Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Theatrical Release: Cirque du Soleil tops itself again with staging of “Ka”

KA THEATRE FACTS

Following are a few Ka Theatre facts and figures:

What you see when you enter the $165 million, majestic Ka Theatre at the MGM Grand is breathtaking, a wonder to behold. It is quite simply the most magnificent theater in Las Vegas.

What you don't see is the city that lies beneath, behind, above and around the theater a network of rooms, passages, catwalks and machinery that make the elaborate showroom functional.

Cirque du Soleil officials granted the media access to this area Wednesday, allowing a peek behind the mask of their latest extravaganza "Ka," a tale of twins who are separated and their reunification, told only as Cirque can.

"Ka" opened for previews in November and had its grand opening Thursday night. The show is performed at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Fridays through Tuesdays.

The 1,950-seat theater, nine stories high in the auditorium, doesn't have a traditional stage. Where the stage would be there is empty space out of which a series of decks rise, providing the platforms on which the action takes place.

There are boats, islands, palaces, Himalayan-like mountains and other scenery that rises from five stories below the auditorium. From the ceiling to the lowest floor level is 149 feet, almost 15 stories.

The inner regions of the theater include five lifts, which raise the decks that have replaced a traditional theater stage.

When the 75 cast members are performing, there are 120 technicians behind the scenes, scurrying from one assignment to the next to make sure everything fans see runs smoothly.

In addition to the technicians who work out of sight during the show, there are 38 maintenance personnel who are essential to the production.

Each member of the cast and crew is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that comes together to make a picture. Without all of the pieces, this movie-like production would not be complete.

There is an army of support personnel, such as costume designer Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt, composer and musical arranger Rene Dupere, choreographer Jacques Heim, lighting designer Luc Lafortune, puppet designer Michael Curry, props designer Patricia Ruel and makeup designer Nathalie Gagne.

Ruel had to come up with thousands of props to reflect the ambiguity of the time and place of the story.

"Our task was to create a new world, to invent a civilization," she said.

The props, including such items as arrows and spears, had to be flexible and durable light enough so as not to be physically draining for the performers, yet strong enough to remain intact for 10 shows per week, 470 shows per year.

Curry, who designed many of the puppets in "The Lion King," created a cast of endearing, nonhuman creatures for "Ka," including a turtle, an 80-foot snake, crabs, potato bugs, stick bugs and a starfish.

Performers work inside what Curry calls "structural costumes."

"I have always used dancers in my work, not puppeteers," Curry said.

He said Cirque did not tell him what to create for the production.

"They gave me a framework to work with," Curry said.

He said he was able to "add a creature content to the show without taking away from the human performer."

Curry said in creating his so-called puppets, he works for a balance between illusion and reality -- he wants fans to know there is a human in the costume.

"I thinly disguise the performer," he said. "I do not cover up or make secondary the human performer."

Eric Heppell, "Ka's" artistic coordinator, says there is far more activity happening behind stage than on.

"People don't grasp how technical the show really is from their seats," Heppell said. "There are all of these riggers running around backstage. Secondary grids are being lowered. There are the cranes ...

"The transitions between scenes is like a ballet of technicians."

Heppell, a former gymnast and coach, has been with Cirque for 12 years. He started as a trainer and a coach for the acrobats and worked his way up to become artistic coordinator.

"One of the reasons the company hired me in '93 was that they knew I was an artist as well as an athlete," he said.

Heppell says his job is to "maintain the artistic integrity of the show. Once the creators leave -- they always create and then leave -- once they leave you must maintain their artistic vision."

That includes everything from lighting to makeup.

"The reality is, yes, you do all this -- taking care of the artistic integrity -- but you also do a lot of personal management, making sure different teams work well together, maintain an atmosphere of respect, make sure you don't have artists who are jealous of each other."

All of the responsibility doesn't fall on his shoulders. Assisting him are heads of the various departments.

"The show is starting to be seamless," Heppell said. "It already is reaching a certain maturity."

Heppell has worked with "Mystere" and several other Cirque shows, but finds "Ka" the most complex.

"It's an insane project," he said.

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