In article
<a39afd7d-d411-4bfc-bdb6-99405572c27a@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
FluxionDesigns <stephen.r.pruitt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I know this thread is past the original intention, but since I'm in
> Vegas, hanging out with friends (Cirque folks) I figured I'd chime
> in.
>
> I saw LOVE last night, and I have to say I was a little disappointed.
> The music sounded great, but I felt like it was the least cohesive of
> the Cirque shows, which is saying something, since they're almost all
> more collections of images than anything else. Having seen all of the
> Vegas Cirque shows, as well as two of the touring shows, my feeling is
> that O, in the Bellagio is by far the most interesting, both from a
> show standpoint and from a technical and design standpoint. It has all
> of the moving stage elements of Ka and LOVE, with water thrown into
> the mix, and aerial stuff as well. Hell, I had to arrange a backstage
> tour just to see how the managed to do what they do with taking the
> main curtain away and bringing it back. Obviously my disappointment
> was all relative... mediocre Cirque with a Beatles soundtrack is head,
> shoulders, and kneecaps above what most people are doing, at least in
> terms of design.
>
> I'm curious about La Reve, at the Wynn... anyone seen it? The
> advertising makes it look like they're trying to get as close to O as
> they can without getting sued by Cirque.
>
> I've sat in the booth for a couple shows as well... they're computer
> scripts are pretty amazing. If something goes wrong, the SM's just
> enter what the problem is, and as long as it's been encountered or
> anticipated before, the system makes all the changes necessary for all
> the calls after that. It's apparently very rare for the older shows
> like Ka or Mystere to run into a problem that hasn't already been
> solved in the computer script.
>
>
> -Stephen
Stephen,
I'll defer to your critique of LOVE verses the other Circue shows (I've
only seen 3 others - one a traveling company and 2 in Vegas ala Love.
My fondness for LOVE is probably linked to the fact that this is the
music of my youth and every song was like revisiting an old friend who
looked (well, actually sounded) superb after all these years.
Since we're likely all in the business, perhaps this is a reminder that
we see a LOT more staging than the average patron - and that we can't
forget that no matter how impressive the staging or production design,
it's the creative work at the HEART of any performance that has to come
first.
Put another way, I'd be hard pressed to choose if you offered me tickets
to Elton John's Red Piano Show at Ceasers - or two p***** of him playing
after hours in a bar where all the tech sup****t he has is perhaps a JBL
Eon system and a single SM-58.
Some performances ARE the staging. Others are staging in SUP****T of
exceptional talent.
I considered LOVE to be the latter.
But I appreciate your view as well.
|
