Originally Posted By TDLFAN An announcement has been made by OLC.. TDR's Cirque Du Soleil show will be history after december 31st 2011. The show will close permanently on that day. Very sad indeed..but not a shock to many of us, since the show has been underperforming since opening day. OLC can blame the recent tsunami and earthquake situation in Japan, but ZED's low attendance numbers were a problem since the show started. I am sure OLC's ego is bruised by this closure, since it appears they could do no wrong with their offerings at TDR. If this teaches them something is to NEVER copy WDW's inferior type of offerings, which are geared to more that eager tourists. TDR is more of a local hangout and as such.. extra entertainment venues such as this just don't get the same level of interest. Now, I can't entirely blame the ZED show, which I am glad I saw recently.. It was a great show and probably one of Cirque's best productions. I am glad at least I bought their show CD. RIP ZED.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Oh..one more thing.. if only they closed La Nouba and brought ZED to WDW.. then we would have something in Orlando to cheer about.
Originally Posted By irishfan Shame it is closing, I had wanted to see it when I visited the resort in January but it was closed for the duration of my stay. Wonder what they will do with the theatre?
Originally Posted By dagobert I just read about that on the website of the German magazine STERN. Why did ZED underperform in Japan? Is CdS not very popular over there? Since TDLFAN would be happy to see ZED in Orlando, I imagine that it's a good show. Are the tickets too expensive? How is La Nouba at WDW doing?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN La Nouba seems to be doing OK but it's an old show and not as extravagant as ZED. As for ZED, as I commented.. I believe the show underperformed because: -poor show time scheduling (afternoon shows during weekdays) -very high price structure. -TDR being driven by huge local guest percentage, who repeatedly visit the resort during seasonal and special events. TDR does not depend much on tourism from abroad..as WDW does, therefore, a permanent show like ZED it's not high on the agenda of the local majority who visit TDR regularly. La Nouba benefits greatly (me thinks) from infrequent tourists at WDW. ZED never had that advantage. As for Cirque shows in Japan... yes, they are popular enough and many touring Cirque shows play regularly across Japan and Tokyo in particular. ^^^ Those opinions are my take on it. Not facts.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros While I've never seen the inside of the theater (haven't been to Japan since around the time it started construction), if they designed it as a 'normal' theater (unlike some of their locations in Vegas that were clearly designed with a specific in mind), it seems like it would be a great venue to bring in touring productions. I know that in the US, a lot of musicals do national tours. I don't know what kind of equivalent they have in Japan, but it seems like that might be something the TDR guests would be interested in seeing, would change on a fairly regular basis without much additional cost to OLC, and would be pretty easy to fit into the existing venue. Sad to see this go, but not surprising. I'll be interested to see how they try to turn that location around.
Originally Posted By leemac <<unlike some of their locations in Vegas that were clearly designed with a specific in mind>> All permanent CdS theatres are specifically designed for the resident show. Hence why Mystere has lasted so long. Same for ZED. OLC will be writing off a collosal $150m on this turkey. It was always a head-stratcher for me why Disney pushed OLC into taking CdS. The guest mix just doesn't warrant a 2,000 seater CdS theater. Most guests are either day-trippers or on short trips (3 nights or less) - they aren't going to give up a night of park entertainment for ZED no matter how good it is. F!, Dreamlights and the fireworks are presented nightly and free with park admission. If the nighttime entertainment was sporadic or seasonal then you could understand CdS's presence but with both parks open until 10pm it made no sense. It is also too far from Tokyo itself to really attract a theater crowd. OLC had the opportunity years ago to put up a CdS theater near the Shiki complex downtown - it would have been a far more successful venture. Ultimately the space will need to be used and I'm sure a character show will eventually fill the space - whether OLC can cover their costs though is another matter. ZED is my favorite of the traditional residence shows - better than Mystere, La Nouba and ZAIA - but it doesn't hold a candle to O or KA.
Originally Posted By SuperDry Any chance that Zed will turn into a touring show? There's precedent with Alegria, which was originally a resident show at Beau Rivage in Louisiana, and then went on to tour once that didn't work out.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Ultimately the space will need to be used and I'm sure a character show will eventually fill the space - whether OLC can cover their costs though is another matter. >>> A character show might be more of a draw than CdS with the hard-core TDR fanbase, but it still would have the fundamental problem of competing with the in-park entertainment. How can they charge enough to make a stand-alone show worthwhile, while at the same time not pricing themselves out of the market in comparison to in-park offerings?
Originally Posted By leemac Two of the biggest issues on the CdS licensed products are the high running costs and the exorbitant royalties. I'm sure they could reposition any other show to be considerably cheaper but there remains two major hurdles: 1) The performance space features incredibly high ceilings and a proscenium-free space - it is going to be very difficult to fill the performance area without aerial acrobatics; and 2) The ability to fill the venue for 8-10 shows per week - it is a vast theater.
Originally Posted By Roger55 Whata shame, but around as shocking as the Amy Winehouse news. Too bad OLC followed Disney's recommendation to invest so much into a turkey of an idea that clearly didn't fit TDR's sucessfull operating model.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Are you^^ really surprised about Winehouse's passing? not me. She was a total coke head/alcoholic mess. I was afraid she would die young and here we have it. >>>It was always a head-stratcher for me why Disney pushed OLC into taking CdS. The guest mix just doesn't warrant a 2,000 seater CdS theater. Most guests are either day-trippers or on short trips (3 nights or less) - they aren't going to give up a night of park entertainment for ZED no matter how good it is. F!, Dreamlights and the fireworks are presented nightly and free with park admission.<<< Actually there has been no fireworks shows at TDR since they reopened the parks after the earthquake/tsunami. But more troubling to me was the scheduling of ZED shows in the early afternoon hours on weekdays.. That did not make much financial sense to me. Personally, I would love to see this theater totally imploded. I hated it from day 1 and basically destroyed the views of the far more elegant Ambassador Hotel's art deco building facade. They already have the NK Hall behind TDL where they could bring shows and stuff on a temporary basis.. but that building sits there abandoned. Same will happen with the CdS theater. I wish OLC would stop listening to WDC and do their own thing, without trying to copy every little thing (good or not) the WDC puts in their other resorts.
Originally Posted By leemac <<How long do you suppose ZAIA will last?>> That disaster is running at a lower occupancy rate and lower ticket price than ZED but similar running costs. The difference is that Las Vegas Sands can afford to absorb the losses. The CdS business model is bust - I wonder if the Dubai show will ever see the light of day.
Originally Posted By leemac <<But more troubling to me was the scheduling of ZED shows in the early afternoon hours on weekdays.. That did not make much financial sense to me.>> The matinees actually performed better - they were targeted at retirees and school groups with big discounts and filled seats. It was the evening shows that couldn't fill the theater.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Personally, I would love to see this theater totally imploded. I hated it from day 1 and basically destroyed the views of the far more elegant Ambassador Hotel's art deco building facade.>> I'm way too close to the development of that theater - I love the architectural design - but it was never meant for the Ikspiari surface parking lot. It is a great modern structure - it is just too close to the Ambassador.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>All permanent CdS theatres are specifically designed for the resident show.<<< Until now, IRIS now in previews at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood was shoehorned into a traditional flat proscenium arch venue and it suffers greatly from it. Well, that and quite a few dull acts and barely a story to get the audience involved.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< IRIS now in previews at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood was shoehorned into a traditional flat proscenium arch venue and it suffers greatly from it. >>> I thought they did an outstanding job with IRIS. It left me definitely wanting to see it again. <<< and barely a story to get the audience involved. >>> Have you seen very may CdS productions? "Barely a story" pretty much describes all of them. Most have not much more than a very general theme. I'd say that KA is closest to having a story in the sense of something that develops as the show progresses. IRIS is more like a collection of short stores: the stories are related by overall theme, but are otherwise not connected. But the fact that there's obvious "story" at all is much more than you get from most CdS shows.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>Have you seen very may CdS productions?<<< Yes, nearly all of the North American tours and all but the new Elvis in Vegas when it comes to the permanent shows. And personally, they will have to go a long, long ways to top 'O'. Really glad you liked it. But this was marginally better than Drallion, which for me is their weakest show. And lets just say I was hoping for a lot more 'WOW' for the ticket price.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh man, I love Dralion. True, it does not have a major story, but I adore the themes.
