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Cirque du Soleil:
The Dominant Force in Las Vegas Spectacular -
K�
by Ellis Nassour
LAS VEGAS - The attitude toward tourism here in this desert oasis has changed. After an unsuccessful trial run, the movers and shakers along the Strip have changed direction. Entertainment has gone from being Disneyesque to that of yesteryear when the city was famed for being the center of unbridled excess.
But families still come, and there is no shortage of family-friendly entertainment. In addition to magic shows [some featuring white tigers], there's Celine Dion�s A New Day and Elton John�s Red Piano, Cirque du Soleil's spanking new The Beatles LOVE, their acquatic O and Myst�re. Add the first spectacular with a storyline, K�, the thrill-a-second show introduced last year in the 1,950-seat MGM Grand Theatre.
The first part of your adventure starts as soon as you enter the mammoth auditorium [where EFX played from '95-'04] , brilliantly transformed into an intergalatic space Fritz Lang would be envious of. As an intergalatic visitor to this often weird metropolis, you are surrounded by soaring catwalks as battles ensue and people and objects fly in. And we haven't even gotten to the high-tech feats the stage is capable of.
K�, which premiered in February '05, is created and directed by theater and film director Robert Lepage [Bluebeard's Castle, The Far Side of the Moon]. The title is inspired by the ancient Egyptian belief in the "ka," an invisible spiritual duplicate of the body that accompanies every human being throughout life and into the next.Okay, got that. Now add imperial birthed twins � a boy and a girl� embarking on a journey to fulfill their destinies but who, in an interesting plot twist, are separated.
The story line is explained as a sort of "coming of age story as the twins encounter the duality of life, love, conflict, separation and reunion.�
If you�re not keeping up, it doesn�t matter. It's easier to follow visually. And it�s K��s spectacle and technical feats that make it a must see.
There is a sort of proscenium, but beyond that no traditional stage exists. You sit facing a bottomless void filled with floating clouds. Above and all around, the performers make their entrances.
Amid eye-popping pyrotechnics, the 80+ performers do incredible martial arts and acrobatic feats in one blockbuster sequence after another on five stage lifts. Two of them are 25X50� and called the Sand Cliff deck and the Tatami deck. All have the capability of operating independently of the other.
Attached at the rear to a gantry crane, they can spectacularly go up, down, out toward the audience and back. In the jawdropping "Battle" sequence, the Sand Cliff deck flats-out in a downward spiral to a totally vertical position as the seemingly fearless artists float down into the action via cables and bungee cables. When done in by the enemy, they fall to their fate [detaching themselves from the cables] for amazing 50� falls into the mosh pit below � hopefully onto very large airbags. What a landing!
If that�s not dazzling enough, during the battle, the sand [which looks a lot like fake snow but turns out to be cork imported from Portugal] dissipates straight down. I wondered who had the [well-paying, I'm sure] job of cleaning that up. One essential backstage appliance is a giant vacuum cleaner.
Eric Heppell, the show�s French Canadian artistic coordinator, states that where Franco Dragone broke the mold of the early CduS shows with O and having performers do their thing above and in a tank holding 1.5 million gallons of water.
�K� goes even further," he explains, "by telling a story that, even though there�s no dialogue we can understand, has a narrative essence. Cirque shows have themes and story lines but they�re ethereal. K� is the first time we have a rigid story line from start to finish."
It all takes place, maybe/perhaps, in a galaxy far, far away. That definitely seems to be the idea, anyway. It moves along quite like an epic superspectacular movie on the lines of a Star Wars.
"But," observes Erik Walstad, the show's technical coordinator, "the big difference here is that nothing you see is computer-generated. The mechanics may be guided by hundreds of computers, but everything is real." And sometimes pops right off the stage.A film can show different perspectives of a scene. Even though K� is framed onstage, it offers many perspectives because of the stage's ability to configure in so many angles. Unlike in a two-dimensional film, you�re never looking at something on a flat surface. There�s this gigantic, black void and it morphs into many different playing surfaces.
Often the stage appears to be hanging in a void. Amazingly, thanks to that gantry crane, it can hang vertically and float upstage to downstage as if through thin air. The weight of the entire machinery [crane, arms, winches] is 300,000 lbs. The stages weigh 5,000 lbs. each.
"The physical capabilities and technical complexities of this theatre blows everyone right out of the water," states Heppell. No understatement there.
In CduS tradition, K� has no star. The technical feats, Mark Fisher's design, Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt's extraordinary costumes, Ren�Dup�r�'s vastly entertaining score, the fight choreography by Jacques Heim get the billing above the title.
Jonathan Deans is back as sound designer. He fills the K� Theatre with 524,150 total watts of amplifier power to pump the music and sound effects to nearly 5,000 speakers. Every seat has two speakers built into its headrest."K� audiences," states Walstad, "come expecting the WOW! Factor, and we don't disappoint them." He went on to say that many of the stunts in the show are dangerous. "But we have professional stunt persons doing them and we take all necessary precautions." They do, but often you can't see the safety wires, which adds to the edge-of-the-seat drama.
"Even after you�ve seen the show over and over again," Heppell proudly boasts, "it still grabs you. More than O, K� is the first to go beyond what world-wide audiences have come to expect from Cirque" and such memorable �s touring shows, such as Saltimbanco, Alegr�a, Dralion and Quidam.
�Those shows travel well in twenty-five to thirty containers on truck beds," he notes, "but when you want to mount a show that might require up to sixty containers, it gets too expensive to move about." But in Vegas, because budget and travel restrictions aren�t an issue CduS �can offer creative directors the opportunity to be as creative as they dream to be.�
In an apt aside, he says that the fact that CduS is still privately held, �is one reason we can afford to take risks creatively.� Add in the gaming conglomerate with money pouring in from gaming profits �and the fact that Cirque is now a vastly popular international brand.�
Heppell says that in Vegas has gone "above and beyond" in setting a new standard not only for spectacle but also entertainment.
Corteo, which recently had an extended run in New York, �with its many aerial entrances and displays [that require special heavy rigging] is very close to reaching the limits of how far you can go technically and production design-wise with a traveling show.�
Cirque�s new Vegas shows are even a huge distance from Myst�re, CduS's first to open on the Strip. �There is nothing in K� you can relate to our Cirque roots.�
[The score to K� has been released on CD. The show performs at 7:30 and 10:30 P.M., Tuesdays through Saturdays. Tickets are $99-$150. To purchase, go to the K� box office - if you're in Vegas, or call (800) 929-1111 or (702) 891-7777 or go to http://www.ka.com/ or http://www.mgmgrand.com]
Next: Cirque du Soliel's erotic cabaret Zumanity and O.
If you missed CduS's The Beatles LOVE, visit : BroadwayStars
[Photos: 1, 2 and 4: TOMAS MUSCIONICO/Cirque du Soleil; 3: ELLIS NASSOUR]
Published on BroadwayStars.com on Saturday, September 02, 2006
[Link to this Feature]
Ellis Nassour is an international media journalist, and author of Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline, which he has adapted into a musical for the stage. Visit www.patsyclinehta.com.
For a listing of all features written by Ellis, click here.
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2007-08
Broadway Season
June 28 - Old Acquaintance (AA)
July 10 - Xanadu (Hayes) [Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith/B. Swibel and Sarah Murchison/Dale Smith]
Aug 19 - Grease (Atkinson)
Oct 4 - Mauritius (Biltmore) [MTC]
Oct 11 - The Ritz (54)
Oct 18 - Pygmalion (AA)
Oct 25 - A Bronx Tale (Kerr)
Nov 1 - Cyrano de Bergerac (Rodgers)
Nov 4 - Rock 'N' Roll (Jacobs)
Nov 8 - Young Frankenstein (Hilton)
Nov 9 - Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (St. James)
Nov 10: Local One Strike Begins
Nov 28: Local One Strike Ends
Dec 2 - Cymbeline (Beaumont)
Dec 3 - The Farnsworth Invention (Music Box) [Dodger Properties with Steven Spielberg, Dan Cap Productions, Fred Zollo, Latitude Link and the Pelican Group]
Dec 4 - August: Osage County (Imperial) [Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Steppenwolf]
Dec 6 - The Seafarer (Booth)
Dec 9 - Is He Dead? (Lyceum)
Dec 16 - The Homecoming (Cort) [Richards, Frankel]
Jan 10 - The Little Mermaid (Lunt)
Jan 15 - The 39 Steps (AA)
Jan 17 - November (Barrymore)
Jan 24 - Come Back, Little Sheba (Biltmore)
Feb 21 - Sunday In The Park With George (54)
Feb 28 - Passing Strange (Belasco)
Mar 6 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadhurst) [Stephen C. Byrd]
Mar 9 - In The Heights (Rodgers)
Mar 27 - Gypsy (St. James)
Mar 29 - Macbeth (Lyceum)
Apr 3 - South Pacific (Beaumont)
Apr 17 - A Catered Affair (Kerr) [Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth, Harvey Entertainment / Ron Fierstein, Richie Jackson and Daryl Roth]
Apr 24 - Cry Baby (Marquis)
Apr 27 - The Country Girl (Jacobs)
Apr 30 - Thurgood (Booth)
May 1 - Les Liaisons Dangereuses (AA)
May 4 - Boeing-Boeing (Longacre)
May 7 - Top Girls (Biltmore)
TBA - Godspell
2008-09
Broadway Season
Oct 16 - Billy Elliot (Imperial)
Nov 08 - Dividing the Estate (a Shubert theater)
Dec 14 - Shrek: The Musical (Broadway) [DreamWorks]
Talked About
Not Scheduled Yet
TBA - 50 Words
TBA - Addams Family (Elephant Eye)
TBA - American Buffalo
TBA - An American Vaudeville [Farrell, Perloff]
TBA - The Beard of Avon [NYTW]
TBA - Being There [Permut]
TBA - Benny & Joon [MGM]
TBA - Billy Elliot
TBA - Brave New World [Rachunow]
TBA - Breath of Life [Fox]
TBA - Busker Alley [Margot Astrachan, Robert Blume, Kristine Lewis, Jamie Fox, Joanna Kerry & Heather Duke]
TBA - Broomhilda
TBA - Bye Bye Birdie [Niko]
TBA - Camille Claudel [Wildhorn]
TBA - Camelot
TBA - Carmen [Robin DeLevita and The Firm]
TBA - Catch Me If You Can
TBA - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Bob and Harvey Weinstein]
TBA - Cry Baby [Grazer, Gordon, McAllister, Epstein]
TBA - Designing Women [Alexis]
TBA - Don Juan DeMarco [New Line]
TBA - Dreamgirls [Creative Battery]
TBA - Duet
TBA - Equus
TBA - Ever After [Adam Epstein]
TBA - Fallen Angels (Shubert) [Kenwright]
TBA - Farragut North [Richards]
TBA - Father of the Bride
TBA - The Female Of The Species (TBA)
TBA - Fool For Love (AA) [Roundabout]
TBA - Girl Group Time Travelers
TBA - Golden Boy
TBA - Harmony [Guiles, Karslake, Smith, Fishman]
TBA - Hitchcock Blonde
TBA - The Importance Of Being Earnest
TBA - Jerry Springer: The Opera! [Thoday, McKeown]
TBA - Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train (Circle)
TBA - Josephine [Waissman]
TBA - Leap of Faith
TBA - A Little Princess [Ettinger, Dodger]
TBA - Midnight Cowboy [MGM]
TBA - The Minstrel Show - Kander and Ebb and Stroman
TBA - Moonstruck [Pittelman, Azenberg]
TBA - Mourning Becomes Electra [Haber, Boyett]
TBA - Monsoon Wedding
TBA - The Night of the Hunter
TBA - The Opposite of Sex [Namco]
TBA - Orphans
TBA - Pal Joey [Platt]
TBA - Paper Doll
TBA - The Paris Letter
TBA - The Philadelphia Story
TBA - Peter Pan
TBA - Porgy and Bess [Frankel, Viertel, Baruch, Routh, Panter, Tulchin/Bartner]
TBA - The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
TBA - The Princess Bride
TBA - Princesses [Lane, Comley]
TBA - Poe the Musical
TBA - Rain Man [MGM]
TBA - Robin Hood
TBA - Secondhand Lions
TBA - South Pacific
TBA - Speed-the-Plow
TBA - Stalag 17
TBA - Starry Messenger
TBA - Syncopation
TBA - A Tale Of Two Cities
TBA - Torch Song Trilogy
TBA - Turn of the Century
TBA - West Side Story
TBA - The Wall [Weinstein, Mottola, Waters]
TBA - Will Rogers Follies [Cossette]
TBA - The Wiz [Dodger]
TBA - Zanna [Dalgleish]
This list is compiled from various sources. If you have corrections to the Broadway Season, please contact us.
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