A Whole New Cirque
I saw a clip about the new Cirque de Soleil show, Banana Shpeel, and was a little surprised. It is a tribute to vaudeville and features broad physical comedy and music. I’m kidding you, right? Cirque de Soleil is supposed to be about moody music with French lyrics, heavily and stylistically made up acrobats and dancers, and high ticket prices, right? The makeup is still there, and I can’t do anything about the ticket prices, but the rest of it…au contraire. Jo-Ann Munro (Cocreative Director – Communication) takes us behind the scenes of the new production. The show opens in Chicago next month and in February in New York.
A dramatic genre switch is always a risk. It can alienate the fan base, it can be a simple add on for the fan that has seen everything, or it can breathe new life into an old formula. It is too early to tell what Banana Shpeel will do for the troupe. Despite the bells and whistles of lighting and computerized elements to drive the show, a vaudeville theme is a low tech antidote to shows that not only incorporate a multimedia approach, but are actually about technology.
While I am sure that the average theater goer will find nostalgia in the idea, I wonder if it will capture younger audiences. On the one hand, there is a timelessness to some forms of Vaudeville comedy. The style of the Marx Brothers is more akin to the humor versus the situational comedies of today. It has proven time after time that you can dust off old tapes or reels of the Marx Brothers, Keystone Cops, or the Three Stooges and they will still generate some laughs. It is not the same with the more topical humor of today. On the other hand, will the clowns and the tap dancing deter newcomers, thinking that it might be a little too old fashioned? Let’s wait and see.
Have you purchased tickets for the Chicago show? If so, how did you hear about it, and what are your thoughts? Did you purchase tickets based on your prior attendences at Cirque de Soleil shows or is this your first time?
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