Behind the scenes at Cirque du Soleil
By Patricia Baldwin
“The creators have it easy: once the show is up and running, it’s in the artists’ hands.” — Guy Laliberté, founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, excerpted from Cirque du Soleil: 20 Years Under the Sun
Jimmie Cervera can only hear the audience laugh at his character in KÀ, one of five Cirque du Soleil resident shows in Las Vegas. After all, the puppeteer is ensconced in 60 pounds of turtle costume and is crawling on his stomach through 350 cubic feet of granular, Portuguese cork cast as sand for the beach scene.
“I love portraying creatures,” Cervera says in an interview during a behind-the-scenes tour of the KÀ theater in the MGM Grand. “I find myself morphing — it’s me as a turtle.”
Turning artists into athletes and athletes into artists is the human side of Canadian-based Cirque du Soleil and what distinguishes this “circus” troupe of entertainers from others under the proverbial sun. In his two years with KÀ, Cervera says he has learned a lot, but the dancer-turned-actor wants to improve. That’s why he recently signed a new contract to continue with the show. Besides, he notes, “I’m still having fun.”
Cervera is impressed with the credits associated with KÀ. The puppets were developed by production designer Michael Curry of Lion King fame. The show’s theater and set, which encompass nine stories of entry and exit points, was designed by Mark Fisher, who was responsible for the mammoth stages used by the Rolling Stones on their tours in the 1990s. The show represents a $185 million investment by Cirque du Soleil, and its curtain opened in February 2005 to an initial 10-year run.
And Cervera loves the camaraderie of the ensemble cast. “I’ve traveled the world. Here, the world travels to me,” he says of the 18 countries represented by the 83 KÀ performers.
But most of all, this 33-year-old, who started his career as a street dancer at age 8 on the Promenade at Pacific Beach in San Diego, stays around because KÀ is different from anything the 23-year-old Cirque company has done. This show has a storyline while the other shows have themes.
The official program explains: “This is the story of the coming of age of a young man and a young woman, and their encounters with love, conflict, and the duality of KÀ — the fire that has the power to unite or separate and the energy to destroy or illuminate.” The plot follows the adventures of these “Imperial Twins” through different worlds and experiences as they attempt to reunite. Creator and director Robert Lepage once described the show as a “theatrical-cinematographic experience.”
It’s like a play, but it’s an epic without words. Well, actually, there are words — lots of them, but they are ad-libbed in “Cirquish,” a universal gibberish understood by none and understood by all, whether in Peoria, Peking, or Paris.
Technical director Erik Walstad likens KÀ to an opera. He says that making the circus more theatrical was a key goal with the development of the music and language. His biggest challenge: The fact there is no traditional stage floor; the floor moves. Three different types of automation systems control the stage and there are five individual stage lifts. At the heart of the show is a 30-foot square Tatami deck that is maneuvered throughout the production.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” Walstad says. “We have 210 technicians — 100 run the actual performance. So there are more technicians maintaining the room than running the show.”
Walstad explains, “Cirque is all about finding ways to do new things, trying to innovate, trying to do things in performances that nobody ever would have thought of before.” His job is to make sure the innovation is accomplished in an organized, structured way.
Often compared to Blade Runner or The Matrix trilogy films, the action-packed KÀ production is most simply described as big. Everything about the show is big — especially the attention to detail. Some 1,300 hours went into the making of each of the human-sized crab puppets. There are 160 harnesses (of 21 varieties) worn by the KÀ performers. Costuming and makeup are complex. For example, the Chief Archer character’s makeup involves 43 steps, requiring 22 different brushes. The video projections are an intricate mix of computer-generated effects and human input that turn the performance space into a cinema screen. And every seat in the theater has speakers built into the headrest for customized sound effects.
So unique is the nearly 2,000-seat KÀ theater that the popular television forensics drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation opened its 2006 season by taking stars Marg Helgenberger and William Petersen behind the scenes of KÀ’s super-technological stage.
Pierre Parisien, head artistic director for the five resident Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas and for La Nouba in Orlando, Florida, says that each show evolves as artists find their places as performers within the shows’ emotional and psychological contexts. He adds that Cirque provides fitness-training facilities for its performers. Classes are regularly held in strength and weight training, yoga, pilates, gymnastics, trampoline, martial arts … and a variety of creative workshops keep artists motivated and inspired.
Parisien recalls that, in the early days of Cirque, recruiting was difficult. Now, athletes want to become acrobats because they want to join the “circus.”
“We give the athlete another dimension,” Parisien notes.
Artists also are generous in sharing their skills with colleagues. KÀ has benefited from artists with specialized expertise, such as the Chinese martial art known as wusho (pronounced woo-shoo) and the native Brazilian street dancing known as capoeira (pronounced cap-a-where-uh and sometimes spelled capawara).
Although Cirque’s Montreal headquarters has a casting department that travels the world to recruit artists, the theater-trained Parisien is involved in casting. He says he looks for something intangible: “In 30 seconds, I know if a person will fit in a show. How? Intuition.”
And while the content of each resident show is different, the goal is the same. Parisien wants people to “be happy.” He wants the shows to “give hope.”
“If at least one person will be moved enough to say ‘I want to be a better person. I want to bring joy into my life and to the people who are around me’ — if we can gain that, we have succeeded.”
DID YOU KNOW?
The name Cirque du Soleil came to founder Guy Laliberté while he contemplated his projects on a beach in Hawaii. He also was inspired by the symbology related to the sun. “The sun stands for energy and youth, which is what I thought the circus should be about.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Cirque du Soleil officials just call it “The Elvis Project.” Yes, as in Elvis Presley. And while they say they don’t know the content of the new Las Vegas show, they know it won’t be exactly the same as LOVE, which features the music of The Beatles. Opening: November 2009.
ON THE STRIP
Members with Signature Gold Unlimited benefits can purchase seats at the five Cirque du Soleil resident shows in Las Vegas. Contact the ClubLine at 866.989.GOLD or ClubLine.com. (Signature Gold Unlimited also can provide a complete package in Las Vegas including show tickets, tee times, dining, and affiliate hotels.)
Here, along with descriptions of the shows, artistic director Pierre Parisien offers some quick insights to the entertainment.
MYSTÈRE
Treasure Island
A kaleidoscope of powerful athleticism, high-energy acrobatics, and inspiring imagery, Mystère is noted for its vivid sets, colorful costumes, and signature Cirque acts. As the first resident show for Cirque, Mystère presented new challenges such as building a theater as well as a show. Parisien says: “We call it our classic. Mystère changed the whole face of The Strip in Las Vegas when we opened it in 1993.”
“O”
Bellagio
When “O” premiered in 1998, the show set a new standard in live entertainment. “O” weaves an aquatic tapestry of artistry, surrealism, and theatrical romance. Acrobats, synchronized swimmers, and characters perform in, on, and above water in a magnificent theater reminiscent of a European opera house. Parisien: “We wanted to explore water. Water is life.”
ZUMANITY
New York-New York Hotel & Casino
Zumanity — the human zoo — is a provocative, cabaret-style production with a Cirque twist. The adult-themed production blends playful innuendo with daring eroticism. Parisien: “That is our contribution to sensuality. For a long time, there were a lot of sexy shows in Las Vegas. We wanted to offer something different — not just girls in feathers coming down big stairs.”
KÀ
MGM Grand
The tale of Imperial Twins on an adventurous journey to fulfill their destinies. Witness some of the most innovative, gravity-defying feats ever performed. Parisien notes: “The surface is always in movement. In the last scene — the battle — we give the impression that the stage is fixed and the audience is moving.”
LOVE
The Mirage
This collaboration started with Beatle George Harrison and Cirque’s Guy Laliberté. Parisien: “It’s not about The Beatles. It’s really The Beatles meet Cirque du Soleil. They were known for their creativity; we are known for our creativity.”