Only Cirque du Soleil could make a funeral fun
Longtime favourite Corteo reimagined and put in arena setting
In 1967, Ray Davies documented the final days of a circus performer in a melancholic bit of music titled Death of a Clown. In Cirque du Soleil’s show Corteo, a clown who has taken his final bow watches his own funeral procession pass.
To say it’s a lively wake would be a gross understatement.
The show had its premiere in 2007 in Montreal and toured the globe for the next eight years. Mounted in a unique in-the-round big top presentation, Corteo proved to be one of the most beloved creations of the Cirque du Soleil. In 2017, the Quebec-based performing arts behemoth announced that a re-imagined Corteo.
The new show opened in March, and tours across Canada, ending at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 16.
Mark Shaub is the artistic director of the re-configured show. Having begun his work with Cirque du Soleil as the first artistic director of the Corteo big top, he’s pleased to be on board.
“What we’re bringing to Canada is a re-creation of the show with all of the heart and soul but behind-the-scenes there are significant technological advancements,” said Shaub.
“To go into the arena was quite a significant undertaking and one that required a lot of attention to the details of what is, for me, one of my alltime favourite Cirque shows.”
Technically speaking, all of the company’s shows have a narrative line threading through the high wire antics, juggling and balancing dynamics and assorted bells, whistles, bicycles and whathave-you. Truthfully, most of these are pretty esoteric and nobody in the audience devotes much effort to follow along. Corteo is quite different.
Anchored around the character of Mauro the Dreamer Clown, who may or may not be experiencing his fantastic funeral, the story does play out in near linearity. As such beautifully staged acts as the Helium Dance (a dazzling Hula-Hoop showcase) occur, the audience gets a feeling for the clown’s deep humanity.
Shaub heartily agrees, noting there was a lot of concern that this might not translate well into a hockey rink venue, or its equivalent.
“We always said that Corteo was too technically complex to take into an arena and, when we retired it in 2015, thought that was it,” he said.
“But, in terms of technological advancement, there are things which we never thought possible that are possible now, and we had rigging and automation specialists working on this for 18 months before we brought anyone else in. The original production had this arched (promenade) that allowed for all kinds of motorized flights and movements which we can now do on a flat frame that can be quickly assembled and disassembled for an arena set up.”
One of the things key to the original production was being close to the performers to maintain the intimacy required to enjoy the character-based flow of the show. By limiting ticket sales to specific areas of the arena, that intimacy is, hopefully, maintained.
Shaub says that this is the best version of the show he’s seen.
“Owing to the time constraints present in an arena setting, the show has been tightened up and edited in areas which should have been done years ago,” he said.
“You have tighter transitions, better pacing and — best of all — our original Mauro, bandleader, giant and little people from the 2005 production are all back. They were concerned that we didn’t mess it up.”
The future for Cirque du Soleil is clearly in the arena setting and Corteo is aiming for the same audience that the Michael Jackson Immortal and Avatar-themed Toruk: The First Flight productions drew in.
While the giant striped Grand Chapiteaux have come to be events in themselves, there are more rinks and stages across the country than there are places to pitch a big top. By streamlining shows like Corteo, the company is able to reach all audiences which don’t go to major urban centres for a big top show or Las Vegas for a permanent production. The big top may be the heart and soul of the company, but economies of scale require new approaches.
“What is exciting is that there is still room to do those long-touring life big top shows and the permanent shows in Las Vegas, Orlando and (soon) China, while also launching arena-direct shows like Delirium, Toruk or Michael Jackson,” he said.
“And we’ve got our ice shows such as Crystal, which are perfect for Canada. Maybe we hit upon something there again?”
The show has been tightened up and edited in areas which should have been done years ago.”
Mark Shaub