BEWARE CIRQUE DREAMS : JUNGLE FANTASY

[lic11101]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 6:50pm

BEWARE!

This show is NON EQUITY and has nothing to do with Cirque du Soleil. It is a cheap knock-off show. Given the performers are non union, don't expect a Broadway Caliber Production.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 6:51pm

I don't get why this is even coming to Broadway.

[lic11101]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 6:59pm

This show has been touring for a few years now. I have friends in the midwest who bought tickets expecting a Cirque show and discovered a cheap imitation. I have little respect for producers who try to confuse audience's by making the show appear to be a real Cirque show. I think it's unethical, similar to producers who buy Broadway marketing materials, sets, and costumes, and tour a non-equity production created by non union directors and choreographers. They give the appearance of a certain level of quality, while delivering something sub-standard.

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 7:11pm

To be fair, Cirque de Soleil has no trademark on the word "Cirque". It's French for circus.

[Patash]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 7:12pm

It is essentially a circus -- acrobats, etc. Why on earth would they be Equity? Are most circus performers Equity? I had no idea.

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 7:14pm

I get you are saying about Circue, but NON-EQUITY doesn't mean bad why does anyone seem to think that? You seem like the people who lease the material don't know what is up. I like non-equity very much.

[lic11101]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 7:32pm

I think if a show is on Broadway, then the performers should be covered under a Union Contract. But that point is secondary to the fact that the show is deceptive.

And while cirque might mean circus in French Americans associate it with Cirque du Soleil. These guys stole a concept created by Dragone and repackaged it as their own.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:43pm

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:54pm

I don't think any of the circus shows, including Cirque du Soleil, run under Equity contracts. The work terms are completely different. That's not saying that they shouldn't be protected by a union (which is what Equity is for--it doesn't necessarily define the calibre of a production), but it's probably very difficult to negotiate that kind of a contract.

I do feel that Jungle Fantasy is a poor rip off of Varekai, but if the audiences like it, then fine.

[logan0215]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 10:03pm

This has been discussed here:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=968790&boardname=bway

Where I dished out a pretty thorough warning about how Cirque Dreams works.

[hefhiro]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 12:08am

Equity has no jurisdiction over shows that do not have any dialog. So something like Blue Man Group, for example, is not Equity because it can't be.

[winston89]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 12:38am

If I recall correctly Cirque Dreams did get into trouble for having people think that they were going to see a Cirque Du Soeli show.

That said, there is nothing wrong with something being non equity and on Broadway. It isn't like there are any rules that say that if you want to be on Broadway you have to be an equity production.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 4:36am

That's odd

I got a badge from Actors Equity a few years back that reads:

If it's not Equity, It's not Broadway

If I can figure out how to post a picture I'll show ya!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 5:57am

Yeah, I kinda thought there was a rule, but whatever. And I'm not sure I buy that dialogue joke either. How do they determine that? Cats, Les Miserables and Evita didn't have any dialogue.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 7:40am

Well of course Equity is going to give out that badge. What do they think they'll say, "if you're in equity or see an equity show or not, we don't much mind"?

That's how unions survive these days--by trying to convince the public that they're necessary and the sole source of quality workers.

[Patash]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 9:10am

Maybe the Cirque cast members are required to have membership in UCATA (Union for clowns, acrobats, and trapeze artists)?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 10:06am

If people buy tickets to Cirque Dreams thinking it is Cirque du Soleil, it's pretty much their own fault. It's like people who bring small children to Avenue Q because it has puppets. It's not the show's fault people decide not to read or pay attention.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 10:23am

Or like when my mother's boss took his kids to see Howard the Duck because he thought it was a children's show.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 10:32am

Anyone buying tickets to Howard the Duck for any reason gets what they deserve.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 10:34am

I loved it when I was about 8 and we had just gotten HBO (and they showed it ALL..THE...TIME). Hey, it was my first exposure to Chip Zien!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 10:37am

I loved Howard the Duck!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 11:44am

I don't think the issue is so much Equity vs. non as it is that this company, which is neither French nor French-speaking, seems to have taken its name in the hope that people WILL think it's a Cirque du Soleil production.

It's like calling yourself Metropolitan Opera Theater, or some such.

They may be wonderful, but they're sailing under false (or at least borrowed) colors.

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 6/17/08 at 11:54am

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 11:54 AM