Cirque du Soleil on Broadway?- Page 14

[roadmixer]

Posted: 1/15/14 at 11:05pm

http://www.stage-directions.com/5740-cirque-du-soleil-creates-new-theatrical-division.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1&utm_campaign=topstory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1&utm_campaign=topstory

[justincharacter]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 12:00am

@Benjamin I agree. But I do think they could play nearly anywhere with enough space like The Palace or as suggested earlier, The Foxwoods. They didn't gut out Radio City, nor the Dolby in Los Angeles and they are both very historic places. I feel as if it's very likely that Diane Paulus will be directing one of these productions. She first directed a show with them a few years ago, and she has various works in the actual Broadway field.

I remember the CEO saying that they were seeking a new home for the show IRIS in the future (this was right after it closed, some years ago). I wonder if maybe that could be a possibility now in New York, but they would have to alter some material from the story and the show itself. It has the potential, but it wouldn't surprise me if Zeiger wanted to start from scratch.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 3:39am

The Dolby is not historic. It was opened in 2001.

I'm really glad this thread was bumped. This topic clearly was not adequately beaten to death over the summer.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 8:34am

I have not read the entire 14 pages of this thread.

Has anyone mentioned "Banana Shpiel"? It was a Cirque de Soleil show that played in Chicago a couple of years ago and was supposedly headed for Broadway... until it got horrendous reviews. Apparently, it was nearly two hours of low slapstick burlesque, mainly consisting of clowns being hit in the crotch with various objects.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 9:15am

I agree - this thread is beaten to death.

I attended the closing night of Iris. It was far from an amazing Cirque show when you compare it to the arsenal of shows they have created. It was enjoyable and even a CD I listen to on occasion but it is not worth reviving.

If you want to talk about success of Cirque within Las Vegas...people bashed the over the top expenses of Spiderman. The "wow" factor of Cirque in Las Vegas is attributed to the over the top expense of the sets in particular: "O" - the entire 'stage' being a pool, "Ka" with the 'flosting' stage (great documentary is out there about it), "Love" amazing unique theater and stage, etc

Audiences come to NYC for Broadway. At the moment they are not coming to NYC for Cirque which is really synonymous with Las Vegas extravagance.

Think about the touring productions that come through New York City (too) frequently. As a traveling tent show the acts are really becoming repetitive to the point that people are getting tired of them. Do I go every year to see the new show? Yes but I doubt everyone else feels that way. I took my parents last year and I am still trying to erase the memory of the expense since it was in the parking lot of the base ball stadium in Queens!

Ok - so you want to talk about a sit down show right in NYC. They have recently tried that more than once: "Banana Shpeel", "Zarkana" and "Wintuk". I saw all three of those and they were far from "OMG you have to go see this Cirque show" talk to my friends.

Leave Cirque in Las Vegas and continue the touring tent shows in NYC (maybe less often though).

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 11:40am

If this subject is too much for you to discuss, then keep moving. Thanks.

As for Cirque, many here are comparing their touring shows to their permanent shows and that's wholly unfair considering the limitations of a tent. I've seen all of their permanent shows, both in the States and otherwise. Cirque's operating budgets are like nothing Broadway has ever seen (or ever will see). KA alone cost over $350 million to open. It's a marvel of tech creativity. And yes, due to Las Vegas, they make more than their fair share of profit from these shows... It's more than possible and they've found an operating model that has made them a very wealthy company.

Cirque on Broadway: It'll happen, but will only be truly successful if they have their run of the space to gut it and put in a true show as they do in Vegas.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 1:10pm

@Brian I was referring to the original version of the show before it was cut down to 90 minutes (which you saw). I heard from people who saw both versions that the "original" version was far superior than the cut version. I do have to agree with your opinion on the history of sit-down flops though. I am just wondering how this could work out this time around. They tried a opera-like show that opened to mixed to negative reviews and the other two shows didn't do well. Will they be reaching out for Broadway composers, book writers, and actors for these? They would be smart if they did, but I just want to see how this progresses.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 1:19pm

Will be interesting to see if they watch closely the success of Queen of the Night. Years ago, 1997, I also attended Pomp, Duck and Circumstance. This was a Cirque dinner/show in a tent. Could that possibly be a new direction for them? Have yet to attend Queen of the Night but there needs to be some change to the annual tour. A tent show wouldn't qualify though as a Broadway production if you were interested in it being Tony eligible. Very possible too that they have saturated their own market and need to slow down on new productions which are merely rehashes of what they have already done to new music with new costumes.

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 6:10pm

I am 99.9% certain that Cirque will never involve food inside of their performance space. Guy (Cirque's CEO) was asked about it once in Vegas and he was adamantly against it, for any company.

Queen of the Night is a lovely concept, but it's still nowhere near the complexity of what Cirque is doing in Vegas, Orlando and Macau. As I said before, it's really all about them finding the right space to pull off a full show, not just the temporary or tent shows NYC is used to seeing from them.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/16/14 at 6:12pm

Saw the Elvis Cirque in Vegas a few years ago and it would be great if it could find a theater to play at.h

[TazTarney]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 2:26pm

Anyone else hoping La Nouba becomes a touring show when it closes?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 2:34pm

I was a bit disappointed with La Nouba. I'm sure it might make money if it toured internationally, but I doubt there is a huge domestic demand to see it from those who are Cirque fans and didn't make it to WDW in the last 16 years.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 2:36pm

Who said it is closing?

[TazTarney]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 2:54pm

It's no secret La Nouba has slowed down. Give it some new life on tour and let it make a fresh entrance in Montreal.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 3:56pm

Cirque prides itself on its creativity and giving people something fresh and new, something they've never seen before. They're not going to take a show that's almost 16 years old and launch it on a standard arena tour. If they do anything with it besides retiring it, they might send it out for a year on their "B" circuit where it plays one week at a time in smaller arenas and smaller cities that they might not send a new touring show to for a couple of months. That might be possible but my guess would be they just retire it. The acts are 16 years old and they've been redone in slightly different forms in the 10-12 new shows they've launched since 1998.

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 5:18pm

La Nouba is not closing. They just renewed many performers contracts for 5+ years.

Their lease with Disney is for another 5 years minimum. The theater is going to have the outside redone as Disney rebrands Downtown Disney into Disney Springs Marketplace. Cirque is going nowhere. They have a 50/50 split with Disney as the contract stands now. Even with the discounts out there, the theatre is averaging more than 90% capacity nightly.

And Cirque does not take ANY of their permanent show concepts and tour them on the road: They never have. It's either created to tour (which La Nouba was not) or created to be a permanent, custom-theatre show.



Updated On: 6/17/14 at 05:18 PM

[TazTarney]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 6:00pm

That's great to hear about the 5 year lease, but I don't believe I ever said La Nouba was closing. I was just saying that I hope La Nouba goes on tour when it eventually does close.

Updated On: 6/17/14 at 06:00 PM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 8:28pm

How do you come by your knowledge BenjaminNicholas? I find it a little hard to believe they are renewing performer contracts for terms in excess of 5 years.

[Starship]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 10:03pm

Cirque's contracts usually last between 2-3 years. I'm not exactly sure who is providing you with your sources, Benjamin.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 10:27pm

What's the name of the documentary? Can't seem to find it on Netflixs.

[TazTarney]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 12:00pm

"It's either created to tour (which La Nouba was not) or created to be a permanent, custom-theatre show."

Zarkana was a touring show before being converted to a permanent show. It has also been reported that Cirque is looking into the possibility of taking IRIS to other cities in the US.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 12:00 PM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 1:49pm

"Zarkana was a touring show before being converted to a permanent show. It has also been reported that Cirque is looking into the possibility of taking IRIS to other cities in the US."

Zarkana may have been called a touring show but it was never treated as one. It played longer than average periods at a few locations in fixed buildings but was never set up to truly tour for years as a tent show like their normal touring shows that start in Montreal. As far as Iris is concerned, they made that comment when it closed in L.A. Lots of shows that fail talk about touring when they close. It's kind of a defense mechanism to show the people who didn't come out to see it that others would love it and they were wrong in their opinion. Believe me, you will never see Iris playing again.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 01:49 PM

[Starship]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 2:15pm

I do agree, La Nouba most likely won't tour. As of now, it's played over 7,500+ performances over 16 years. Cirque I'm sure is more than satisifed with its run. As for Zarkana, I completely agree with Fisherman. Although it was billed as a "touring show," it was never going to be something that would really tour. I feel as if they thought it would be an annual Radio City production that would run during summer/fall, and then overseas for a second run. However, it was really built for sitdown productions in venues such as Radio City and Vegas theaters.

As for Iris, unfortunately, I highly doubt it would ever tour. It was a beautiful production and I am glad at least 8 of the cast members have found their way into Cirque's newest creation, Kurios. I'm not Cirque, and I don't know what's best for them, however, I do think looking into a US theater tour would be interesting as I feel the show (if re-worked some and drastically scaled down) could appeal to many theater goers. Updated On: 6/21/14 at 02:15 PM

[TazTarney]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 10:15am

"I do think looking into a US theater tour would be interesting as I feel the show (if re-worked some and drastically scaled down) could appeal to many theater goers."

I just find it odd that they really thought it would work in LA considering they had the task of filling that huge theatre every night. Most people these days aren't willing to pay $130.00 a ticket for a cirque show. It was just a poor market study.

Edit: I guess people are willing to pay $130.00 a ticket because that's the starting price for "O" and that is still selling out every night.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 10:15 AM

[Starship]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 12:04pm

Here's the thing though, "O" is in Vegas, an entertainment capital where $130 isn't considered expensive. "Iris" was supposed be a tourist attraction of sorts. Cirque wanted it to be something tourists would walk by and spontaneously decide to attend. But it was silly thinking that tourists would pay $130 for a mezzanine ticket and a fill a 3,000 seat theater 8-10 times per week.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 12:04 PM