#1
Posted: 8/5/08 at 10:53pm
Now by this point most of the posters here know me. They know I'm not the kind of guy to just go off on productions and attack them for the sake of attack. I'm very supportive of shows and talent as often as possible, and I need everyone to keep that in mind when I write what follows.
Tonight I attended the touring show "Viaggio: The Cirque Show." Despite having a name eerily similar to a resort on the Las Vegas strip and the word "Cirque" in the title, the show is NOT part of the Cirque du Soleil family and, in fact, aside from this touring show the company's biggest act is that they do a show at Sea World.
I've seen three actual Cirque du Soleil shows: "Mystere", "O" and "Wintuk."
And from everything I saw tonight, I honestly think that the producers behind Cirque du Soleil need to sue the pants off the makers of "Viaggio."
Yes, I walked into the show knowing it was a Cirque ripoff, and I know there are several dozen pretenders across the country, most notably "Cirque Dreams" on Broadway, but the similarities between the productions are so uncanny, so similar, that there is NO way what the "Viaggio" people are doing can possibly be fully legal.
I guess maybe I was expecting the show to take the idea of Cirque du Soleil and make it their own...or do SOMETHING differently. But no, every facet of "Viaggio" has been taken from other, better, ACTUAL Cirque du Soleil shows.
Let's investigate.
-The show's plotline involves a child going on a journey into an amazing land to find inspiration to live her life to the fullest...a plot literally ripped point for point from "Wintuk"
-The music was so similar to that of the music in "Mystere" that, when the pieces mirrored the actual Cirque show, the music was a near match, kind of like Vanilla Ice redoing David Bowie and saying it was different.
-There was an adult dressed as a baby crawling around the theater prior to the show...a baby almost identical (though not as obese as) the baby in "Mystere", right down to the its obsession with a bouncing ball.
-Then there was the comedy duo who appeared twice in the show and basically did the same things as the comedy duo from "O," including much of the same physical comedy.
-And the rest of the acts? Yup, point for point they were smaller and less populated versions of skits from "Mystere", well mostly, though one specific one (balancing on metal cans) was taken EXACTLY from "Wintuk" and another (riding in a circular wheel) directly from "Ka." But other than those, you get the pole dancing, cloth flying, human contortioning, trampoline bouncing and human balancing that you could see in "Mystere." And, point for point, it was the same tricks in the same order just with less people on a smaller stage.
-Then there was this woman in a cheap ass costume that was supposed to emulate the crazy Cirque du Soleil costumes. She was wearing a Medusa wig, was twelve feet tall and her dress opened up to show dancing puppets. She would appear in random acts and just watch the performers, taking our eyes off the performers and make us start thinking about rebelling and throwing her off the stage.
-The set was a cheap cardboard neon painted piece of crap that sort of looks like the Mystere poster.
-This is off-topic, but since it's a hugely discussed topic elsewhere on the boards, our program basically told us that the cast EXPECTED a standing ovation at the end of the night. That sickened me to the point where I did not want to stand as a sign of revolt against the evil writers of that program.
I am not attacking the cast, who all impressed me with the tricks and acrobatics and amazing skills. Here's hoping they come to their senses and join the actual Cirque du Soleil...they are definitely talented enough to join that troupe, and they deserve better than the crap they are surrounded with.
Seriously, I am imagining that half the patrons of "Viaggio" walked out of the show thinking they had seen an actual Cirque du Soleil show and were probably a bit let down by what had just happened. It's giving the actual Cirque du Soleil property a bad name...and I honestly hope that the producers are made aware of this travesty and something legal happens, because the similarities cross an ethical boundary.
It is wrong.
Tonight I attended the touring show "Viaggio: The Cirque Show." Despite having a name eerily similar to a resort on the Las Vegas strip and the word "Cirque" in the title, the show is NOT part of the Cirque du Soleil family and, in fact, aside from this touring show the company's biggest act is that they do a show at Sea World.
I've seen three actual Cirque du Soleil shows: "Mystere", "O" and "Wintuk."
And from everything I saw tonight, I honestly think that the producers behind Cirque du Soleil need to sue the pants off the makers of "Viaggio."
Yes, I walked into the show knowing it was a Cirque ripoff, and I know there are several dozen pretenders across the country, most notably "Cirque Dreams" on Broadway, but the similarities between the productions are so uncanny, so similar, that there is NO way what the "Viaggio" people are doing can possibly be fully legal.
I guess maybe I was expecting the show to take the idea of Cirque du Soleil and make it their own...or do SOMETHING differently. But no, every facet of "Viaggio" has been taken from other, better, ACTUAL Cirque du Soleil shows.
Let's investigate.
-The show's plotline involves a child going on a journey into an amazing land to find inspiration to live her life to the fullest...a plot literally ripped point for point from "Wintuk"
-The music was so similar to that of the music in "Mystere" that, when the pieces mirrored the actual Cirque show, the music was a near match, kind of like Vanilla Ice redoing David Bowie and saying it was different.
-There was an adult dressed as a baby crawling around the theater prior to the show...a baby almost identical (though not as obese as) the baby in "Mystere", right down to the its obsession with a bouncing ball.
-Then there was the comedy duo who appeared twice in the show and basically did the same things as the comedy duo from "O," including much of the same physical comedy.
-And the rest of the acts? Yup, point for point they were smaller and less populated versions of skits from "Mystere", well mostly, though one specific one (balancing on metal cans) was taken EXACTLY from "Wintuk" and another (riding in a circular wheel) directly from "Ka." But other than those, you get the pole dancing, cloth flying, human contortioning, trampoline bouncing and human balancing that you could see in "Mystere." And, point for point, it was the same tricks in the same order just with less people on a smaller stage.
-Then there was this woman in a cheap ass costume that was supposed to emulate the crazy Cirque du Soleil costumes. She was wearing a Medusa wig, was twelve feet tall and her dress opened up to show dancing puppets. She would appear in random acts and just watch the performers, taking our eyes off the performers and make us start thinking about rebelling and throwing her off the stage.
-The set was a cheap cardboard neon painted piece of crap that sort of looks like the Mystere poster.
-This is off-topic, but since it's a hugely discussed topic elsewhere on the boards, our program basically told us that the cast EXPECTED a standing ovation at the end of the night. That sickened me to the point where I did not want to stand as a sign of revolt against the evil writers of that program.
I am not attacking the cast, who all impressed me with the tricks and acrobatics and amazing skills. Here's hoping they come to their senses and join the actual Cirque du Soleil...they are definitely talented enough to join that troupe, and they deserve better than the crap they are surrounded with.
Seriously, I am imagining that half the patrons of "Viaggio" walked out of the show thinking they had seen an actual Cirque du Soleil show and were probably a bit let down by what had just happened. It's giving the actual Cirque du Soleil property a bad name...and I honestly hope that the producers are made aware of this travesty and something legal happens, because the similarities cross an ethical boundary.
It is wrong.
