Recent Perspectives from Behind the Scenes

or, Reality Check!


From John Gilkey of Quidam:

Fri, 01 May 1998

hey tristan,

It's taken me so long to respond you probably forgot you even wrote me. to answer yer question about life with the cirque, well, it keeps ya busy. Being a part of such a high end production is, of course, way cool yet the performing schedule that cirque requires of it's performers borders on brutality which, you might not be surprised to hear, takes a bit of the fun out of it. the main objective in the work becomes "how to keep it fresh." and that's a tough job.

anyway, thanks for the note. glad you liked the show.
take care,
john




Edited transcript of chat with a Cirque du Soleil administrator:

TRISTAN: What aspect of the Cirque are you involved in?
SALTIMBANQUE: I worked in several North American tours.
TRISTAN: What did you do for them?
SALTIMBANQUE: I was a part of the administration/customer team.
TRISTAN: Maybe I ran into you in [New York] last summer with Quidam!
SALTIMBANQUE: You probably did =)
TRISTAN: I went to NY to see quidam and ended up watching the show in my pyjamas. It was so surreal to see that big top floating amongst the skyscrapers around Battery Park!
SALTIMBANQUE: Pajamas?
TRISTAN: Yah! LOL
TRISTAN: I got cold because there was a freak hailstorm with golf-ball-size stones, and so I had to put on the only clothes I had on me: my PJs. :) I fit right in with the performers
SALTIMBANQUE: So what do you do? Wanna join Cirque?
TRISTAN: It's all very well to sit among the businessmen and folks in the audience in my PJs, but I would much rather be a musician in the band
TRISTAN: or (God forbid) the next Rene Dupere/Benoit Jutras-style composer.
SALTIMBANQUE: Hehe, the next one is Violaine Corradi...
TRISTAN: I heard a couple of sound clips of Corradi's music recently.
TRISTAN: It sounded almost like Clannad's music, sort of ethereal, and she was singing in her own imaginary language -- even though the CD wasn't produced for Cirque.
SALTIMBANQUE: I know she has a CD out called Passages, but I haven't been able to find it.
TRISTAN: Right. The CD I want to locate is Voyages, that collaboration between Rene Dupere and Elise Velle.
SALTIMBANQUE: I am friends with her sister Isabella, though I never met Violaine. Isabelle sang for Alegria...
SALTIMBANQUE: Which show's music do you like most?
TRISTAN: I'll give you a different answer every time. Today I'll have to say the Saltimbanco soundtrack.
SALTIMBANQUE: Hehe, my fav show, fav music, fav everything!
TRISTAN: Do you know why Rene Dupere left Cirque?
SALTIMBANQUE: I am not sure, I think he just wanted to do his own thing...
SALTIMBANQUE: I miss Rene very much. His music inspired me sooooo much.
...
SALTIMBANQUE: I love the fact that Cirque successfully combines drama, music, dance, and spectacle, all without language. Many people don't see the theater side of cirque, they only see the circus part. But after you have been there long enough, seen the show many times, you will really appreciate the personal input from the artist, and what [director] Franco [Dragone] is really trying to say. The artists are there, the characters actually are part of them, the characters came from them instead of a role they play....
SALTIMBANQUE: Sadly... Mystere takes away all the precious moments, the moments where the artists shine.
TRISTAN: I don't completely agree on Mystere, though I think I know what you mean.... I didn't feel that same intimate connection onstage between the performers, or between the audience and the characters, but there were MOMENTS when my hair stood literally on end.
TRISTAN: So you go around America with each tour to every city?
SALTIMBANQUE: Yap.
TRISTAN: I know that each show undergoes quite a lot of evolution early in the process... Do you see that evolution continue in the music and characterizations throughout the whole tour?
TRISTAN: Or does it crystallize after a while?
SALTIMBANQUE: Oh yeah, it's a different show every performance. There are some artists I just love watching. And of course there are some I don't bother at all...
TRISTAN: So as an admin/customer person, you probably saw some of the less pleasant aspects of le Cirque and its audiences...
SALTIMBANQUE: ...Merchant of happiness, sound familiar? Like Disney? Well, that's what it is turning into. I have been there long enough. I have even seen the changes in Guy [Laliberte] himself, let me tell you, it's sad.
TRISTAN: Franco seems like he would never let the whole affair degrade to that level. But then, I understand there is a whole new team of designers and directors for this next tour [Dralion].
SALTIMBANQUE: About Franco, he is still the heart, but the question is, can he handle it anymore? that's why the new show isn't him.
SALTIMBANQUE: ...Guy [Laliberte] was a once upon a time a great guy. Every one would hang around him, like a friend, or a guardian. But now, he is so distant, he is the BOSS, the no you can't touch me figure.
TRISTAN: One more (enormous) (and entirely subjective) question: What do you think is the message that Franco and the other creators are trying to deliver through their shows?
SALTIMBANQUE: Uh, I think they all have different thoughts. But truthfully, I think you are putting them too high. This is like any other Broadway musical, entertainment that seems to have meaning behind it. This is, or has turned into a money-making entertainment group.
SALTIMBANQUE: People, most of them, are clapping for excitement, not for something that made sense to them! 2400 out of 2500 won't even know what Quidam means; furthermore, they will pronounce it "kwidam."




From an usher

Subject: Re: ushering for Cirque du Soleil
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998

hi there:-) well...first of all, yes i was working with quidam...the last shows were this past sunday. a freind of mine was an usher and she told me about it...so thats basically how i got interested in it...plus im used to minimum wage and they pay $7 an hour:-) not much but it was enough to pay for my plane ticket to europe for the summer. anyway, during my month with them, i saw all of the performers every single day of work without their make up and in a more natural setting. we alll shared a cafeteria type place and they ate with us.... the thing that got me though was the fact that they are all so nice...for most of them english is a second language, and they were friendly as can be. my second night workin there, they had a party for the entire crew and cast of quidam...i can tell you they know how to drink! but it was a very tasteful party...nothing crazy...just alot of fun. i saw the show 15 times and it NEVER got old or boring...cause they changed it up a little every show and cause there is suspense every time. um if you wanna be an usher, first of all, do you live in new york, chicago, washington dc, or atlanta? because those are the places left on the north american tour this year. so if you live in these places, you can go apply...make sure youre a friendly person with personality and pretty intelligent and youre in:-) they hire about 30-40 ushers at each place...and there are 4 supervisors...all of them are very cool so theres no problem...they just get down to business cause as they told us the first day "it IS show business" its alot of fun and its somethin definetely different. so then...let me know if this helped you at all and if you live in any of those places...it would be GREAT if you worked there...you could tell me how the supervisors are and everything...i already miss the place.




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