Cirque du Soleil on Broadway?- Page 13

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 8:38pm

broadway guy hasn't posted since July 8. :-O :-O

Is he done?

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 8:42pm

Thanks for bumping, ljay. Brought back some good memories... LOL

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 8:44pm

Maybe he really did go to camp.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 8:45pm

LMAO, mama!

and right, LH? I missed this thread, haha.

[Starship]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:31pm

HOLY FRACK @justincharacter! That poster is INCREDIBLE! Screams vaudeville (which I LOVE). It makes me miss Iris. lol. I so wish I could've been in charge of the production. So much talent, money, and great concepts were wasted. Updated On: 7/13/13 at 09:31 PM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:53pm

@Starship It is incredible, I miss it too. A article states that Cirque will be laying off people ONCE AGAIN. Um, what the heck? But supposedly it will not affect the quality of productions and future projects as the article also stated. Yeah, like how they are cramming cyr wheel in every arena touring show now (literally)? Or you know, like cutting acts, characters, and show material in recent shows that are touring in tents? Yes, because that'a the right way to go Cirque! Thumbs up!

Updated On: 7/13/13 at 09:53 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:03pm

@justincharacter - My gosh. Yeah...ever since Viva la Elvis I feel Cirque as a company has been spiraling down. They started doing too much and spending too much and not coming up with quality shows. I felt Iris had a lot potential but they went WAY overboard and didn't think very realistically, which in turn, left A LOT of investors without money, employees without work, and Cirque in a hugeeeeee financial mess.

What other cuts have they made? I didn't hear about this! Updated On: 7/13/13 at 10:03 PM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:21pm

Well, as long as Guy Laliberte's Net Worth stays above $2 billion and they continue to afford me the opportunity to buy Category 1 seats that were considered Category 2 just a few years ago, as far as I'm concerned, the rest doesn't matter.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:35pm

@Starship
Tour destinations for OVO were cancelled (Seattle and Taipei)

By March 2013, 60 artists were let go

It is supposedly "confirmed" that Alegria will close for good in Madrid this December (Are you serious...)

LePage demanded that the Perches act in TOTEM was to be cut to tighten the show artistically

The high wire act in the recent show Amaluna was cut and the Unicycles act was supposedly cut as well. Vocal aerial hoops was replaced by regular Aerial Hoops

Cirque has decided to shorten down touring shows down to approximately 100 minutes for "artistic reasons". Intermission will still be done.

It's very likely that OVO will undergo a re-staging for the Japan tour starting soon







Updated On: 7/13/13 at 10:35 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:45pm

@justincharacter - I was surprised that Seattle wasn't on Ovo's tour schedule...how come it was cancelled? Lack of interest? I know it was a struggle for Cirque to get people to come to the see the show, and I hear a lot of acts are out frequently.

60 artists from Ovo or select artists were let go in various shows equaling 60 total?

Alegria...yeah...I heard that rumor, too. The show is also being billed as it's "20th and final year." It's pretty shocking. That'll be 20 years the show was on the road for.

I was wondering why the Perches act was cut! Now they have a new hand balancing act? Is this what replaced Perches?

Yeah...the high wire act left pretty quickly. And, correct me if I'm wrong, the Vocal Aerial Hoops was temporarily removed due to the artists being on maternity leave and the unicycles act is still in the show.

Again, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe all the touring shows have been cut down to 90 minutes with the 30 minute intermission = 2hrs 10min as opposed to the 2hrs 30min run time the touring shows had previously.

Yeah...Ovo needs a lot of work done. The concept was very weak to begin with, but it still could've worked if they had done it better (in my opinion).

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:57pm

60 select artists were let go from various shows

The last time I checked, Hand Balancing was a rotational act.

Yes, the artist left due to pregnancy, but I'm sure they could have found someone else to do the act. Not necessarily sure about Unicycle, that's what was "said"

I'm sure the intermissions are not 30 minutes long. The shows are to be performed in 100 minutes approx. itself

I'm glad I am not the only one who thinks so too. The concept was very weak to begin with. I never liked it.

I hope Julie Taymor will be apart of Cirque's creative team one day. A resident show in NY possibly? The creation and direction of Julie Taymor with Stephen Schwartz music and Cirque=dream Cirqur production



Updated On: 7/13/13 at 10:57 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 11:11pm

@justincharacter - From Cirque's websites for Totem and Amaluna: Duration 2 hours 10 minutes, including a 30-minute intermission. That would make the show 90 minutes long. Cirque's touring big top shows have always had 30 minute intermissions.

Yes...I completely agree. Bugs just aren't a theme that can hold a show. Especially not one that intends to internationally tour for a long long long time.

I'm sure Taymor will *hopefully* jump on the Cirque wagon soon. I wonder if maybe she was already reached out to for previous creations, but it fell through? I can't imagine reasons why Cirque wouldn't have offered something to her yet.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 11:21pm

So the tent ones have 30-minute intermissions? I knew that most touring ones (including arenas and IRIS) had 20-minute intermissions. When I heard about Zarkana in it's very early stages, I fell in love with it. The drawings were incredible, the story was fascinating, and just the concept of a "rock opera" was exciting to me. When I first heard the score, I didn't like it, at all. I got used to it after listening to it a few times and started to like it. It's defiently not the best score in Cirque's history, but to this day, I'm still confused why the creative team didn't reach out to ALW for the music...

I mean think about the story, especially the characters, and the point of it being a ROCK OPERA. It still confuses me Updated On: 7/13/13 at 11:21 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 11:33pm

@justincharacter - That would be correct. As you said, the arena shows and resident shows (that have intermissions) are 20-minutes long.

And honestly...I was pretty intrigued when I saw some of the first drawings of Zarkana. The name was fascinating and the concept was neat. However, to me, the show was literally just a big mess. It had potential, like Iris, but it just didn't live up to it...at all. And the baby is just flat out disturbing. I also think the show was too large and too projection heavy. I think the thing Cirque forgets is that projections often times make the performers seem much smaller. When you're on the MASSIVE Radio City Music Hall and Dolby Theatre stages, those projections screens take away A LOT of the beauty of the performers. I also think Cirque feels the need to cover up their performers and blend them into the scenery and design elements. However, the main focus should be the performers. They are stunning on their own and they don't need to be doused in a buttload of makeup and costume pieces. They just need a stage. Y'know?

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 12:01am

Well, them being costumed and drenched in makeup is apart of "the Cirque image" and I absolutely adore it. Even the dancers who play humans in both Michael Jackson shows wear theatrical makeup, which I find interesting and cool. It almost sends a message of even the "humans" are "unreal", mysterious, and just apart of fantasy. I still would like to see a vaudeville themed show, they should give the theme another try but obviously with a new creative team. The whole "vaudeville themed" show had a lot of potential, and they could have done so much with it. It just didn't happen as expected, it just plummeted.
Updated On: 7/14/13 at 12:01 AM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 12:11am

This is what I was saying about the human characters. For some reason, the male dancer's makeup reminds me a lot of the Phantom's makeup in the first act(but without the Phantom's lip...and mask)

Updated On: 7/14/13 at 12:11 AM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 2:50pm

Oh, I'm fine with the theatrical makeup. Especially stuff like the picture above. But, sometimes I feel they go a little overboard with the makeup.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 6:33pm

I have always wondered if they ever thought about creating a dark and thrilling production where it was serious throughout the whole thing(similar to Quidam, but even darker). I have a feeling that Cirque could hit it out the park, I mean some costumes have already established that

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 6:34pm

I mean look at it...



Updated On: 7/14/13 at 06:34 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 7:01pm

See, to me, that's just plain CREEPY.

And in response to your idea, I don't think they would ever go "freak show" unless it was a Vegas production. Cirque plays to the very wealthy adult/senior crowd, and I don't think a haunting and serious production would be popular amongst their target audience. Remember Criss Angel's Believe and oVo? Not very popular. At all.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 7:25pm

OVO wasn't haunting? The whole Criss Angel show was just horrible (not because of the serious and haunting atmosphere) It was just the fact that the whole show was basically magic tricks with terrible music that first followed a terrible storyline, with terrible direction. They did a lot of changing, and it is still supposedly terrible. Many has said that "Cirque du Soleil" shouldn't even be on the poster anymore. Quidam is pretty dark, and many really enjoy the production

[Starship]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 7:29pm

No, I mean oVo and Criss Angel didn't appeal to their target audience. And yes, I COMPLETELY agree with your statement about Believe. Such a train wreck.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 7:48pm

I'm still baffled that it is still on the Strip. Everyone is. His name and tricks (not Cirque) are the only things putting people's butts in seats, and I have to say that I'm still shocked that it's holding up.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 1/14/14 at 4:21pm

Bump! Wow, the memories. Anywho, Cirque du Soleil revealed their upcoming touring show KURIOS yesterday. Today, they revealed a new theatrical division of the company for only New York shows. I'm very interested to see what shows will be opening off-Broadway and on Broadway. This new division reminds me of the one in Las Vegas, where 7 shows are currently running, and I am hoping it will be just as big in the city. I was wondering when they would make the move since Pippin had open last year, playing to a sell-out house every night. It's nice to see Cirque slowly progressing once again, but making smart decisions this time. Crossing my fingers for major success in the city this time around!

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/15/14 at 12:24pm

I wonder how many people making 'creepy' or 'odd' have ever seen one of Cirque's long-running, permanent shows in Vegas or Orlando. It's what they do... It's how they do it. It's really one of their many signatures, especially in the era when Franco Dragone was directing a lot of their productions. He had an interesting way of adding dark elements into a show, which I always found intriguing (O, Le Reve, The House of Dancing Water).

Cirque on Broadway would work, only because they have the money and knowhow to make incredibly complex rigs/lighting/sound/etc work. Their rigging is mostly owned by them, so they don't have the extreme rental cost issues that a show like Spiderman did. They have experience in creating extreme spectacle. The only issue would be in how far they're allowed to go in renovating a theater to handle their needs... This isn't Vegas and you can't just gut a historic structure.