréal] * May.15.1997 -- Alegría opened Munich * May.15.2003 -- Dralion opened Montreal * May.15.2008 -- Alegría opened Porto Alegre, Brazil * May.17.2005 -- Solarium-Delirium CD Released (CDS Musique) * May.18.1986 -- Le Magie Continue opened Sherbrooke * May.18.1987 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened Sherbrooke * May.18.1989 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened Chicago * May.18.2000 -- Quidam opened Bilbao * May.18.2003 -- Cirque loses Drama Desk Awards (nominated 5/1/03) * May.18.2006 -- Quidam opened Ottawa * May.19.1995 -- Saltimbanco opened Munich * May.19.2006 -- Varekai opened Baltimore * May.20.1999 -- Alegría premiered permanently in Biloxi, Mississippi. * May.20.2007 -- Quidam opened Seoul, South Korea (first time in Korea!) * May.21.2003 -- Quidam opened Nagoya * May.21.2004 -- CirqueCon 2004: Vancouver Began (through 5/24) * May.22.1992 -- Fascination Premiered in Tokyo (Until Sep.) * May.22.1998 -- Alegría opened Hamburg * May.23.2007 -- Dralion opened Sendai, Japan * May.24.2002 -- Mystère celebrated 4000th performance [Friday, 7:30pm] * May.25.1988 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened New York City * May.27.1999 -- Alegría: Le Film premiered in Netherlands * May.28.1987 -- Le Cirque Réinventé opened Montréal * May.28.1999 -- Saltimbanco opened Brisbane, Australia * May.28.2003 -- BRAVO sneaks Varekai - Midnight to 2:00pm * May.29.1986 -- Le Magie Continue opened Montréal * May.29.1997 -- Quidam opened Oakland * May.29.2001 -- Alegría opened Sydney, Australia * May.29.2008 -- Name of "Cirque Macao 2008" Announced - "ZAIA" * May.30.2006 -- Varekai celebrated 1500th performance [Tues, 8:00pm/Seattle] * May.31.1996 -- Saltimbanco opened Stuggart * May.31.2001 -- Quidam opened Hamburg [June] * Jun.02.2006 -- LOVE Premiered at Mirage (Previews Begin) * Jun.02.2007 -- Ernst & Young named Cirque du Soleil CEO Guy Laliberté "World Entrepreneur of 2007." * Jun.03.2004 -- Varekai opened Denver * Jun.03.2004 -- Dralion opened Vienna * Jun.03.2005 -- Dralion opened Rotterdam * Jun.03.2008 -- Name of of "Cirque Tokyo 2008" Announced - "ZED" * Jun.04.2003 -- Alegría opened Calgary * Jun.04.2008 -- Cirque Partners with YuuZoo, Online Video Sharing Website * Jun.05.2003 -- Saltimbanco opened Cologne * Jun.05.2008 -- Quidam opened Màlaga, Spain * Jun.05.2008 -- Varekai opened Berlin, Germany * Jun.06.2000 -- Dralion opened Denver, Colorado * Jun.06.2002 -- Region 02 DVD release: Dralion * Jun.06.2006 -- Cirque Las Vegas named 6th most popular attraction in US by TripAdvisor * Jun.07.1985 -- 1985 Tour opened in Sher-Brooke [Plateau Parc] * Jun.07.1992 -- Fascination opened Nagoya * Jun.09.1994 -- Alegría opened Ste-Foy * Jun.10.2002 -- Official Title of 13-episode TV series announced - "Fire Within", previously titled "A Fly on the Wall" * Jun.11.2002 -- Alegría Extended CD Released (BMG/CDS Musique) * Jun.12.2002 -- Alegría opened Denver * Jun.12.2002 -- Dralion opened Portland * Jun.12.2007 -- La Nouba celebrated 4000th performance [Tuesday, 6:00pm] * Jun.12.2008 -- Corteo opened Vancouver, BC, Canada * Jun.13.1992 -- Saltimbanco opened Ste-Foy * Jun.13.2002 -- Announcement of NY-NY and MGM-Grand Shows * Jun.14.2003 -- Varekai premiered on BRAVO at 8:00pm EST * Jun.14.2005 -- Quidam CD Released (CDS Musique) * Jun.16.1984 -- Official Birth date of Cirque du Soleil * Jun.16.1984 -- 1984 Tour opened Gaspé * Jun.16.1995 -- Alegría opened Toronto * Jun.16.2002 -- Dralion burglarized in Portland; stealing $11,000 * Jun.16.2003 -- Mystère celebrated 4500th performance [Monday, 7:30pm] * Jun.16.2004 -- MGM-Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group merged * Jun.18.1993 -- Saltimbanco opened Toronto * Jun.19.2008 -- La Nouba celebrated 4500th performance [Thursday, 6:00pm] * Jun.20.1991 -- Nouvelle Expérience opened Ste-Foy * Jun.20.2002 -- Quidam opened Detroit, Michigan * Jun.20.2008 -- Alegría opened Buenos Aires, Argentina * Jun.21.1985 -- 1985 Tour opened in Ottawa [Plaines Le Breton] * Jun.21.2001 -- Saltimbanco 2000 opened Osaka, Japan * Jun.22.1999 -- La Nouba CD Released in Canada (RCA/Victor) * Jun.22.2001 -- Dralion opened Chicago * Jun.22.2005 -- Entertainment Complexes in Montréal announced * Jun.22.2006 -- Dralion opened Malaga * Jun.22.2006 -- Varekai opened Vancouver * Jun.22.2007 -- Corteo opened Denver * Jun.23.1984 -- 1984 Tour opened Bai-Comeau * Jun.24.1999 -- Dralion opened Quebec * Jun.24.2004 -- Quidam opened Calgary * Jun.24.2008 -- Koozå CD Released US/Canada * Jun.25.1992 -- Fascination opened Hiroshima * Jun.25.2004 -- Saltimbanco opened Gijon * Jun.25.2008 -- Alegría celebrated 5000th performance [Wednesday, 8:00pm, Buenos Aires] * Jun.26.2005 -- Alegría opened Osaka * Jun.26.2008 -- Koozå opened Chicago, IL * Jun.27.1989 -- Cirque Réinventé opened Ste-Foy * Jun.27.2002 -- Vaerkai opened Quebec City * Jun.27.2004 -- Mystère celebrated 5000th performance [Sunday, 7:30pm] * Jun.28.1984 -- 1984 Tour opened Jonquière * Jun.28.2007 -- Quidam opened Shanghai, China (First time in China!) * Jun.29.1999 -- La Nouba CD Released in US (RCA/Victor) * Jun.29.1999 -- Dralion opened in Toronto * Jun.30.2005 -- Corteo opened Quebec City * Jun.30.2005 -- Quidam opened Perth * Jun.30.2005 -- Varekai opened East Rutherford * Jun.30.2006 -- LOVE Gala Premiere (Previews End) * Jun.30.2008 -- BELIEVE officially delayed ========================================== CIRQUETECH: The Technical Side of Cirque ========================================== Corteo SoundScape ------------------ In January 2006, Meyer Sound ran an article about Corteo and the sound equipment it provided -- "Corteo tours with 'Mirror Image' Meyer Sound Systems and LCS Matrix 3" -- and we'd like to point out a few passages within for our CirqueTech column this period: o) Corteo uses 38 self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers per side with mixing and control from a common LCS Audio Cue Console o) To Maintain precision-directed sound despite the longer throw, Deans specified four M1D compact curvilinear arrays of six cabinets as the keystone elements of the system. o) M1Ds use MAPP Online PRO acoustical prediction software o) M1Ds are positioned to miss the musicians on stage, coverage is filled with CQ-2 narrow coverage main, UPA-2P compact narrow coverage and UPM-1P ultra-compact wide coverage loudspeakers. o) A dozen UPJ-1P compact VariO loudspeakers serves as surrounds, with four more affixed to the masts to take over vocal reporduction whenever "hot-mic'ed" acrobats fly up into the crossfire of the M1D arrays. o) Deep bass comes from four PSW-2 high-power flyable subwoofers. o) The loudspeakers are fed from an LCS Audio Matrix3 digital system, which gives precise, automated cue-based mixing capabilities. o) Configured with six (6) LX-300 digital audio engines, Corteo's Matrix3 boasts 80 analog inputs, 64 analog outputs, parametric equilization, dynamics, matrix routing, and custom multichannel surround sound using SpaceMap, the Matrix3's standard software planning tue. o) Corteo is mixed from CueConsole, LCS Audio's modular collection of tactile control surfaces for the Matrix3. This consists of 3 16-channel Fader modules, two 16-channel Meters modules, and one each of the Transporter and Editor modules. {SOURCE: Meyer Sound, January 2006} ======================================================================= FASCINATION! FEATURES ======================================================================= Within... o) "Cirque du Soleil and KNIE, 1992" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, FLorida (USA) o) "Koozå: 'Live it Up' on CD and DVD!" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, FLorida (USA) ------------------------------------------------------- "Cirque du Soleil and KNIE, 1992" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, Florida (USA) {Issue Exclusive} ------------------------------------------------------- "1992 -- Cirque du Soleil crosses the Pacific and makes a name for itself in the Land of the Rising Sun with Fascination, a collage of the best acts from past shows. The show opens in Tokyo and then moves on to seven other cities, for a total of 118 performances in four months. Meanwhile, in Europe, Cirque du Soleil joins forces with Switzerland's Circus Knie and stages a show in over 60 towns throughout the country. In North America, 1992 sees Cirque du Soleil make its Las Vegas debut when Nouvelle Expérience kicks off a year- long engagement under a big top at the Mirage Hotel. Already juggling several productions, Cirque du Soleil adds a monument to its repertoire of shows: Saltimbanco. Premiering in Montreal, this latest production begins a lengthy tour of North America." # # # We've all seen it. Anyone who has scanned the 24-year history of Cirque du Soleil has come across this paragraph; a footnote in Cirque's vast history. Fascination. Knie. Nouvelle Expérience. Saltimbanco. When you read the passage it's hard to deny that 1992 was arguably one of Cirque du Soleil's most expansive, if not important, years in its early history. Truly, for the first time Cirque du Soleil was going global and I find it an interesting year because it includes some of Cirque du Soleil's most mysterious ventures: Fascination in Japan and a partnership with KNIE in Switzerland. Over the years fans have shed a lot of light upon Fascination, a combination of Le Cirque Réinventé and Nouvelle Expérience, but little has ever been said about the collaboration with Circus Knie. Until now. But to understand how historical 1992 had been for Cirque du Soleil, one has to travel back more than 20 years to 1981. That year a new and exciting union of street artists and performers called the "Club des Talons Hauts" (the "High-Heels Club") was formed. This non-profit company was founded on principle alone: "to promote circus arts and street performers" by banding together to perform for the masses. And in doing so this new organization went on to produce Cirque du Soleil during its earliest performances at Les Echassiers de Baie St-Paul (1981-1983) and Fête Foraine de Baie St-Paul Le Rendez-vous des amuseurs publics (1982-1984) In June 1984, Cirque du Soleil officially came together in part by contributions and summons by the Québec government. Their name - meaning "Sun Circus" or "Circus of the Sun" - was created by the troupe's founder and guide Guy Laliberté. Once armed with an identity, Cirque du Soleil came together to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's (1491-1557) arrival. For the festivities, Cirque du Soleil presented a very special show in Gaspé, the same place Mr. Cartier's voyage took him so long ago as he desperately tried to find a land route through to the Orient. The show was a smash success and the artists, invigorated by its reception, took their creation on the road and visited a handful of cities nearby: Baie-Comeau, Baie St-Paul, Québec, Magog, Hull, and Sorel et Montréal. Following on the heels of their Grand Tour success (1984 and 1985 tours), Cirque du Soleil revamped their young show into Le Magie Continue. With a new title and attitude Cirque set off once again on a tour of their native homeland. This seasonal tour visited a handful of Canadian cities - seven in all (Sherbrooke, Montréal, Québec, Saint- Sauveur, Longueil, Ottawa, and Toronto). Cirque also had the distinction of being part of the festivities surrounding Expo'86 in Vancouver, representing their Canadian heritage and homeland. The magic and fantasy continued to follow them wherever they went propelling Cirque du Soleil to new heights in attendance and success. That success also allowed them to take risks - for the first time in Cirque history an invitation was extended to the Chinese government to have a team of its most talented acrobats take part. That invitation grew into the Spinning Meteor performance (seen in Le Magie Continue) and a life-long partnership with the Chinese arts. Unfortunately that success was short-lived after a trip to Niagara Falls left the Cirque virtually penniless. And in what is now a famous story of luck and survival on their first ever visit to the United States, Cirque du Soleil packed up its trucks and drove to the state of California with barely enough money for gas on the trip over, and absolutely nothing to bring them home again. Gambling everything, Cirque du Soleil presented Le Cirque Réinventé (or We Reinvent the Circus) at the Los Angeles Festival in 1987 and became an instant success. That success followed them to San Diego, Santa Monica and beyond. Cirque du Soleil would, of course, continue and expand the Le Cirque Réinventé concept in 1987, 1988, 1989, and into European markets beginning with London and Paris in 1990. But while audiences in the United States went head-over-heels for this "sun circus", the troupe was met with less than enthusiastic response in Europe. Undeterred, Cirque would continue to try and break into the European market, which brings me back to the paragraph above and the topic at hand: the 1992 partnership with Circus Knie, the national circus of Switzerland, which merged Knie's elephants and horses with Cirque du Soleil's Technicolor costumes and exciting acrobatics. * * * KNIE -- four letters in red sprawled across an otherwise all-white big top (with red accoutrements around the sides) announced the coming of Circus Knie this particular year, 1992. While Cirque du Soleil used a blue and yellow striped big top for its tours (and a white and gold big top for Nouvelle Expérience's special engagement at the Mirage), Circus Knie used its signature red and white colored big top for its national tour. And much like the sets and stages for the early Le Cirque Réinventé presentations, "KNIE Presents Cirque du Soleil" continued to use the same proscenium setup, through modified to be larger for use by the circus' traveling animals (horses and elephants). Most of Cirque du Soleil's top creative names were at the helm of this new venture, too. Guy Laliberté (Guide), Daniel Gauthier (President), Guy Caron (Artistic Director), Benoît Jutras (Composer and Musical Director), Michele Crête (Costumes), Luc Lafortune (Lighting), André Caron (Set Designer) and Gilles Ste-Croix (Director of Creation). And there were a few new names, too, such as: Pierrette Venne (Assistant Artistic Director), Marcelle Gravel (Costumes) and Allison Brierly (Choregoraphy). Our Chef de Piste, or Ringmaster, was none other than James Keylon, who fans might recognize as one half of the Alfredo and Adrenaline comedic duo. James took over the role of Chef de Piste from Cirque veteran Michael Barrette in 1989 and continued with the show until its final curtain call. The dynamic duo of Alfredo and Adrenaline are also no strangers to Cirque du Soleil's stage. Adrenaline (Francine Côté, Canadian) performed with La Ratatouille in Cirque du Soleil's 1985 "Le Grand Tour" and in the 1990 European tour of "Le Cirque Réinventé". Alfredo (James Keylon, USA) performed with Adrenaline at Cirque's G7 Halifax special performance and in 1995-1996, when they brought their musical talents to Mystère due to Benny LeGrand's absence. Musically you'd have found the Cirque du Soleil orchestra seated with Benoît Jutras at the keyboards, turning out the familiar ethereal music from Le Cirque Réinventé. Surrounding him were Germain Borque (on keyboards), Stéphane Gariéty (saxophone and keyboards) Rhèal Jutras (bass) and François Jutras (percussion). Now that we have the venue and some of its players set up, what's showing inside? The theme still centered on a small group of people, called Ordinary People, dressed in everyday clothes, milling about and exchanging looks of amazement with each other at where they had found themselves. Joined by the King of Fools and the Queen of the Night they produced the atmosphere from which the transformed people played out their destiny. And with the help of the ringmaster (transformed into Ti- Claude), the Ordinary People are guided toward their destiny - our destiny - through these amazing performances: THE PINGUINS (Korean Plank) -- This team of dynamics acrobats included: Angelo Ballan (France), François Barré (Canada), Linda Belanger (Canada), Luc Dagenais (Canada), Ghyslain Guay (Canada), Roch Jutras (Canada), Luis Knie Jr. (Swiss), François Lefebvre (Canada), Stéphanie Lemieux (Canada), John Luke Martin (USA), Robert Nesser (Swiss), Gerald Regitschnig (Swiss). THE EQUESTRIAN TABLEU (Horses), featuring: o) PAS DE DEUX by Mary-Jose Knie and Robert Neeser. o) ACROBATIC HORSE RIDING (L'écuyére à panneau) by Geraldine- Katarina Knie o) LA VOLTIGE (Stunt Flying) by Masha Dimitri and Luc Dagenais SLACK WIRE -- Masha Dimitri. Masha Dimitri was only 6 when she made her first appearance in the ring with the Knie Circus in Switzerland. After studying in Hungary at the Budapest Circus School until 1981, she returned to Switzerland and soon graduated from the Dimitri Theater School, where she studied wire-walking with Szilard Szekely. Masha subsequently worked with the Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco and the Gruss French National Circus in Paris. Perfect balance and balletic grace characterized Masha's use of her preferred instrument, the slack wire. Masha was featured in the 1987 version of Le Cirque Réinventé. RHYTHMIQUE GYMNASTICS -- Vesta Geshkova and Eli Milcheva. These gymnasts manipulate hoops, ribbons, and balls with elegance. Eli Milanova Milcheva was born in Targoviste, Bulgaria in 1971. By age 18 she gained the World Championship title in the Rhythmic Gymnastics world in Sarajevo, 1989. Her compatriot, Vesta Veselinova Geshkova, born in Sofia in 1971 became the overall European champion in Athens in 1987. The costumes are somewhat reminiscent of the Saltimbanco Rhythmic Gymnastic fabrics used in rotation during Saltimbanco's European Tour. THE HORSE TANGO -- Ever see a horse tango? Mary José and Fredy Knie, Jr. present just that - le tango â cheval! HAND TO HAND -- Molded in their multicolored costumes, Sophe Ferrero and Virgile Peyramaure deliver a mind-boggling le main a main, the precision of which competes only with the natural forces of the Earth. TOWER ON WHEELS -- Starting with four, then six and up to thirteen, as they circle the ring and climb one after the other onto the bicycle, these performers piece together a moving sculpture that branches upward like a tree. Inspired by the Chinese, the Tower on Wheels was a staple of Le Cirque Réinventé throughout its entire run. The brilliant thing about it is that such an incredibly difficult feat of balance looks so easy, but it's not! Featuring: Angelo Ballan (France), Francois Barre (Canada), Linda Belanger (Canada), Sophie Ferrero (France), Vesta Geshkova (Bulgarie), Ghyslain Guay (Canada), Roch Jutras (Canada), Geraldine Knie (Swiss), Francois Lefebvre (Canada), Stephanie Lemieux (Canada), John Luke Martin (USA), Eli Milcheva (Bulgaria), Ramon Neeser (Swiss), Virgile Peyramaure (France), Guo Ping (Chinese Swiss), Patricia Reynier (France) TRICK CYCLING -- Angelo Ballan spent seven years with Le Cirque Gruss and three years with Cirque Roncalli before joining the Cirque du Soleil in 1989. He presented his fabulous trick unicycling act in Le Cirque Réinventé in its final two tours and continued here with Cirque Knie. You'll find him trying to manage balloons and balance cups on his head, which is no small feat. SOLO TRAPEZE -- Hung with ease from her trapeze, Patricia Reynier (from Toulon, France) balances herself high above the stage. And last, but certainly not least... DUO TRAPEZE -- Adapting their routine to Cirque du Soleil's quirky style, the Collins Brothers (Collin Eschenburg and Mathias Fischer) present a duo trapeze number that is not only interesting, but highly comical! * * * "KNIE Presents Cirque du Soleil" toured in the following 60 cities and towns across Switzerland from March 20th through November 29th: March ----- o) Rapperwil -- Mar 20 to 22 o) Uster -- Mar 23 to 25 o) Wattwil -- Mar 26 & 27 o) Galrus -- Mar 28 & 29 o) Frauenfeld -- Mar 30 & 31 April ----- o) Kreuzlingen -- Apr 1 & 2 o) Schaffhausen -- Apr 3 to 5 o) Arbon -- Apr 6 & 7 o) Altstatten SG -- Apr 8 & 9 o) Chur -- Apr 10 to 12 o) Buchs SG -- Apr 13 & 14 o) Winterthur -- Apr 15 to 21 o) Wil SG -- Apr 22 & 23 o) St. Gallen -- Apr 24 to 29 May --- o) Zurich -- Apr 30 to May 28 o) Wettingen -- May 29 to 31 June ---- o) Buiach -- Jun 1 & 2 o) Liestal -- Jun 3 & 4 o) Basel -- Jun 5 to 18 o) Solothurn - Jun 19 to 21 o) Tavannes -- Jun 22 & 23 o) Delemont -- Jun 24 & 25 o) La Chaux-de-Fonds -- Jun 26 to 28 o) Neuchatel -- Jun 29 to Jul 2 July ---- o) Langenthal -- Jul 3 to 5 o) Grenchen -- Jul 6 & 7 o) Willisau -- Jul 8 & 9 o) Olten -- Jul 10 to 12 o) Zofingen -- Jul 13 & 14 o) Windisch-Brugg -- Jul 15 & 16 o) Aarau -- Jul 17 to 19 o) Lenzburg -- Jul 20 & 21 o) Reinach AG -- Jul 22 & 23 o) Luzern -- Jul 24 - Aug 7 August ------ o) Burgdorf -- Aug 8 & 9 o) Langnau BE -- Aug 10 & 11 o) Bern -- Aug 12 to 27 o) Geneve -- Aug 28 to Sep 16 September --------- o) Nylon -- Sep 17 & 18 o) Yverdon-les-Bains -- Sep 19 & 20 o) Bulle -- Sep 21 & 22 o) Payerne -- Sep 23 & 24 o) Biel -- Sep 25 to30 October ------- o) Moudon -- Oct 1 o) Lausanne -- Oct 2 to 14 o) Vevey -- Oct 15 to 18 o) Aigle -- Oct 19 & 20 o) Martigny -- Oct 21 & 22 o) Sion -- Oct 23 to 25 o) Sierre -- Oct 26 & 27 o) Brig -- Oct 28 & 29 o) Thun -- Oct 30 to Nov 2 November -------- o) Interlaken -- Nov 3 & 4 o) Fribourg -- Nov 5 to 8 o) Zug -- Nov 9 to 11 o) Brunnen -- Nov 12 & 13 o) Altdorf UR -- Nov 14 & 15 o) Locarno -- Nov 16 to 19 o) Lugano -- Nov 20 to 25 o) Bellinzona -- Nov 26 to 29 * * * "Meanwhile, in Europe, Cirque du Soleil joins forces with Switzerland's Circus Knie and stages a show in over 60 towns throughout the country." It's amazing that reading a simple sentence buried in a footnote of Cirque's vast 24-year history set me off on this humble quest. Although, in the end, perhaps it shouldn't be - it wasn't the first time I'd dove into a Cirque-based subject based on a mere sentence, and I dare say it won't be the last. It's fascinating to learn a little bit more about Cirque du Soleil, and even more rewarding to share it. While this article covers only a small fraction of what the Knie tour with Cirque was all about, you can get a glimpse of it thanks in part to a Switzerland-based Cirque du Soleil fan site: CircusDream. Using the link below, you can flip through the entire "KNIE / Cirque du Soleil" programme book, scanned by the site's proprietor. Macromedia FLASH is required. ENJOY! < http://www.circusdream.ch/cds/index.php? option=com_wrapper&Itemid=43 > ------------------------------------------------------- "Koozå: 'Live it Up' on CD and DVD!" By: Ricky Russo - Orlando, Florida (USA) {Issue Exclusive} ------------------------------------------------------- Koozå, the story of an innocent and charming clown who strives to find his own place in the world, is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil. It combines two circus traditions - acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. Between strength and fragility, laughter and chills, and turmoil and harmony, Koozå is an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, audacity and total involvement. And after more than a year on the road and months of anticipation, as of June 24, 2008, Cirque du Soleil's newest traveling production finally has an audio/video collection fans can purchase in three ways: in brick-and-mortar stores, in online boutiques and in downloadable form (CD only). I recently got my hands on these items while taking in Koozå in Chicago over the July 4th weekend, and give now give you my quick, "first blush" review. From a packaging standpoint, the CD and DVD are interesting to say the least. They are amongst the first in Cirque du Soleil's catalogue to deviate from the standard plastic CD/DVD packaging normally seen on store shelves, by using 100% post-consumer recycled materials. While the Wintuk CD released last November became the first all-cardboard release, and the "Mystery of Mystère", "FLOW: a Tribute to the Artists of "O"" and "A Thrilling Ride Through KOOZÅ" documentaries were all released in a similar fashion, the Koozå items here are the first to completely use this process inside out - there is not one piece of plastic inside. This new policy also applies to all of Cirque du Soleil's programme books and CDs - one of many new programs Cirque has adopted to assist the environment and reduce waste. Be that as it may, both products sport the signature look of the show - a package doused in purple and splashed only with the colorful show logo. So let's take a look, shall we? -{ THE KOOZÅ CD }- UPC -- 8-43277-01658-5 Catalog -- CDSMCD-10028-2 Run Time -- 68:26 Retail -- $19.50 USD / $19.50 CDN Electronic -- $9.99 full album / $0.99 per track "The music of Koozå beautifully demonstrates the spirit of the live show with its themes of human connection and fun in a world of duality. With a stream of uplifting songs with timeless influences where forms and styles intertwine seamlessly, the music of Koozå is inspired by the sounds of western pop culture, from 1970s Funk to full orchestral arrangements. It also draws heavily on traditional Indian music." Having enjoyed the music live in Chicago, earlier in San Francisco and at its premiere in Montreal, the CD was one I was most anxious to hear. Would it have all my favorite tracks, or would it be like other Cirque show CDs, which pick and chose tracks from the show?) And would it sound like the live show, or would it be an "inspired by" soundtrack like Varekai? If not, would the title track at least have the brass instruments I so loved from the shows opening, or would they be replaced by some strange mixed-up instrument? There are 18 tracks presented on the CD, which I am pleased to say run through every major piece of music in the show but one -- the Hand-to- Hand act-in-rotation. These are (and the acts they accompany): 01. KOOZÅ DANCE (3:28) The Crooner and Skeleton Dance that accompanies the start of the second-half of the show. 02. SUPERSTAR I (2:27) Juggling (Part 1) 03. L'INNOCENT (5:50) The title track for the show featuring a mix of moments from the prologue, opening and ending. 04. ROYAUME (3:40) The incredibly energetic "Charivari" act that opens the show. 05. JUNOON (5:31) Contortion 06. ALAMBRE ALTO (4:59) Double High-wire 07. 16-PAPILLON (5:08) Solo Trapeze 08. PEARL (4:07) Unicycle Duo (Beginning & Ending) 09. CABARET SATÃ (3:12) Unicycle Duo (Middle) 10. AANKH MICHOLI (4:28) Pickpocket 11. DIABLES (3:36) Wheel of Death (First Half) 12. EL PÉNDULO DE LA MUERTE (3:02) Wheel of Death (Second Half) 13. PETIT-JAUNE (1:43) Melody accompanying the Prologue 14. SUPERSTAR II (3:23) Juggling (Part 2) 15. IMPOSTEUR (1:21) A transition piece usually used for the chases. 16. PRARTHANA (4:50) Balancing on Chairs (First Half) 17. DON'T BE AFRAID (3:46) Balancing on Chairs (Second Half) 18. HUM JAISA NA DEKHA (3:53) Teeterboard, the last act of the show. Composer Jean-François Côté has assembled an assortment of talented musicians for this CD, using a wide array of vocal talents and worldly instruments including the Oud, Duduk and Sitar. Fans may recognize Côté as the former bandleader for both Mystère and "O". He went on to compose new tracks for Corteo as a guest composer (including Bouncing Beds, Juggling and Paradise), which laid the groundwork for his talents to be tapped for Koozå. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the musicians who perform that music night after night. Besides the main vocalists (Theresa Bailey, Tara Baswani and Cinda RamSeur), it does not appear that any of the tour musicians perform on the CD, with the exception of James Lutz (Trombone, Bass Trombone, Soloist) and Mireille Marchal (Percussion, Human Whistle, Toy Trumpet). This is a shame, but not totally unexpected -- since Zumanity, many of the CDs do not feature the actual show band. The talented musicians you will find on the CD are: Richard Beaudet (Tenor Saxophone), Jocelyn Couture (Trumpet), Jean Frechette (Baritone Saxophone), Guy Pelletier (Flute, Piccolo), Michel Dubeau (Duduk), Guy Dubuc (Piano, Keyboards, Vibes), Rémy Malo (Bass, Double Bass), Marc Lessard (Bass, Percussion, Drums), Benoît Groulx (Conductor), Ligia Paquin (Viola), Pierre Beaudr (Trombone, Euphonium), Sheila Hannigan (Cello), Caroline Lizotte (Harp), Carla Antoun (Cello), Marie Josée Arpin (Violin), Yukari Cousineau (Viola), Pascale Gagnon (Violin), Uwe Neumann (Sitar), Ismail Hakki Fencioglu (Oud) , Mark Simons (Clarinet) and Shen Qui (Ehru) And some of those names are recognizable from other Cirque du Soleil projects, such as: Richard Beaudet (who appeared on Alegría and Saltimbanco 2005 CD), Jocelyn Couture (Alegría), Guy Palletier (Corteo), Michel Dubeau (Saltimbanco 2005), Benoît Groulx (Corteo), Kigia Paquin (Corteo, Zumanity), Pierre Beaudr (Corteo), Shelia Hannigan (Corteo), Caroline Lizotte (Corteo), Carla Antoun (KÀ, Alegría, Corteo, Quidam and Delirium), Pascale Gagnon (Corteo), and Ismail Hakki Fencioglu (Corteo). Besides missing the live band, my only other complaint is that many of the tracks seem over-produced. There's "inspired by" (like Varekai and to some extent Corteo) and then there's taking tracks in a totally different musical direction. The latter is what we get here. This is achieved by adding instrumentation that was not originally part of the song's live construct or added to "punch up" what was otherwise a great, basic track all on its own. For example, using Erhu, a two-stringed instrument of Chinese origin, in front of "Diables" and in other tracks, while haunting and beautiful, takes away the initial mystique of the track when heard live. Slowing down the pace of "L'Innocent" is another example, although it is one of my favorite tracks from the CD. I must also admit that I enjoy the funkilicious entrance to "Superstar I" - it makes me think of the theme of the movie "Shaft" every single time! The magnificent piano chords accompanying the Balancing on Chairs segment - "Don't be Afraid" - is another personal favorite. However, I can't understand the reasoning behind using Michael Halvarson (PickPocket) as a vocalist for the Skeleton Dance song ("KOOZÅ DANCE") -- what is up with that? The music to Koozå is not only available on CD, but was also simultaneously released electronically via iTMS (Apple's iTunes store) and Amazon Downloads, so there are a variety of avenues for fans to find, purchase and collect this music. And if the music alone isn't a good enough reason to rush out and purchase the actual CD, perhaps the fact that the package turns into a neat koza (the Sanskrit word meaning "box," "chest" or "treasure," for which the show was named) for you to display your CD in will motivate you. Now that's a cool feature! -{ THE KOOZÅ DVD }- UPC -- 8-43277-01738-4 Catalog -- 509941 Video -- 1.78:1 Wide screen Audio -- English 2.0/5.1/DTS Run Time -- 120 Minutes (Main Feature) Directed by -- Mario Janelle The moment you pick up the DVD, "The Trickster," played here by Jason Barrent, beckons you into the world of Koozå, inviting you to slip off the discs covering keeping wraps on this amazing show. What you'll find inside is another cardboard package, doused in purple and splashed only with the colorful logo of the show. But open this book carefully, because -- WATCH OUT! -- the DVD pops right out at you! Literally!! This truly is a "puzzle box." Created by Pierre Desmarais (Art Design) and Michel Dalpé (Graphic Design), you'll find even more surprises as you look inside. Even the disc's silkscreen label blends seamlessly into the DVD's package, as the image of the Trickster on the disc is also underneath it. You'll find the second disc tucked away in a hidden cubby, guarded securely by The King, played by Gordon White. His compatriots flank the other side of the page while nestled overhead is Michael Halvarson's PickPocket character. Since Disc 1 is the easiest one to grab first, let's look at it: DISC 1: THE SPECTACLE One of the first things you'll notice when popping this disc into your DVD player is... the lack of menu controls. Cirque du Soleil Images or perhaps SONY Home Entertainment, for some unknown reason, has decided that disabling your fast forward, next chapter, and/or menu button features at start up was an excellent idea. I don't like it because it forces me to see the warnings and notices I don't need to see as a respectable consumer. The point of having a menu button is for it to immediately take me to the disc's menu, but I digress. Thankfully, though, the wait is just slightly less than 30 seconds before the Bataclan comes into view - the Main Menu. On the main menu you have your standard selections: PLAY SHOW, PERFORMANCES, AUDIO SETUP, and BONUS FEATURES. PLAY SHOW will, of course, begin the 2-hour program of Koozå which was magnificently shot in high-definition (and it shows!). There are camera tricks at play here, including slow motion and replay (in Wheel of Death, High Wire, etc.) but these are sparse and used well. Sound is top notch, as it appears to have been taken directly from the soundboard; however, the mix of vocal to instrumentation is somewhat off - the vocals seem much, much louder than the accompanying instruments. Lighting, on the other hand, is as presented on tour - extra lights do not appear to have been installed. And other than bits and pieces throughout the performance, the only large chunk of footage missing here is the pounding drum solo directly after the Wheel of Death act. Be that as it may, fans have been a little less than forgiving regarding the show's opening and closing, which was shot not in the big top but in a Toronto lakeside park (where the show itself was filmed live under the big top). While this footage represents mere seconds (and is quite nicely tied into the theme of the show: innocence), it does cut out the normal interaction of The Innocent and his kite on stage, which has struck a chord with many. Regardless of whether you see this change as good or bad, Cirque has done something similar in the past (remember the Everypeople from Le Cirque Réinventé invading a fruit market in that video?) albeit not for quite some time. Otherwise, this is a very solid presentation of Koozå that I can't wait to enjoy over and over again! PERFORMANCES is the chapter list where you'll find the show accessible via chapters split into three pages -- Page 1: Introduction, Charivari, Contortion, Trapeze, and Unicycle Duo (accompanied by the Contortion music "Junoon"). Page 2: Clown Magic, Highwire, Crooner and Skeleton Dance, Wheel of Death and Pickpocket (featuring "Cabaret Satã"). And Page 3: Juggling, Balancing on Chairs, Teeterboard and Finale and Credits (featuring the Double Highwire music "Alambre Alto"). SUBTITLES is controlled by our gaggle of clowns and you'll find the standard fare here: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Portugues and no subtitles. With AUDIO SETUP, Sasha swings on her trapeze and The Innocent stands by with his kite for protection and offers us three audio settings: Dolby Digital Stereo (2.0), Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1. "Petit- Jaunne" plays in the background. BONUS FEATURES features Heimloss the robot - "Zzzap! Shhhwap! Krrrrritch!". That's robot speak for insert disc 2 to enjoy the bonus features! DISC 2: THE BONUS FEATURES Slip this disc out from its "hidden" side pocket to reveal the face of The Innocent, played by Stéphen Landry. Start it up and quickly find your way to the discs main menu. The main menu here once again features the Trickster and the Koozå Bataclan with the celebratory opening tune of the show ("L'Innocent") playing, and five main selections: A THRILLING RIDE THROUGH KOOZÅ, WHEEL OF DEATH: THE ART OF RISK, PROMOS, SUBTITLES, and DVD CREDITS. o) "A Thrilling Ride through Koozå" (46:03) -- Starting in early 2007 and taking us through to the official premiere, "A Thrilling Ride through Koozå" is everything a documentary should be and more! We hear, from Director David Shiner, the ideas and thoughts behind what kind of show he was looking to create (one that brought us back to Cirque roots - thrills, chills and emotions) and all the work that he put in to conceiving a show of this caliber. We're taken on the journey the costume, make-up, and set designers must undergo in order to bring the spectacle to life. We see the artists as they train for their parts, as well as settle into every-day Cirque life. And what did Guy think about the show a month before the first public performance? Watch and see! This bonus feature, much like the text I used to describe it, was just as it was on the single DVD released in December 2007. o) "Wheel of Death: The Art of Risk" (11:00) is a featurette on the Wheel of Death and the art of risk one has to master to use it. Featuring the two talented artists in this act, Carlos Enrique Marin Loaiza and Jimmy Ibarra Zapata (both from Columbia, South America), we learn a little about what makes them tick, whether or not they're afraid when they get on the Wheel of Death (they are and not at the same time) and what keeps them doing these dangerous stunts night after night after night. Oh, and if you ever wonder if they're looking at you squirming in your seat and covering your eyes during their performance? They are! And they love it! Under PROMOS, the two Wheel of Death performers await us. And with their tension building music ("Diables") in the background, they open up three more selections for us: "Koozå Promotional Spot", "Looking for Talent", and "Join Cirque Club". KOOZÅ PROMOTIONAL SPOT is the same 22-second promotional video you would see in the concessions tent while waiting for the show to begin or at intermission. Too bad the spots for the other shows aren't here too; they're quite nice. LOOKING FOR TALENT is a short video showcasing the Cirque du Soleil casting experience. It's less than a feature but more than a promotional spot; if anything it's a one-minute commercial for the Cirque du Soleil casting department. It appears in fact to be the new Casting site set to video! JOIN CIRQUE CLUB is a standard quick video promo about joining CirqueClub, which has been seen on other DVD special features and/or promotional CDs. Under SUBTITLES, Zhang Gongli appears atop his chairs with the soothing chords of his acts music ("Don't be Afraid") in the background. Here you can choose between English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Portugues and no subtitles. DVD CREDITS is something most people ignore but we pressed on and found a quick run (non-pausable) of the folks at Cirque du Soleil Images and Richmond Studios responsible for putting the DVD together, as well as, copyright credits for the images used. And that is the bonus disc for the Koozå 2-disc DVD set. The Koozå DVD is available on-site and through the Cirque Online Boutique for $29.00 USD/CAN. ======================================================================= FROM THE FASCINATION! ARCHIVES ======================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------- "Musicians' Family Tree" By: Paul Roberts - Hamilton, Ohio (USA) {Originally Published: Issue #14 - October 2002} ------------------------------------------------------- For me, the most important aspect of Cirque du Soleil is the music. No matter what mood I find myself in, there is a Cirque du Soleil soundtrack to accompany it. I had to have more, however, and with so many talented Cirque du Soleil singers, musicians, and composers, I dug deep to discover a plethora of branches available. Following are several offshoot CDs from current and former Cirque du Soleil troubadours that I either own or have come across in my explorations. Included are brief descriptions of the sounds that I have had the pleasure of experiencing. Paul J. Bannerman (current Drummer in Varekai) A former member of the Broadway show "Blast!", Mr. Bannerman has recorded on nearly twenty CDs and his impressive resume can be found in the Recordings section of his website: www.pauljbannerman.com. With the upcoming arrival of the highly-anticipated "Varekai" CD, Paul's talents will be showcased to all Cirque du Soleil lovers. Violaine Corradi (Composer for Dralion and Varekai): "Bears: Original Motion Picture Score" - Release Date: October 30, 2001- Silver Wave; ASIN: B00005QK1I This IMAX film soundtrack also features music by Madalyn Blanchett, Claude Carmichael, Lyle Lovett, Bobby Read, and Joanne Shenandoah. A few months ago my daughter, Tara, saw this film and said to herself, "Some of this music sounds like it'd fit in Dralion" so she perused the credits and excitedly informed me of her discovery. Go to www.amazon.com (search: Bears: Original Motion Picture Score) and listen to the sample of "Polar Bear Dancing/Wolf" and you can hear how easily Tara recognized Violaine's influence. René Dupéré (Composer for Cirque du Soleil through Alegria) With Èlise Velle (ex-singer in Mystère): "Voyage" - CHACD: 888 - September 1996 This is an extraordinary collection of songs featuring one of the most talented singers on Earth. The CD also includes former Cirque du Soleil musicians: Carla Antoun (Cello), Marc Belanger (Violin), Jean- Marie Benoit (Guitar), Andy Czerny (Accordion), Philippe Dunnigan (Violin), Marc Langis (Bass), Francine Lupien (Violin), Dominique Messier (Percussion), Paul Picard (Percussion), Christian Prévost (Violin), Joey Sommerville (Flugelhorn/Trumpet). Although the music is quite different from Cirque du Soleil standards, there are moments of old inspirations, especially the closing song "Berceuse Chinoise" that fades out with a haunting melody line sung by Èlise over a tribal Täiko drum cadence. This CD can be purchased through www.hmv.com and www.archambault.ca/store/default.asp. René Dupéré/Èlise Velle: "L'Ombre de l'épervier" - Analekta: AN28812 A soundtrack to the film of the same name that can be purchased through www.hmv.com and www.archambault.ca/store/default.asp (thirty second samples of five songs are available on Archambault's site). Francesca Gagnon (current Singer for Alegría): Francesca (one of the best known Cirque du Soleil singers) has released three solo CDs: "Magie" - Capital Records - 1986 (no longer available) "Francesca" - Trans Canada - 1988 (no longer available) "Au Delà des Couleurs" - BMG France and BMG Québec- 1999 Her website in French is: www.ifrance.com/francescag. John-Paul Gasparrelli (current Musical Conductor/Keyboardist for "O") Prior to joining "O", Mr. Gasparrelli played keyboards for the house band at the Bellagio's Fontana Bar. I'm sure in passing I had heard him tickling the keys without realizing that this great musician would eventually be playing music from my favorite Cirque du Soleil soundtrack. His "smooth jazz-oriented" CD, "Moonlight" (Maus: 61325- 4554-1 - released November 2000) is available through www.johnpaulmusic.com, which also includes another impressive resume of several musical projects. "Moonlight" includes a version of Bruce Hornsby's hit song "The Way It Is." Nathalie Gauvin (Singer for Mystère) "Cirque de la Mer Original Soundtrack") Distributed by Sea World. Nathalie sings and Mystère keyboardist, Brigitte LeClerc, is credited for writing the lyrics to this soundtrack that sounds similar to the music of early Cirque du Soleil. Benoit Jutras (Composer for Mystère through La Nouba, including the soundtracks "Journey of Man" and "Alegria le Film") Listed at Benoit's website: www.benoitjutras.com, are the following recordings: "Francesco il Musical" which is the soundtrack for the production of the same name in a permanent theatre located in Assisi, Italy. He also wrote the music for the cable series "The Hunger." A year or so ago, I sent Benoit an email asking what he and daughter, Audrey, were up to. Surprisingly, he responded and said that he is working on a project that will include Audrey. I know I am not the only one waiting for this to be realized. Eric Karol (ex-Singer for Dralion): Dralion just hasn't been the same since the flamboyant-and one of the nicest Cirque du Soleil performers I've ever met-Mr. Karol left. His website: www.erik-karol.com, includes a catalogue section that lists several CDs and vinyl that, unfortunately, are no longer available. His musical project, Le Cabaret des Éléments, features a collaboration with his musical partner, Éric Signor. The sound samples in the website reveal a techno-electronic feel with Erik providing the wide- range vocals that Cirque du Soleil fans have come to love. Brigitte LeClerc (ex-Keyboardist for Mystère): "Fratata" - Analekta: AN28830 - 2000 An incredible jazz-flavored CD with the talented Brigitte playing piano. Being in Mystère helped her raise enough money to realize her dream of releasing this CD. The collection of fusion-laced songs features most of the live Mystère band including singer, Nathalie Gauvin, whose scat vocals compliments the musicians' free form styles. The CD can be purchased through www.hmv.com and www.archambault.ca/store/default.asp. The description in Archambault says it best: "For everyone who loves jazz, Latin-jazz, cabaret, pop, rock, blues. Brigitte Leclerc, an accomplished musician, has created great lyrics and music which she performs along with her sidekicks in a warm and colorful way...For the creation of this album, there were no rules. Brigitte simply expressed herself in an idiom that inspired her and used colors that made her jive." Irene Marc (ex-singer in Alegria and singer on the "Alegria le Film" soundtrack): Irene Marc, the bewitching voice heard in the "Alegria le Film" soundtrack, sings for a group called The Groove Kings. Along with composer/guitarist Howard Forman, The Groove Kings blend pop sounds with a rhythm and blues...uh...groove. The version of the song "Alegria" on the film soundtrack (which incidentally, I heard before the original version) has The Groove Kings feel. Their CDs and song downloads can be found at their website: www.visual-music.com/ groovekings.html. They have released two CDs: "The Groove Kings" - ASIN: B00000JLS4 - February 1993 "Into The Groove Age" - ASIN: B00000JGN7 - October 1996 Luis Perez (ex-musician in Mystère: percussion, pan flute, vocals, and sound illustrations): "Tales of Astral Travelers" - Domo Records: 72438-46195-2-7 - August 1998 . A review of this wonderful CD was featured in the Fascination! Newsletter Issue #12 (August 2002). I purchased the CD on Amazon.com. Francine Poitras (ex-singer in Saltimbanco): "Free Willy 3: The Rescue - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Uni/Varese Sarabande: ASIN: B00000151K - July 1997 Yep, our beloved Saltimbanco ex-singer went on to bigger and better (?) things. Èlise Velle (ex-singer in Mystère): Èlise also released a couple of solo CDs, which can be found on: www.netza.com (a website in French that features bios on Netza artists, including René Dupéré): "La belle est dans ton camp" - 2001 - Netza: NET21441 (This CD also includes René Dupéré and lyricist, Boris Bergman). "Xotika" - 1999 (This is a soundtrack for a Holiday on Ice show). For those of you-like me-that just can't get enough Cirque du Soleil music, we are blessed with many options from these talented creators. I am sure there are many more offshoots available and if anyone cares to share any that were not included, please let us know. ======================================================================= PARTING QUOTE ======================================================================= "When I first met Guy Laliberté, I said, 'Guy, you reinvented the circus and the poetry you create is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Imagine if we could reinvent magic like you reinvented the circus.' That is my dream, that is my quest, and that is exactly what we are going to do when we open up this show." -- Criss Angel ======================================================================= COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= Fascination! Newsletter Compendium Volume 8, Number 3 (Issue #59) - May/Jun 2008 "Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (c) 2001-2008 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. { Jul.14.2008 } =======================================================================