Last August, the Canadian entertainment company launched its first resident show in Asia in years — a lavish production titled “X: The Land of Fantasy” — in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
At the time, the premiere appeared to herald the start of a new era for Cirque, whose global showbiz empire already encompassed over 40 shows. China’s live events market was booming, surpassing 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) for the first time in 2019. Foreign franchises from “Mamma Mia!” to “Cats” were filling arenas across the country.
Then, COVID-19 happened.
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If an acrobat can wear a face mask for an entire rehearsal, I don’t think we should have a huge problem wearing one to go to the grocery store. It is so amazing to me that during China’s quarantine period X’s producers were able to pay their staff their full wages. In America so many of us in the entertainment business have been dangerously financially affected by COVID-19, so to see that there were performers who were compensated during the pandemic is quite heartwarming to hear. On the flip-side of that though, it’s devastating to hear that so many of their foreign cast members were replaced due to China’s existing travel bans when X was allowed to reopen. While this is just the cost of doing business and was a bittersweet necessity to get the show back up and running, it makes me nervous to think about how many companies across the world will have to follow suit. To even be able to rehire cast members could potentially be seen as a luxury since so many companies and productions on Broadway had to permanently shut down due to bankruptcy. While X’s financial future is not solidified, it is certainly exciting and reassuring to hear that theatre is alive and booming again in China.
I find the work of the cast and crew of X: The Land of Fantasy to be commendable. Each cast member and crew member had planned for months every last detail of the show to only have it shown once in it’s original form. Coming back to the project and having to reimagine the entire show must have been both detrimentally depressing and a humungous undertaking. The mere idea that they could throw a years worth of work out the window and reimagine it in three weeks while keeping up with the high standards of Cirque de Soleil is respectable. I would be curious to find out many of the small intercicies that took place throughout this processes. How did they compose all entirely new music and record it and create new graphics and set pieces to go along in such a short time frame? How did they suddenly come up with alternate storylines and how many different storylines did they have to create?
The last few months have had a devastating impact on the entertainment field as a whole. Theaters have been shut; movie releases halted and circus troupes stuck in various parts of the world, given how air travel is being handled right now.
But somehow, and it is not even surprising to me, but Cirque Du Soleil has managed to turn around this around and perform for audiences in a few areas in the world, by basically taking advantage of the fact that their troupes are stranded in different parts of the world, so they might as well to do so by entertaining the public.
It is a really great feeling that Cirque has two sets of its shows currently playing, because it conveys a sense of optimism to some extent, where even with the pandemic still on, people are able to enjoy these small moments where they can entertain themselves with such master pieces.
First of all, I was surprised to realize how one of the only two active Cirque de Soleil productions was taking place in China. I think this case demonstrated how China bared tremendous amount of potential for success of the show, but the risk at the same time. It was interesting to see how the team had managed to cope with such situation, and to read about more realistic issues that they have to face, such as acrobats having to lift each other since they had no weights to train their body while not being able to go practice the show. Another interesting point to read was when they had to alter the content of the show. As Cirque de Soleil is known for its in-depth symbolism throughout the shows, and as Chouinard actually had addressed, I know this would have been a big struggle for the production team as well. It was also really sad to see the show deducting the interaction between actor and the audience. I have seen a number of their circuses, and even though the circus itself is marvelous, not having the audience participation part would be a great loss. On the bright side, I admire them for successfully solidifying the composition of the performances. The current show might not look like what the creators have primarily envisioned, but I think this X would be more memorable and valuable as it was generated through the time of harsh challenges.
Cirque du Soleil will always have a special place in my heart. In middle school, it was my dream to train at circus school in Montreal as an aerialist. I wanted to end up performing in their shows all around the world. Like many others, I was in awe of the work they produce both artistically and technically. The possible fall of the company is devastating, although it is nice to see a glimmer of hope with the show “X”. It’s amazing that they are able to perform at all. Just hearing about their experience with COVID lockdowns and all the unknowns made me stressed, I can’t imagine what it was like living through that. I still can’t wrap my head around how they reconstructed almost the entire show in 3 weeks with a large amount of new performers. I hope they are able to keep the show going long enough to have more than 50% attendance in order to make profit.
This article is the perfect example of how critical adaptability is for theatrical artists and institutions at this time. Every type of performance has been impacted, from small community theater groups to Cirque du Soleil, and the idea of performance itself is being rethought. One of the most interesting issues this article addressed was the problems stemming from border closings in China. These closures forced “X” to look within China for new talent to bring to the show, and to rethink the many elements of the show that had included international performers. This also highlighted the massive changes the technical team were forced to navigate, reworking many sections of the show to accommodate the skills of the new performers while seamlessly adding the new elements into the plot of the show. While there obviously is typically great benefit to include the best of the best in a show, it clearly comes with risks, and “X” is certainly combatting those now. It will be interesting to see in the future if shows work to utilize only domestic performers and technicians.
I think that a lot of people consider to be a permanent staple in live entertainment culture. It seems to an indomitable feature. We have heard rumblings of money trouble, but still it never quite seems to go anywhere, and they still manage to pull off incredible productions around the world. I know that the impact of COVID has been particularly devastating for Cirque, and I can’t imagine what the industry, specifically the circus sect will look like without Cirque. However, I am so hopeful to hear about “X”. I am especially impressed by their tenacity in figuring out how to navigate the work while still honoring all of the guidelines and requirements, as well as safety. The time constraints that they operated within, on top of recasting and rehiring the great majority of their team to follow guidelines is a massive feat to take on, and, while I understand the massive risks that they had to take on to accomplish their work, they seem to have found something that works for them.
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