Originally Posted By Rsey103 Cirque will be rolling out a new touring show in April 09. I read that the design/theme will be inspired by insects and that the show will be directed by a woman from Brazil. Do you think it will be something special considering the company will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with this, its 25th show? Alegria is to begin touring arenas like Saltimbanco did. I'll go for that. I'm in the mood for another live Cirque performance...
Originally Posted By kennect Alegria will become an arena show? Tell me more...It is by far my favorite Cirque touring show...
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Alegria has dates to perform in Asia and the Middle East, so the arena tour is still a bit into the future. Re Alegria on the CdS official website: "Alegría is a mood, a state of mind. The themes of the show, whose name means "jubilation" in Spanish, are many. Power and the handing down of power over time, the evolution from ancient monarchies to modern democracies, old age, youth—it is against this backdrop that the characters of Alegría play out their lives. Kings' fools, minstrels, beggars, old aristocrats and children make up its universe, along with the clowns, who alone are able to resist the passing of time and the social transformations that accompany it." You got all of that from watching the show, right? This is why I like cirque so much....
Originally Posted By kennect Have you ever seen the insects from Ka? Not sure I know what I am talking about since I haven't seen the show...But on the DVD about the show there are so incredible insects that you get a brief look at....
Originally Posted By Rsey103 >>Have you ever seen the insects from Ka? ....on the DVD about the show there are incredible insects that you get a brief look at....<< No, and I didn't know there was a DVD for Ka. _________ I would like to see Franco Dragone collaborate with Cirque again. But according to wikipedia, Dragone will have his own touring show Spring, 2009.
Originally Posted By kennect Ka Extreme is the name of the DVD...It is an inside look at the creation of the show with plenty of finished acts/clips thrown in...A fun thing to see for anyone that is a Cirque fan...After watching it I would say the cast truly earns the money they are paid....
Originally Posted By Route66 Can't wait to hear more about the new show! I love Brazil so I bet i'm gonna love it. I have seen Ka and the insects.. The whole show was mind blowing. It was not a normal Cirque show, but a play deconstructed and redone Cirque style. Very emotional experience and the Bugs and beach creatures were there to kind of lighten the mood a little bit as the story is very magical but these people are really trying to escape somebody who's very bad.
Originally Posted By kennect Well Kooza opens here on the second of Jan....After seeing a clip of the "wheel of death" I have decided this show is a must see...It seems the overall acts are much more like the acts in "Quidam"...I passed on "Corteo" when it came through after having seen the DVD of the show...I might have made a mistake not catching it live but it just didn't grab me seeing the DVD...Kooza looks much more interesting to me...I still go on the theory that Cirque has spread itself so thin it is no longer special....Their production qualities are top notch but so much seems like a repeat of something you have seen them do before....
Originally Posted By kennect Well, I did break down and buy Kooza tickets considering they have extended the show here three times since it was announced...Great seats that I couldn't pass on...Direct front view of the staging area but just an aisle over from the top tickets...On the main aisle that runs between the overall audience area...If that made sense...I guess I should say "front row, back section"...Have sat in these same seats before and they are great...You just have to make sure you don't stretch out to far since you might trip a performer if they run through that major aisle... But there is something else...Since I bought those tickets I decided I needed a job so I went an applied to work for Cirque while they are here...Strange experience that hopefully will happen...If it does it should be a lot of fun and also be a good thing for me since things are down the drain this season as far as my work goes...Weirder part is the fact that Cirque is going to be in Atlanta for basically two full months...
Originally Posted By Rsey103 kennect is running away to join the circus! No, even better....he's letting the circus come to him! I think that's a great idea. Two months sure is a long run for Atlanta, isn't it? I think Cirque has always been popular in Atlanta.... I'll have to look at Kooza's schedule to see if they're coming near me....
Originally Posted By leemac Ka is definitely my favorite of the recent CdS productions. It is the most technically advanced show I have ever seen (the entire theater and set cost around $250m) and it is the only show that truly has an emotional story at its core. People rave about O but it has a very sterile construct IMO. It is a technical marvel but nothing else. Ka is on a whole different level. The score is also the finest of any CdS show (especially Storm and Pursuit). The problem I have with CdS these days is the prolific nature of the shows - there are just too many and even more on the way. The Criss Angel show is appalling and we have the Elvis show at CityCenter coming next year. The show in Macau is average but the TDR show (Zed) is better. Corteo was a terrible touring show - and they keep trying to tweak it. There is still a lot to love about CdS - Love, O and Ka are phenomenal shows. The problem is that the consistency has gone and when you are charging north of $100 per ticket you need to get that consistency of product back otherwise the whole brand is diluted. The other problem for me is that the resident shows are so much more advanced that the touring productions - Quidam, Saltimbanco, Allegria etc. are all fine shows but they can't hold a candle to a spectacle like Love (still the most visually stunning theater experience I have ever seen bar none). I just wish they would start to reign it back in and make CdS shows an event to behold again. They continue to churn out these productions which are of highly variable quality.
Originally Posted By kennect Lee, I get the idea that Cirque has stepped beyond the ability to go back as you wish...I agree with you...The shows aren't the events they use to be...As far as Corteo goes, I thought the twist on the staging was very unique but the show and its acts very middle of the road...Kooza sounds to me as if they have gone somewhat back to their roots with major acts of skill, etc...Quidam for me is the one show I think back on as having truly unique acts...Alegria is my almost all time favorite based on its simple beauty and music...Plus it seemed to be the transition for Cirque from what it was with the touring shows and what the touring shows have become...Dralion is still a major favorite here since I saw it with its original cast...It is pretty amazing what they can do in a tent but you are right, it is no where close to what they can do on a fixed stage...Ka is still on my list of their shows to see...While O would have been spellbinding when it opened I want to think that things have changed since then... Two months here for Cirque really isn't out of the ordinary...In fact when I was applying for the job the other day they said that apparently the show had been extended a few more days running into March...My chances of getting the job though are looking rather slim at the moment...You have to have two forms of gov. ID to register with the group that is handling the local hiring...And wouldn't you know it...In this tiny house I live I am so unorganized I can't come up with the second ID that I know is here in the house...It's here but I can't locate it...If I can't come up with it today the whole thing is off...If I don't make this happen it will be rather sad...At this time I really need the work and a two month gig is perfect for what I do need at the moment...Downside to the job is the idea they are here when it is so cold...Standing outside hawking programs doesn't sound like something I would like even if you do get wear their nifty little coat that says Cirque on it!
Originally Posted By Rsey103 On a scale of 1 to 10 where would you place the departure of Franco Dragone as it relates to the quality of Cirque today?
Originally Posted By kennect I think Dragone being gone is a major factor but even at that who knows...If he were still around would Cirque have still expanded to the point where they are today? What was the last touring show he was involved in?
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Franco Dragone directed nearly all of Cirque's shows from 1985-1998. Thirteen years. I think he was huge for them. Huge. Is it too much to say that Dragone was to Cirque what Walt was to Disneyland??
Originally Posted By leemac <<Is it too much to say that Dragone was to Cirque what Walt was to Disneyland??>> Personally I think that is overselling Dragone - Guy Laliberte is the real guiding force (and founder) of CdS. I find his stuff is still too abstract for my liking - Saltimbanco, Quidam and Alegria are good touring show but tend to rely on the same imagery. I don't see anything particularly unique in any of them. O was his real breakthrough but it still took the same concepts and just transferred them to that phenomenal leading star of the show - the adjustable diving pool. I still think the future of CdS lies in their ability to pair their creativity with storytelling. Robert LaPage did it amazingly well for Ka, Dominic Champagne for LOVE and Francois Girard for OLC's Zed. I'd also forgotten to mention the real stinker: Zumanity. What MGM Mirage and CdS were thinking about that one is any one's guess. Dragone is an odd fellow. I worked with him on the Walt Disney Studios Park parade (Cinema Parade) earlier this decade and he was a very solitary figure. He didn't take criticism well and I don't think he ever completely understood the fact that it was a Disney parade. It was all about his vision which might be fine for shows where he is the headline like A Brand New Day and La Reve but not for a Disney parade.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Interesting... I knew of Laliberte as the founder of the company but thought of him more as a producer type who stood back and allowed others to create the shows. On my La Nouba DVD, for example, Laliberte is credited as "Guide." Dragone is credited as "Writer and Director."
Originally Posted By kennect OK...Finally got all of the appropriate info together and have an interview with the Cirque people on Tuesday.... What is weird is the fact that the agency they are using here says the show is going to run through the second of March even though Cirque hasn't announced any additional dates...But if you look at their calendar it does make sense that they could add on another five days or so here....While it would be fun to do, since it would be more like play than work to me, there are some really strange things about it...The way they have the shifts set up simply makes no sense to me but it must to them since they are doing them the way they are...They want you there like three hours before show time...And days when there are two shows it is a more than eight hours which again makes no sense to me....It will be interesting to see how this works out...Should I get it I am going to have to invest heavily into black clothing since that is the dress code...Oh how I hate black socks!
