www.cirquefascination.com: This past weekend MSC Cruises marked a major milestone as part of its partnership with Cirque du Soleil. Both companies celebrated the 1,000th performance of the exclusive Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows on board MSC Meraviglia, which first launched in June 2017.
5 comments:
First off, congratulations to both companies, as 1,000 shows is a giant milestone. I think that it’s really amazing that Cirque has made shows exclusive to MSC Cruises. In any industry, exclusivity sells. If there’s only one place that you can see a show, it will draw you to that location. My family has been drawn to the exclusivity of Cirque de Soleil. I’ve never been to a traveling Cirque show in my hometown, but when we went to Las Vegas, we HAD to go to Love, the Beatle’s show exclusively at the Mirage. The show was fabulous and is still running. Anyway, back to the task at hand, I think shows like this bring business to the cruise line and are a genius way to lure customers and make their offer more enticing. Cruises are an exciting way to see a unique show while enjoying an all-expenses paid vacation.
I think a partnership between a cruise line and Cirque du Soleil is one of the best ideas these companies have ever had. While cruise ships have gotten bigger and bigger, offering more and more to do while on board, you can not deny that activities are limited. There is only so much you can do on a cruise ship. For this reason, what entertainment you have in your theaters and bars on board are huge. I have only ever been on two cruises, however, for both of them, I looked at what entertainment would be on board before booking the trip. If I was contemplating a cruise and I saw that Cirque had a show on board the ship, I would immediately be more inclined to book with that cruise line. This helps the cruise line gain more attraction, but it also helps Cirque. Once people are on the ship, there is limited entertainment as I stated before, meaning many people will come to see the Cirque show as it is one of the very few options.
I know people have varying opinions on Cirque but I like it. They are very entertaining and the technical aspects of the show are always beautiful and fit with the theme. There was this one Cirque show, I think it was Luzia, where there was this dress that had flowers that bloomed on stage as the woman was singing. I was so amazed by the technology and money that they have to make these shows work and do that things that they want to. I am sure there are things that are out of their budget but for the most part they are really out there in terms of amount of money spent on a production. I think that what they are doing is really beautiful and as long as the show is good I have no real problems with them. They continue to produce very solid shows that I always have fun at. I think my favorite show I ever saw was the first one I saw and I don't remember what it was called but it had less of the showy tech aspects and was really about the talent onstage.
I really do have to wonder as to the logistics of putting a Cirque show at sea. From everything I know about Cirque, their acts depend on absolutely massive structures, expensive special effects, and the ability to fly performers beyond the traditional ways of doing it. These all lend themselves to large, custom build, high specific spaces that, you know, aren’t rocking back and forth constantly. And yet, Cirque has found being at sea a worthy enough venture to renew. Which begs the questions, how big is this boat? Even with a scaling back, the space must need to have a massive capacity, both in the loading of the infrastructure and in terms of space. Did they custom build that ship or venue with Cirque in mind? How do you design flying or automation systems with a boats motion and unpredictability in mind. I’d definitely be interested in learning more.
Putting Cirque on a ship just feels dangerous. I am sure several people significantly more qualified than I have done the work to ensure that the performers are perfectly safe, but the movements of a ship and the architectural needs of a Cirque show feel like they do not pair well. That being said, it is a really wonderful idea. Cirque shows are elaborate spectacles and more and more cruise ships are also pursuing that model. The technological capabilities are incredible and seeing those on a ship would likely amaze me even more considering the adjustments and complications that the space would require. The exclusivity and attraction of a Cirque show would certainly differentiate a cruise line and boost their sales, and the show would be guaranteed almost every single passenger would at some point sit in their audience. I would be really interested to hear more about the logistical planning and alterations made to a “typical” resident Cirque show to allow for it to be placed on a ship.
Post a Comment