www.cirquefascination.com: In some ways, Cirque du Soleil and Las Vegas are unlikely dance partners. The Quebec circus sprang from the active imagination of former street performer and fire-breather Guy Laliberté back in the early ’80s, and its selling point in the three decades since has always been its authentic artistic savoir faire.
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To me, Cirque du Soleil’s success in Las Vegas is anything but unlikely. As the article points out, the constant stream of tourists coming to Las Vegas provides Cirque with a consistent supply of new audience members. Of course, this would benefit any show in the area, but Cirque fits into the expectations of the Las Vegas audience. Calling Cirque “glitzy entertainment” would be underselling its beauty, but spectacle is a huge component of the show, just as spectacle is at the core of many elements of Vegas. Cirque may be artistic while Vegas is flashy, but people seeking the energy and thrills of Las Vegas can find that in Cirque du Soleil in a way that they can’t necessarily with other shows. Also, Cirque provides something unique. People can often find good plays or musicals in a city near them, but Cirque has no real substitute, making seeing it when one has the chance a higher priority. Before reading this article, I’d never even considered that idea that the partnership between Cirque du Soleil and Las Vegas might be unlikely, and after reading the article, I do see the unlikely components of it, but I can’t say I see Cirque’s stronghold on the Las Vegas live-entertainment market surprising.
I'm glad I come back from the summer and actually get to read good articles about Cirque du Soleil. I love to hear that they are doing well and not falling off the course they've started. Throughout my time at Carnegie Mellon University I've discovered that Cirque has so many great job opportunities for technicians, designers, and performers. Through the cycle of their rotation, allowing new people to work on the set is fantastic. A bunch of production staff are now allowed to work on some of the most popular spectacles of our time. no wonder they are so successful. I hope to read more positive articles about cirque and see them sky rocket through the entertainment industry. It might be a pricey show to see, but in my experience it's so worth it. I recently saw the show La Nouba in Orlando and it blew my mind what they were doing. I remember seeing the show as a child and yet it still gets me on the edge of my seat. Hopefully I can go to Las Vegas someday and see one of their shows.
I know that Cirque du Soleil is huge in Las Vegas. Like so big that every other theater or casino that you see going down the strip is housing one of the many fabulous Cirque du Soleil productions. What does really shock me about this is that Cirque du Soleil is not an American company. Cirque du Soleil is based out of French Canada which is quite far a way from Las Vegas Nevada. So now, why do you think that Las Vegas has become the home for Cirque du Soleil? In the United States of America there are a few cities that have become hubs for the entertainment industry. These cities include New York City, Los Angels, and Los Vegas. Because Los Vegas is one of these major hubs it completely makes sense for it to be the American home to Cirque du Soleil. Now if you ask me why these cities have become entertainment hubs, I have no idea, and that is an article for another day.
These numbers are absolutely insane! With “140,000 tickets on sale each week, run[ning] at 85 per cent occupancy and — wait for it — has a 36 per cent share of the entire live-entertainment market in Vegas” is almost a Cinderella story in the history of live entertainment. The article does speak to the origins of Cirque being a small street performer, Laliberté, and how even though it started as pure and simple art form, how it has grown into this massive company telling the same pure and honest stories, now with acrobatics and massive machinery. I believe the essence is still alive in Cirque shows and that’s what people come to see – despite the location being the Las Vegas Strip (not that anything is bad with the Strip, of course). I think the Cirque shows are just as beautiful as the street performances they stem from, just on a larger scale. They preserve the stories and art, just making them Vegas and demand-sized.
Cirque du Soleil is a unique performance medium because of its versatility and appeal to broad audiences. As the article mentioned, the shows can be updated and changed without losing their Cirque-ness-- in other words, what makes a Cirque du Soleil show different from just a circus. The blend of acrobatics, dance, music, and stunning visuals is (in my opinion) unparalleled at adapting any themes or ideas into a cohesive performance that can appeal to many different people. For example, the Beatles and Michael Jackson shows discussed in the article would interest both fans of the artists and anyone who wants to see great music combined with artistry and physical skill. It's this versatility that makes Cirque du Soleil so profitable and proliferating not just in Vegas, but around the world. I think its success in Vegas is mostly due to the fact that it seems to be a better version of the shows that are already there.
There is something to be said of the superhuman effects and feats produced by Cirque du Soleil. Their shows, in combining all the right ingredients, are the only live performance medium to date to instill the same riveting sense of invincibility in audiences as action and superhero movies. The difference? These movies have the benefit of special effects, stunt doubles, on-hand wardrobe and makeup teams for frequent touch ups and the option to do multiple takes. Cirque du Soleil, to me, could not fit more perfectly into the Vegas setting because of its creatives' magical abilities. What Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, and all other action movie guy Chrises have every opportunity to mess up, a Cirque du Soleil performer can do perfectly in front of thousands eight shows a week without a safety net, no questions asked. Such mastery of talent, creativity, technical skill on stage and behind the scenes and flawless management is but a dream to corporations like Marvel, DC, and beyond. And the fact that it is live, the fact that performers are fallible humans, makes it all more inspiring to the audiences watching. Vegas is the perfect home for companies like Cirque du Soleil. To me, the paring is only logical.
I think part of the reason for the success of the relationship between Cirque du Soleil and Vegas has to do with spectacle. By spectacle I mean incredible displays of technology, talent, or really anything else that's going to grab peoples' attention. Vegas is, as the article says, the epitome of glitzy sometimes garish entertainment, and Cirque du Soleil is its own thing. But at the same time their both incredibly visually impressive. Dancers for Cirque du Soleil can do things that look near impossible and the technical side of their shows are equally amazing. Vegas on the other hand is hugely eye catching and everything lights up or does something to attract attention. They're different kinds of spectacle but they are both examples of incredibly well done spectacle. In other more restrained cities people would probably eventually tire of the over the top presence of Cirque du Soleil, but in Vegas they fit right in.
It isn’t hard to see that Cirque du Soleil has dominated the Las Vegas strip as much as it has over the years. I mean certainly the entertainment there is one of a kind; because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. It goes without saying that having the glitz and glamour bring an appeal that other places just can’t compete with. If you wanted to see a Broadway show, best place is seeing it on tour or on Broadway. The spaces that Cirque takes up are one of a kind, and would be hard to fit otherwise. There is an attraction about Cirque that is different and unique compared to where you would find anywhere else. Maybe it’s the feats of strength and athleticism required for each show, and that these shows have been running for as long as they have. About eight years ago I was able to go and watch Mystere which of course makes me just only want to watch more.
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