A national troupe of acrobats and performers is bringing its talents to East Lansing. Cirque Dreams will bring their Holidaze show to MSU’s Wharton Center next week. The family-friendly tour is hitting more than 60 cities during the last two months of the year.
WKAR’s Scott Pohl talks with artistic director Rebecca Shubart about the show’s combination of circus artistry with Broadway-style production values.
Interview Highlights
On the show's theme
The costumes have that whimsical Christmas holidays feel to it. Lots of red and greens and golds and garlands, feathers and furs all on the stage, faux furs. And it just has that magical, whimsical feel. It's very loosely based on holiday themes, going and learning about the magic that the holidays can bring and the joy that it can bring and bringing family together.
On the artistic director's favorite part of the show
At least for me, one of the best parts of seeing a Cirque Holidaze show is seeing everyone hanging from the ceiling. The hair-hang artists, the trapeze artists. It's just amazing to look up and see someone hanging from the ceiling, and we are able to do that in every venue that we go to.
On what audiences can expect
One of the great things about the show is that you don't need to know anything. You can come and just enjoy it. If it's all right with you, I think I'll let our audience interpret what the show means to them as opposed to telling them what they should be expecting.
Interview Transcript
Scott Pohl: Some people hearing this may have seen Cirque du Soleil shows in, say, Las Vegas, where the stage has elements that move around. The stage rises or lowers. You, on a tour like this, may not have control of that sort of thing. Can you explain how you stage a program like this with a touring company where the stage isn't yours?
Rebecca Shubart: One of the great things that we love is going to different places, different cities week after week, and we are able to adapt and work within the theater or the arena that we are in, city by city. One of the great things about our show is how easily it does it adapt, so you can see the same great show in any location.
At least for me, one of the best parts of seeing a Cirque Holidaze show is seeing everyone hanging from the ceiling. The hair-hang artists, the trapeze artists. It's just amazing to look up and see someone hanging from the ceiling, and we are able to do that in every venue that we go to.
Pohl: So acrobatics is a huge element in this show, correct?
Shubart: Of course, yes. We've got stunning choreography. We've got world-class singers, we've got comedy acts, and audience participation. But really, the heart of Cirque Dreams Holidaze is the awe-inspiring acts. We've got acrobats, we've got skippers, we've got jugglers, we've got people who twist and twirl in the air and people who twist and twirl on the ground.
Pohl: I know that Holidaze is in the name of the show, but can you go into a little detail about the theme of the program? How does it link to the holiday season?
Shubart: We've got a lot of great holiday music and we also have a lot of original music as well. The costumes have that whimsical Christmas holidays feel to it. Lots of red and greens and golds and garlands, feathers and furs all on the stage, faux furs. And it just has that magical, whimsical feel. It's very loosely based on holiday themes, going and learning about the magic that the holidays can bring and the joy that it can bring and bringing family together.
Pohl: Is there a theme along the lines of, say, Nutcracker? Is there something like that that people need to expect for this program?
Shubart: One of the great things about the show is that you don't need to know anything. You can come and just enjoy it. If it's all right with you, I think I'll let our audience interpret what the show means to them as opposed to telling them what they should be expecting.
Pohl: How many cast members do you have here?
Shubart: On average, we've got 26. It's a lot of people on stage. We also tour with our own crew, so we've got another ten people there as well as our management team. It's a large group of people who travel across the country.
Pohl: I would expect that you have an international cast. Is that so?
Shubart: Absolutely. We get talent from all over the world, not just the US. We've got Canadians, we've got Europeans. We also have some artists from Mongolia and Ethiopia. We get applications year-round. We start casting for this in early spring, so by the time we get around to the holiday season, we've got quite the impressive lineup of talent.
Pohl: Cirque Dreams Holidays is at the Wharton Center for three performances next Monday through Wednesday, And the artistic director of Dreams Holidays is Rebecca Shubert. Thank you, Rebecca.
Shubart: Thank you so much for having me. We hope all of your listeners come on out and see us.
Pohl: For WKAR News, I'm Scott Pohl.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
The Wharton Center is a financial supporter of WKAR.
