Cirque du Soleil on Broadway?- Page 2

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:22pm

FYI, only Cirque's touring shows launch in Montreal. Iris was developed to be an L.A. based resident show from the very beginning.

Don't know if the Tokyo show was any good. Never heard one way or the other. But I gotta believe, if they thought they could make a buck, they would have stuck it out as they knew Tokyo would recover and they typically view these things with a long term perspective. I don't typically take at face value what producers of any show give as the reason. They have no incentive to be completely honest.





Updated On: 6/28/13 at 07:22 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:24pm

Wassn't their show "Banana Shpeel" supposed to come to Broadway? It played Chicago, and got disastrous reviews.

[Starship]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:25pm

What was the theme, @justincharacter?! Wasn't it supposed to be a touring arena show based off of the world of sports?

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:40pm

@Fisherman I know about Montreal, haha! I think it closed because it was supposedly in the middle of nowhere in the Disney Resort. They said that if you went to the Disney resort, you wouldn't even know it existed. Not really sure how true that is.

@Jon Well it ran at a MSG theater, and it failed too because of the horrible reviews.

@Starship That's what I heard too haha Updated On: 6/28/13 at 07:40 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:42pm

My sister had an interesting theory on Cirque which she shared with me aftr I'd seen my first cirque show in vegas. I was so taken with it, I told her I couldn't wait to see another show. "Don't!" she said, "It won't be as good, EVERYONE I know was disappointed in the second Cirque show they saw."

About a year later, I finally got around to seeing another one. She was right. I was incredibly bored. I've had no desire to see a third.

Now, obviously, this won't hold for everyone, but maybe we've just gotten "ciqued out". The last show to play RCMH, was constantly discounting seats.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:43pm

"Wassn't their show "Banana Shpeel" supposed to come to Broadway? It played Chicago, and got disastrous reviews."

I don't think they were ever eyeing a Broadway theater for the show, at least publicly. They opened, after many delays and huge revisions after the initial run in Chicago, at the Beacon back in 2010, where it was ripped apart by audiences and critics just as badly as it was in Chicago. They ended up closing at the Beacon about two months earlier than originally planned. It re-opened later that year in Toronto, announcing that as the first stop on a tour, but ended up closing it there and canceling the other announced cities (I think at that time only San Francisco and L.A. had been announced officially).

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:51pm

@dramamama Zarkana wasn't good, everyone found the story very confusing. I thought about being Cirque'd out too, but then I saw IRIS, and it brought a different game. I guess it's because it's more theatrical with an actual story, "scenes", and dances, not just acrobatics.

@AEA The other city was Costa Mesa



Updated On: 6/28/13 at 07:51 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 8:05pm

@dramamama611 - I definitely feel this way too. I believe this is mostly because Cirque doesn't really switch up their shows much - lately it's become a "you've seen one you've seen 'em all" kind of thing. The only thing they truly change is the theme and sometimes they'll give us some interesting technology (which isn't REALLY supposed to be the highlight of the show (!?))

@justincharacter - Now I hear it's a Big Top show and the theme is unannounced...it appears the extreme sports concept was put back on the shelves. Also, very true about their Florida venue. It's not really advertised by Disney World, PLUS the actual show building is very generic and doesn't scream "Cirque" or really anything entertainment related so it doesn't really attract people.

And I agree, Zarkana was just plain obnoxious. I felt the show was all over the place and there never really was a consistent theme. If the show was translated into text, I think it would just be nonsensical gibberish. Plus, without the program's description of the show, there would be no way anybody could follow the storyline. I feel like Cirque sometimes gets lost in their own little world that they forget everybody in the audience isn't picking up or following the story. The only Cirque shows with plots I was able to understand during the performance were Corteo, Iris, and oVo. Updated On: 6/28/13 at 08:05 PM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 8:19pm

@Starship Thank you! Amaluna (which was directed by Diane Paulus), I could also understand what was happening. Corteo would be interesting on Broadway, but it's WAY too long, the set would have to be designed again, and they would have to cut a good amount of acts.

[Starship]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:03pm

@justincharacter - YES! I forgot about Amaluna! I SUPPOSE Totem's "evolution" theme could also be followed when they used that theme (which was only a few times in the show). And, Corteo is really meant for the Big Top. The only Cirque shows I could see working/being popular on Broadway are "Iris" and "Zed".

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:24pm

ZED would be interesting as well. But it has way more acrobatics than story in the show, which is why I think IRIS would be the only one that could actually work on Broadway. Danny Elfman's music is incredible



Updated On: 6/28/13 at 09:24 PM

[Billypr]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 4:45am

This might explain why it won't happen http://americantheatrewing.org/wit/detail/producing_commercial_theatre_12_05
59:57 onwards

[latitudex1]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 5:44am

^ They talk about the costs of mounting a production, union costs, and union rules at that point. Elizabeth Ireland McCann has an anecdote about how "the guy who created Cirque du Soleil" [I assume she's referring to Guy Laliberté] said that he wouldn't create a show for Broadway because of the way the union interferes with the rehearsal process.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 1:59pm

That's very interesting. I read something that mentioned the union in a article about IRIS, but don't recall what exactly it said. Their new show, Michael Jackson ONE, is blowing up with rave reviews. Reviewers and audience members have stated that it is the best Cirque show that was ever created. I can see that running at Radio City Music Hall. It would obviously be more successful than Zarkana.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQIYgu6TB7A I like how there is above head interaction

The way the theater is set up is amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgRMAjBhuk

I love how they have photographers or the "media" roaming around the theater that takes many pictures of you, flashing in your eyes, symbolizing what Michael went through his whole life. Then they take the pictures and put them on the screens, publishing rumors about the person, like how rumors were always created around Michael.


Updated On: 7/2/13 at 01:59 PM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:20pm

I don't really understand why cirque needs 2 Jackson shows. I saw the immortal tour show and many of the acts from that one seem to have popped up in the new show. This new one looks more focused but I wish Cirque would go back to their roots and stop basing shows off celebrities. Some of the celebrity based ones are great like LOVE but others like Viva Elvis was a miss.



Updated On: 7/2/13 at 02:20 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:24pm

Aren't ALL shows hit or miss?

[broadway guy]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:25pm

edited.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:26pm

Both shows are totally different. ONE is a success already and it just opened, and Immortal has got REALLY bad since it's opening years ago. Many people get them both mixed up, thinking that they are the same show which they are definitely (thanks Dramamama!) not! According to reviewers, ONE is way out of Immortal's league...



And what "many acts" as you described, are in ONE? Please tell me...except for the pole which is curvy in this show. Updated On: 7/2/13 at 02:26 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:30pm

As Starship said, Iris cost $100 million dollars and Cirque lost a lot of money on it. It is unlikely they will remount it again. Even the biggest Broadway shows don't spend that much on their productions.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:33pm

My sister had an interesting theory on Cirque which she shared with me aftr I'd seen my first cirque show in vegas. I was so taken with it, I told her I couldn't wait to see another show. "Don't!" she said, "It won't be as good, EVERYONE I know was disappointed in the second Cirque show they saw."

About a year later, I finally got around to seeing another one. She was right. I was incredibly bored. I've had no desire to see a third.

This is a really good point. :)

My family and I used to see every Cirque show that would come to San Francisco, starting with their first, Saltimbanco. I really didn't like the second that came (Alegría), but Quidam won us back. I also enjoyed Dralion and Varekai. Corteo was okay. However, I hated Kooza and swore off Cirque after that.

Then... I saw Love in Vegas and it was wonderful. Maybe it helped to have stayed away for a few years!

[broadway guy]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:40pm

I enjoyed IMMORTAL for the most part i guess. It seemed to have captured the heart of jackson but it doesn't come close to the quality of shows like La Nouba, Mystere and a few others. Plus, the way the stage is set up for IMMORTAL is just poorly done.

"And what "many acts" as you described, are in ONE? Please tell me...except for the pole which is curvy in this show."

-The Acro act is set up the same way as IMMORTAL and most of the tricks and style are the same. The spanish web is similar to IMMORTAL.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 2:47pm

"The Acro act is set up the same way as IMMORTAL and most of the tricks and style are the same. The spanish web is similar to IMMORTAL."

What acro act are you referring to? Tricks and style of what? The dancing? The Spanish Web is different than Aerial Straps which was performed by two people.

[broadway guy]

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

The tumbling act. The "tricking" style is the same as the IMMORTAL show and the tricks (aka the flips they do) look the same: Arabians, full halfs, double fulls, side summies etc etc etc...

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 3:00pm

Oh, I get what your saying. Just that one act seems very similar, but overall this show is way more theatrical than Immortal. But comparing it to Immortal is just like "Huh?".

More depth of the scenes and acts at 0:39 and 1:38: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyVZrPzFPVY Updated On: 7/2/13 at 03:00 PM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 3:03pm

Have you seen the show? Would you say its better than KA,O and Mystere? I would love to hear a full review of your thoughts on it if you have seen the show.