10 performances a week??

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:13pm

Ive seen alot of broadway shows and I think doing 8 shows a week is ALOT even for Broadway actors.When I heard cirque du soleil shows do 10 shows a week i thought to myself "HOLY COW".So my question is who/what dicates how many perfromances broadway can do?Is it equity? Ive seen cirque shows and they seem to be doing fine with 10 shows a week.Has it always been 8 shows a week?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:18pm

Actors are AEA and ciruqe performers are AGVA. Similar rules, different terms.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:20pm

I haven't seen every Cirque show, but the ones I have seen are basically variety shows, where despite a unifying visual theme and even a bit of plot, each performer basically does an "act" or two and then leaves the stage.

In that sense, they are more analogous to vaudeville's "two-a-day" than to a Broadway show and all the demands put on modern principals and "triple threat" ensembles.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:21pm

Also Cirque shows last only 90 minutes.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:27pm

And isn't the sound of Cirque shows on tape? The few I've seen were.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:29pm

Phantom in Vegas started out with 10 shows a week, but they had two Phantoms.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 8:44pm

You All make really good Points.The Music is 95% live.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 9:04pm

95% live in PHANTOM or the Cirque shows? There are so many of the latter, I don't pretend that I can keep up with them all.

As I said, the ones I have seen had very few vocals and what there was was obviously on tape.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 9:31pm

I know that when I saw Wintuk a couple of years back, you could see into where the band was playing. I am not sure, however, if all shows by cirque use live music or not.

Also, I am aware that the reason why there rules in place for number of performances is to not put too much strain on the actors. However, let's say that Cirque shows are double or even triple cast. Would that rule still apply? Could that be a reason for them being able to do as many shows a week as they do?

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 9:33pm

Sorry ill make it more clear, all the cirque shows have live music and voices.They hold auditions for professional musicians all over the world to come perform in there shows. What cirque shows did you see that had very little music?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 9:56pm

"Actors are AEA and ciruqe performers are AGVA. Similar rules, different terms."

Sadly most of the Cirque shows are not under a union contract, AGVA or otherwise. From Equity's website:

AEA, SAG-AFTRA, AGMA, and AGVA members are advised that there is NOT a union contract in place for these productions, except for BANANA SHPEEL, IRIS and ZARKANA. Members of Actors' Equity as well as other entertainment Unions may NOT accept employment in these productions without an appropriate union contract.
Equity Franchised Agents are reminded that it is a violation of the Agency Regulations to submit Equity members for non-union work.

ETA - Not ALL of the Cirque shows have live music. Obviously LOVE does not rely on live musicians or vocalists.



Updated On: 8/21/12 at 09:56 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 10:03pm

Nice to see some circus discussion up in here!

As a professional circus performer myself who has indeed worked with the mighty Cirque du Soleil, and has also dabbled in the musical theatre world, I can definitely shed some light on this subject.

For those of you wondering, there are NOT union contracts in place for any Cirque du Soleil productions, except for Banana Shpeel. Cirque du Soleil's shows have and will most likely always be non-union productions.

Secondly, because of the vast wealth that Cirque du Soleil possesses, the company has the ability to cast their artists separately. This means that you perform your discipline and leave the stage. You won't see a trapeze artist with Cirque also doubling as a dancer or a singer. You're hired to perform YOUR SKILL. In the theatre world, due to budgets, it's usual to find multiple members of the company performing in different tracks throughout the show.

Because most artists with Cirque are only on stage for less than 20-25 minutes per performance, this decreases the amount of energy spent per show, making it possible for 10 show weeks. In fact, it's not unusual to see Cirque shows operate on a 9-10 show week. To top the Vegas shows and La Nouba in WDW, Iris in Los Angeles isn't shy of 12 performance weeks, Monday-Sunday for multiple weeks during the holiday season.

Also, many circus performers who work with Cirque are built and have been trained to perform a minimum of 9 shows per week. In fact, many circus performers aren't faded by the thought of having to do 9-12 shows per week. Most have been performing with their families since childhood and have grown up being integrated into circus performances. It does get tiring, yes, but it's definitely not the end of the world. At one point, I worked a 90 minute show with no intermission, 3 times a day, six days a week, for months! And we don't even have swings!

Lastly, for those of you wondering, all Cirque shows utilize a minimum of 6 musicians and 2 singers per show. Shows without singing in it (Iris) bump the number of musicians up to 8.

Hope that helps all you happy people!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 10:05pm

What cirque shows did you see that had very little music?

I don't remember; it's been more than a few years. (As you can tell, I'm not really a fan of the form.)

I'll happily take your word that the music for today's shows is performed live.

Have you seen a Cirque show where one performer sang as much as someone playing Evita or Christine (POTO) or even Madame Rose? Because when it comes to number of performances, we're mostly talking about strain on the human voice. Clarinets don't wear out so easily and can always be replaced.

(ETA Starship and I were posting at the same time. S/he answers my questions in the post above.) Updated On: 8/22/12 at 10:05 PM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 10:36pm

Thats really awesome insight starship,Thankyou!May I ask what cirque shows you have been in? just curious.

GavestonPs: When i saw la Nouba in disney world there were 2 singers and the singers sang through out the whole show.That must be difficult if it's 10 shows a week.I have the La nouba CD and alot of it is belting and mix.Ive also seen Varekai where the singers sing through out 80% of the show.But truthfully I really dont know how it compares to actresses who sing evita and Christine.Maybe Starship Can answer that question?

[Starship]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:00pm

In response to your statement GavestonPs, I do have to say that Cirque vocalists don't just give an occasional "oooh" or ahhh during performances. As broadway guy said, it's usually 80-90% of the show that you'll find a vocalist performing in. And I wouldn't call the score for many Cirque shows exactly simple, either. Thing Sondheim on drugs,

[winston89]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:10pm

I have been under the impression (though could be wrong) that there are multiple people cast for the "leads" or singing roles in a Cirque show. If that's the case then that would easily allow for a ten show week.

[Insider2]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:23pm

To the person who said "Also Cirque shows last only 90 minutes", that is not true. Some are full lengths with intermissions, so stop yapping if you don't know what the hell you are talking about.

Secondly, if the theory is that if a show is 90 minutes and that 10 performances should be okay, I would simply say that these days, 90 minutes seems to be very, very common. Should every 90 minute show be subject to 10 show weeks with no additonal compensation for the performers, crew, etc?

[Starship]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:33pm

To @winston89 - That is true in some cases, and false in others. In Quidam, this is true and it's the case for several other shows, but not all.

To @Inside2 - Actually, you're the one who is yapping when you don't know what you're talking about. The user never implied that Cirque shows last 90 minutes WITHOUT an intermission. He/she simply stated that Cirque shows run at 90 minutes, which is true. In fact, Cirque shows ALL run at 90 minutes. Las Vegas and resident productions clock in at 90 minutes without an intermission, whereas Grand Chapiteau productions clock in at 90 minutes with a 30 minute intermission. So... "stop yapping if you don't know what the hell you are talking about".

And no, all 90 minutes shouldn't be subject to 10 show weeks as every show has different demands. For a show like Wicked, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Newsies, or Spider-Man, a 10 show week would be extraordinarily different on both the lead and ensemble cast. People would be swinging out left and right. However, for Cirque and circus shows, a 10-12 week is fine.

[Insider2]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:39pm

You are wrong. There are Cirque shows longer than 90 minutes. Did you see Banana Schpeel, or whatever that thing was called. In early previews, longer than 90 minutes. There are also others.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:42pm

Some of my favorite Cirque charatcers are onstage for most of the show.For Example:The les cons are on stage most of the time.Characters like "the red bird" in MYSTERE is seen through out the whole show and he does SOO many things in that show he has to be exhausted at the end of each show!Circus performers are triple threats but just in a different way.IMHO

[Starship]

Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:43pm

Yes, Banana SPHEEL. Can it even really be considered a Cirque show, though? What was there, only two traditional circus acts? The rest was agonizing diarrhea jokes and tap dancing. Even though I didn't like it, I DO give those dancers credit. They definitely had some nifty footwork going on.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 1:06am

Starship and others, thank you for the detailed info on how Cirque shows work.

[kipster]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 1:18am

May I also add that sometimes the more physically strenuous acts (specifically solo/duo aerial ones) either have alternate performers that go one (just like in theater) or are not performed every show- instead there is sometimes an act that is not in the daily lineup, but is regularly scheduled to go on to take the place of other acts in a day's performance.

[Urban]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 8:41am

Easy answer - it is clear all those French Canadians just sold their souls to Satan.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 10:38am

Zarkana runs 100 mins with a 20 minute intermisson.

Updated On: 8/22/12 at 10:38 AM