Cirque du Soleil purchases the Blue Man Group and their future

[DisneyparkFreak]

Cirque's already watered down their product with Avatar

Not to mention the shows based around the Beatles and Elvis. They may be French Canadian and pretentious, but they aren't above this sort of thing.

Please God not this in Orlando... I had no idea. La Nouba is the only show we've seen.

 

[Sketch105]

I wouldn't get too excited about crazy changes to Blue Man Group.

Blue Man Group have a very, very particular vision of what they are about, and they already update the show frequently.

I see this purchase as more of a financial partnership- BMG can continue to do tours, outside creative projects, and maybe bring some larger visions to life, but for the most part you won't see anything like Blue Men on silks or do acrobatics.

 

[FullSailDan]

I don't believe the original maker of that comment, tbh. Cirque always recasts their own performers in different shows all the time. Whether it's because the previous show they were in closed or they just want to take advantage of a new opportunity. Very rarely to performers have to audition from scratch. I can only think of one time that's happened and it's documented in the documenteary called Fire Within about the creation of Varkeai. In his instance, one particular individual was let go from he production he was on but was invited to audition again for a new creation

Cirque does make folks re-audition for each new show. They have an incubator facility at their headquarters where they train talent for various new acts as they are building/structuring each show. Many of the actors find their particular act is cut or not on the board for a particular show. Some will be given the opportunity to work with trainers and form new acts, others will simply be cut. Circus is nothing like traditional acting, people can't simply be plugged into open holes. Not everyone is capable, bodies take time to learn various skills, etc. As an aerialist and instructor personally (flying trapeze and fabric), I've known several of the artists, it will be curious if flying trapeze returns or is used elsewhere. It's time consuming and expensive to develop but they have quite a bit of talent in the current la nouba group.

 

[FullSailDan]

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about because they back fill roles all the time.

Of course they back fill roles, but there is an audition process. Are these folks totally starting from scratch? No, they have a relationship already, but Cirque is a rotating pool of talent who work on contract. Being cut from one show, doesn't always mean you get put somewhere else. And not being put somewhere else doesn't mean you are a bad performer/artist. The door may open as new needs arise.

 

[larryz]

Will they call it Cirque Blue Soleil?

 

[fosse76]

Cirque/Blue Man Group are not retail businesses where you can simply move one person from show A to show B. Just knowing the mechanics of a role isn't enough. There's more to it. Look at Broadway shows with multiple companies around the country/world. Yes, cast members rotate in and out of different companies, but often times they are in different roles, many times they go from a lead/featured role to an ensemble/understudy role elsewhere. Each production of Cirque (or Broadway show for that matter) is a separate business entity, which requires a new contract. It is not uncommon for producers of a show to require a performer to audition for a role in a different company, or another role in the same company (which also would require a new contract). That's how show business works.