ON STAGE
What: Cirque du Soleil鈥檚 Corteo
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
When: Thursday through Sunday
Tickets: $45, $75, $99, and $130 available by phone at 250-220-7777, in person at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office, or online at cirquedusoleil.com and selectyourtickets.com
The distinctive style of Montreal-based theatrical troupe Cirque du Soleil has made it one of the most successful performing arts organizations in the world. Since 1984, various productions have won three Gemini Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and earned producers stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and sa国际传媒鈥檚 Walk of Fame.
Clowns, acrobats and jugglers are synonymous with the circus-like production, which often leaves little room under the spotlight for the musicians involved. The songs that support the story arc are hugely important, however, for both the audience and the artists. Last year alone, 19 shows were being presented simultaneously throughout the world, employing more than 100 full-time musicians.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an awesome chance I have to perform music to accompany acrobats,鈥� said assistant bandleader Philippe Poirier, who plays keyboards and saxophone in Corteo, one of the company鈥檚 current touring productions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite different from what I would usually do in a band, where we just play our own music. The quality of the show is better because of it. Whatever happens on stage, the music is following it.鈥�
Corteo has already been seen by eight million people in 64 cities in 19 countries on four continents 鈥� and, it would appear, there is no end in sight. Corteo is touring arenas in Western sa国际传媒 beginning Thursday night, with the first of seven shows at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre through the weekend. The production, directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, also stops in Vancouver, Kelowna, and Kamloops as part of a North American tour that will continue through 2019. Corteo premi猫red in Montreal in 2005 and has been produced nearly 4,000 times in the years since.
The story follows Mauro the Dreamer, a clown who imagines his own funeral in a world that exists between heaven and Earth. The Montreal-based Poirier is among the 51 acrobats, musicians, singers and actors from France, Hungary, Romania, Russia and elsewhere bringing the story to life. Poirier spends his time during the show in one of the four orchestra pits that hold six musicians and two singers. The musicians are connected through talk-back monitors while they are playing, which keeps them attuned to what is happening on stage.
Because it is live theatre, much can 鈥� and often does 鈥� veer from the script. It is the musicians鈥� job to play along as if nothing happened, ensuring what the audiences sees has the semblance of well-timed orchestration. That can be difficult given the scope of the stage. There is a rotating 40-foot turntable to contend with, in addition to what is known as 鈥楾he Patience鈥� 鈥� a massive steel structure that hangs four storeys above the stage.
Two enormous curtains also shield the musicians from the acrobats, making it even more difficult to see what is happening on stage. 鈥淚t鈥檚 challenging and fun at the same time because we never really know what is going to be the musical form every night,鈥� Poirier said. 鈥淚f a juggler drops his club, we鈥檒l extend a section or shorten another one. Altogether we make it happen.鈥�
He has been with Cirque du Soleil since 2009, and has maintained a typically heavy schedule in the years since. Cirque du Soleil is known for taking care of its own, but producers expect a significant time commitment in return. Members of the touring company are on the road for 10 weeks at a time, followed by two weeks at home. The schedule can repeat itself for years at a time, Poirier said.
The musicians love being busy, he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 dangerous to fall into a comfort zone, if you don鈥檛 practise as much. As a saxophone player, I need to practise every day to keep my mind working and active. Like an acrobat who needs to stretch every day, it鈥檚 challenge for me on the road. We travel so much and sometimes my instruments are in their road cases for two days when we change cities. It鈥檚 a mission for me to keep searching, to keep trying to be better, to make sure I don鈥檛 disappear into the curtain when all this is done.鈥�
