Cirque du Soleil Channels Michael Jackson In Energetic Arena Show

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How do you merge the music and dancing of Michael Jackson with the performers of Cirque du Soleil?
Audiences will get to see the collaboration between the world of circus and the pop artist — who was mesmerized by Cirque shows — when the Canadian-based entertainment conglomerate brings its latest arena show — "Michael Jackson The IMMORTAL World Tour" — to Hartford's XL Center on May 2 and 3 at 8 p.m.

It's like seeing a real live arena rock show," says Kevin Antunes, musical designer and director of the show which features a 12-piece band, many of them who worked with Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50. "It has that rock concert energy."
Cirque calls the show the biggest arena tour in the world.
The aim was to celebrate his music, dancing and life, says Tara Young artistic director of the tour, based on Jamie King's staging.
Antunes, whose most recent gig was working directly for Madonna on her record breaking "Sticky & Sweet" world tour, worked closely with the King, the show's writer and director known for guiding pop concert shows. The Cirque show was created in cooperation with the Jackson Estate.
The tour was launched in Montreal last October and is winding through the U.S.
The show's development began at Cirque's headquarters in Montreal with circus perforrmers improvising to Jackson's music. "All [the performers] assembled and showed what they could do to Jamie," says Antunes. "It was very cool as Jamie began to conceptualize the show."
Antunes says there was no pre-set agenda to use certain acts and that the Jackson's music was the inspiration for the pairings among the acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and gymnasts.
Individual numbers began to emerge. "Thriller" uses a contortionist who emerges out of a "Book of Tales."
"My favorite is an aerial strap act ballet set to 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You.' It was inspired by swans seen on the Neverland Ranch, It becomes a musical representation of [the aerial act], these two bodies swirling around and wrapping around each other."
Over time, more musical/cirque pairings were developed and eventually a story line emerged. Cirque founder and director Guy Laliberté was hands-on during the project, says Antunes.
"But we always let Michael's music lead the way," he says. "We were all aware that we were paying homage to him, that we were respectful and that we were all responsible for carrying his entire body of work and his memory to a new generation."
Antunes says the show opens with "Remember The Time" and follows Jackson's story starting with "Have You Seen My Childhood" "where you see Michael through the eyes of a child." The rough story line, he says, follows fans who enter Neverland where they discover Jackson's career and life.
The show "takes place in a fantastical realm where we discover Michael's Inspirational Giving Tree — the well spring of his creativity."There's a six-foot tall glove, eight-foot long penny loafers and huge projections (including clips of Jackson's performances) on a giant LED screen


Major hits included in the show are "Billie Jean," "Beat It, "Ben," "Wanna Be Starting Something," "Human Nature," "I'll Be There," "Smooth Criminal" and "Dancing Machine" but Jackson's catalogue is so vast that they couldn't be all included and would require many more shows," says Antunes.
The show ends with "Man in the Mirror," a song Jackson often use to finish his concerts.
Antunes says the soundtrack highlights Michael's voice, using the master tracks and then re-arranging the music for the Cirque show. "We wanted to take the music to a whole new level," he says.
Collaborating with music director Greg Phillinganes, who worked with Jackson for more than 25 years, Antune says there were opportunities to take something not quite as well-known from then-master tracks and make them special, he says, such as the little know Spanish tracks Jackson performed for "I Just Can''t Stop Loving You."
With 10 choreographers working with the large cast of more than 40 dancers and acrobats, the show is the Cirque's most dance-centric, but one with the cirque touch, such as when dancers also fly through the air on bungee cords, or tumble, or work the rings or perform a pole dance.
"He was a dance pioneer and this was a chance to bring the real choreography to the show and keep it alive," says Antunes, "The only place you can see the dances are on his video and in this show. We want to keep it alive for future generations.".
Cirque went beyond its own original lyrical musical compositions in shows centering on Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
But the Jackson show is the first featuring music by an artist who also had an affinity for the Cirque shows.
And there's another reason that makes it special, says Antunes. "He was the greatest entertainer in my lifetime."
MICHAEL JACKSON IMMORTAL will play at the XL Center in downtown Hartford on Wednesday, May 2 and Thursday May 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $53 to $250, not including fees. Information: 1-800-745-3000.
FOX CT reporter Jim Altman goes behind the scenes of Cirque Du Soleil's "Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour'' that is coming to the XL Center May 2 and May 3. See Altman's report on Fox CT News at 10 Thursday night.
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