Las Vegas Blogs: The theater at Aria is undergoing a transformation. In less than a month it will be home to Cirque du Soleil’s “Zarkana.” From February 2010 through August 2012, the theater was home to Cirque’s “Viva Elvis.” Rehearsals for “Zarkana” don’t start until about the second week of October, but until then there’s plenty of action taking place in the theater. Cirque du Soleil gave media outlets a sneak peek at the show’s progress at a press event this week.
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I saw this production at Radio City over the summer and was awestruck by how fantastically the show was conceived and executed. Not only does this show have a clown flying over the audience and require all the in-house rigging to pull that off, it also has seamless transitions that allow for entire acts to be put up and struck in a matter of minutes. For example, the entire intricate trapeze set that supported about 12 trapeze artists had to be struck in a matter of 4 minutes, all onstage, open to the audience by both the performers and offstage help that was never seen. Even the transitions had something fantastic about them; always entertaining and never "Oh, this is just a transition for the next cool trick" because it was all made up of cool tricks. I think a large part of how they were able to pull that off was the fact that the space was so big and conducive to the size of the show. With that said, it makes me wonder how they'll fare in making a home in a smaller venue. Its Cirque, so I don't doubt that they'll think of something ingenious to do with that space to consolidate, but I can't help but wonder.
I love that Zarkana has been able to be a success in so many different venues and iterations of the show. I believe that it will do well in Las Vegas. I think that people are ready for a new Cirque show in town; many tourists come every year and have therefore seen all of the others shows by now, and many locals who have seen all of the current shows will absolutely come to see a new one. Viva Elvis didn't fit quite right with the trendy new style of the Strip, but it seems like Zarkana can appeal to a larger group and will blend a bit better with the tried-and-true beloved shows of the Strip like O and Mystere. The smaller venue will hopefully lead to a positive change in terms of the audience's experiences of the show; my favorite Cirque experiences are those times that I've felt really close to the action. While the Zarkana set is huge, I have seen photos of it in the Aria space and I don't think it's overwhelming. The atmosphere will certainly fully surround the audience, but that only improves the experience of this type of show.
It's amusing to me that amidst Cirque's largest productions (KA, O, etc.) in Vegas, the show built for the stage of the Radio City Music Hall is going to be in one of the most intimate and immersive spaces. At any rate, it is fascinating to hear about the production's touring history and the process of reinventing itself for a new space (specifically around the change of rigging system). I'll be intrigued to see how the show develops and potentially changes on the Vegas stage. After its strong performance in NYC, I'm excited to see how it fares in front of Vegas audiences and if it does provide sufficient variety, as Shannon notes.
I personally believe Cirque du soleils is one of the most beautiful and thought inspiring things. to be able to work on any aspect of the show would be incredible. its always seemed so magical to me and i absolutely love every design of every little detail. All i can say is that this show in its self sounds extremely dangerous AND I WAN TO SEE IT SO BADLY.
Cirque du Soleil certainly has incredible technical abilities but I think what often draws their audiences back for more is their complex story lines. Zarkana's story of the down on his luck magician is complemented and brought to life by Cirque's technology, but without its vibrant storyline, it wouldn't be as cohesive of a show. It sounds so exciting that they're making a larger than ever show, in a smaller theater than they've ever been in with Zarkana, which is what Cirque in Vegas (and everything else in Vegas, for that matter) typically does--everything over the top, and Zarkana seems nothing to be nothing less... awesome!
I am amazed that Cirque is able to go from an empty theater, to just a few weeks later having a full-blown Cirque performance in place. Their scenery, automation, lighting, sound, and atmospheric effects are incredible, and it's hard to think that something so complicated can happen in so short a time. I am also amazed that the acting company can get a show up in 10 tens. Then again, most of the acts already exist on their own, and they just have to all be put together for the show. It's still extremely impressive.
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