Cirque du Soleil on Broadway? — Page 14

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The Dolby is not historic. It was opened in 2001.

I'm really glad this thread was bumped. This topic clearly was not adequately beaten to death over the summer.

I agree - this thread is beaten to death.

I attended the closing night of Iris. It was far from an amazing Cirque show when you compare it to the arsenal of shows they have created. It was enjoyable and even a CD I listen to on occasion but it is not worth reviving.

If you want to talk about success of Cirque within Las Vegas...people bashed the over the top expenses of Spiderman. The "wow" factor of Cirque in Las Vegas is attributed to the over the top expense of the sets in particular: "O" - the entire 'stage' being a pool, "Ka" with the 'flosting' stage (great documentary is out there about it), "Love" amazing unique theater and stage, etc

Audiences come to NYC for Broadway. At the moment they are not coming to NYC for Cirque which is really synonymous with Las Vegas extravagance.

Think about the touring productions that come through New York City (too) frequently. As a traveling tent show the acts are really becoming repetitive to the point that people are getting tired of them. Do I go every year to see the new show? Yes but I doubt everyone else feels that way. I took my parents last year and I am still trying to erase the memory of the expense since it was in the parking lot of the base ball stadium in Queens!

Ok - so you want to talk about a sit down show right in NYC. They have recently tried that more than once: "Banana Shpeel", "Zarkana" and "Wintuk". I saw all three of those and they were far from "OMG you have to go see this Cirque show" talk to my friends.

Leave Cirque in Las Vegas and continue the touring tent shows in NYC (maybe less often though).

@Brian I was referring to the original version of the show before it was cut down to 90 minutes (which you saw). I heard from people who saw both versions that the "original" version was far superior than the cut version. I do have to agree with your opinion on the history of sit-down flops though. I am just wondering how this could work out this time around. They tried a opera-like show that opened to mixed to negative reviews and the other two shows didn't do well. Will they be reaching out for Broadway composers, book writers, and actors for these? They would be smart if they did, but I just want to see how this progresses.

I am 99.9% certain that Cirque will never involve food inside of their performance space. Guy (Cirque's CEO) was asked about it once in Vegas and he was adamantly against it, for any company.

Queen of the Night is a lovely concept, but it's still nowhere near the complexity of what Cirque is doing in Vegas, Orlando and Macau. As I said before, it's really all about them finding the right space to pull off a full show, not just the temporary or tent shows NYC is used to seeing from them.

Anyone else hoping La Nouba becomes a touring show when it closes?

Who said it is closing?

Cirque prides itself on its creativity and giving people something fresh and new, something they've never seen before. They're not going to take a show that's almost 16 years old and launch it on a standard arena tour. If they do anything with it besides retiring it, they might send it out for a year on their "B" circuit where it plays one week at a time in smaller arenas and smaller cities that they might not send a new touring show to for a couple of months. That might be possible but my guess would be they just retire it. The acts are 16 years old and they've been redone in slightly different forms in the 10-12 new shows they've launched since 1998.

That's great to hear about the 5 year lease, but I don't believe I ever said La Nouba was closing. I was just saying that I hope La Nouba goes on tour when it eventually does close.

Updated On: 6/17/14 at 06:00 PM

Cirque's contracts usually last between 2-3 years. I'm not exactly sure who is providing you with your sources, Benjamin.

"It's either created to tour (which La Nouba was not) or created to be a permanent, custom-theatre show."

Zarkana was a touring show before being converted to a permanent show. It has also been reported that Cirque is looking into the possibility of taking IRIS to other cities in the US.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 12:00 PM

I do agree, La Nouba most likely won't tour. As of now, it's played over 7,500+ performances over 16 years. Cirque I'm sure is more than satisifed with its run. As for Zarkana, I completely agree with Fisherman. Although it was billed as a "touring show," it was never going to be something that would really tour. I feel as if they thought it would be an annual Radio City production that would run during summer/fall, and then overseas for a second run. However, it was really built for sitdown productions in venues such as Radio City and Vegas theaters.

As for Iris, unfortunately, I highly doubt it would ever tour. It was a beautiful production and I am glad at least 8 of the cast members have found their way into Cirque's newest creation, Kurios. I'm not Cirque, and I don't know what's best for them, however, I do think looking into a US theater tour would be interesting as I feel the show (if re-worked some and drastically scaled down) could appeal to many theater goers.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 02:15 PM

Here's the thing though, "O" is in Vegas, an entertainment capital where $130 isn't considered expensive. "Iris" was supposed be a tourist attraction of sorts. Cirque wanted it to be something tourists would walk by and spontaneously decide to attend. But it was silly thinking that tourists would pay $130 for a mezzanine ticket and a fill a 3,000 seat theater 8-10 times per week.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 12:04 PM