Las Vegas has gone through many reinventions - the pack rat was the right time for families, the resort was Luber-luxe. But the deep recession after the Vegas reinvention that has passed unnoticed to date is not something that Vegas tourism authorities as speaking: The reinvention of income generation.
As any observer who has been in Las Vegas you can see, many of the once great waterfalls and mountains are gone now Gaza, obscured by a cacophony of bars and shops squeeze money from visitors. No one can afford to waste valuable space Gaza by side on stage for a battle more pirate ship, or unless there is a revenue generating angle, preferably linked to technology, food, and drink and media social communication.
As any observer who has been in Las Vegas you can see, many of the once great waterfalls and mountains are gone now Gaza, obscured by a cacophony of bars and shops squeeze money from visitors. No one can afford to waste valuable space Gaza by side on stage for a battle more pirate ship, or unless there is a revenue generating angle, preferably linked to technology, food, and drink and media social communication.
You can see the same thing happens on Michigan Avenue in Chicago - buildings like the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower have their lowest levels sliced and diced in the occupied slots and spaces to street trade. Most of these new stores have an experiential basis.
The Cirque du Soleil still has eight programs running in Las Vegas, some now two decades old. No longer sees many acrobats and singers on posters coming from the airport. You see the faces of Scandinavian DJs, with a few famous chefs thrown in for variety.
That - along with the removal of the strip show - seem to represent something like an existential problem for Cirque, first name order (qualitatively speaking) for at least 20 years, but now also a brand aging and perceptually not digital. These days, people think they've seen what makes Cirque. His parents would probably like to go.
The Cirque du Soleil still has eight programs running in Las Vegas, some now two decades old. No longer sees many acrobats and singers on posters coming from the airport. You see the faces of Scandinavian DJs, with a few famous chefs thrown in for variety.
That - along with the removal of the strip show - seem to represent something like an existential problem for Cirque, first name order (qualitatively speaking) for at least 20 years, but now also a brand aging and perceptually not digital. These days, people think they've seen what makes Cirque. His parents would probably like to go.
That explains in part why it has been three years since the company based in Montreal, which I first saw in Chicago in 1991, has launched its chapiteau in Chicago. Finally, he does it again this week when "Kurios - Cabinet of Curiosities" opens Thursday with the United Center.
Much has changed in the Cirque from the company last was here.
In April, Cirque, which was mostly owned and controlled by its founder, Guy Laliberté, was sold to a private equity group led by TPG (Laliberte retained 10 percent of the company). The new structure also includes China Fosun Capital Group.
There are several interesting things about the new owners.
One is that TPG has owned a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency (CAA) since 2014, so presumably Cirque afford a new entry in the agency formidable list of Hollywood celebrity clients. The other is that Fosun Capital Group is there, in part, to help Cirque expand in China, currently considered the promised land for the live entertainment, even a pockmarked with landmines landscape, especially for those without a partner Local.
Much has changed in the Cirque from the company last was here.
In April, Cirque, which was mostly owned and controlled by its founder, Guy Laliberté, was sold to a private equity group led by TPG (Laliberte retained 10 percent of the company). The new structure also includes China Fosun Capital Group.
There are several interesting things about the new owners.
One is that TPG has owned a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency (CAA) since 2014, so presumably Cirque afford a new entry in the agency formidable list of Hollywood celebrity clients. The other is that Fosun Capital Group is there, in part, to help Cirque expand in China, currently considered the promised land for the live entertainment, even a pockmarked with landmines landscape, especially for those without a partner Local.
So how is the Cirque new resources will change with Vegas, Chicago and the world?
Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque, was there before, and he's in place now. He is a formidably intelligent in technology and live entertainment thinker. He said: "The live entertainment in the next era will be a mixture of 3-D technology and live experience."
The existing Cirque show that most puts in place is "Michael Jackson One" at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, an amazing production that has a hologram image as the King of Pop, enabling you are feel, coming back to life and interact with live dancers. Audience members enjoy numerous surround speakers in their seats.
Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque, was there before, and he's in place now. He is a formidably intelligent in technology and live entertainment thinker. He said: "The live entertainment in the next era will be a mixture of 3-D technology and live experience."
The existing Cirque show that most puts in place is "Michael Jackson One" at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, an amazing production that has a hologram image as the King of Pop, enabling you are feel, coming back to life and interact with live dancers. Audience members enjoy numerous surround speakers in their seats.
Lamarre said that Cirque plans to equip its other Vegas shows, probably one each year, with such technology: much new focus on "The Beatles Love" at the Mirage Hotel, a show of nine years old, which is an already It was earlier technology; John, Paul, George and Ringo probably going to make a personal appearance in the future. "Kurios", the show that comes to Chicago on Thursday, is the first exhibition under the new regime of Cirque, younger, and, so far, done well in previous markets
Besides celebrity projects in Las Vegas, most of the Cirque shows have historically shared a similar format: traditional circus acts presented with more sensuality than you'd find in the bell Bros. and Barnum & Bailey stage shows; a theme designed to attract self-conscious without being too literal or language dependent; a 'troupe house "acrobatic dancers extolling the issue and act as connective tissue narrative.
"The first thing to understand," he said, "is that creativity is the bread and butter of the company. I told our new owners that the finance department is all yours, but we have to protect our creators. They have to be in a bubble. They have to keep pushing the envelope. "
So you will be out?
"Here's the thing about millennials," Lamarre said. "They love our shows, but have always been too traditional in our advertising -... really not share images of the sample, for example, that's all going to change Millennials want to approach them have never ever done that. They have a strong enough presence in social media. If you want to stay in touch with their customers, either in Las Vegas or Chicago, social media is now crucial. "
Newspapers like this, of course, are going through the same wrenching transition, although one notable difference is that newspapers are based on trust and Cirque tends to change its creative with almost all the shows. As the director of "Kurios" Michel Laprise well known, the predictability of the business is not comforting and trustworthy, but death.
"Oh, people would say politely," he said in a recent interview, "but I felt that they thought they were doing things out of habit. So to 'Kurios,' we decided to get rid of all the things we were doing out of habit. It requires a lot of courage, but it is also our moral responsibility. "
But if the new world order means live performers and assembly technology, the general predictions can be made about a new Cirque?
"The shows will have to be more encompassing from now," Lamarre said. "Much, much, much, more immersive. You can see the beginning of that with" Kurios. "You have a better balance between acrobatics, dance, music and visual".
Ah, balance. Meaning more of what? Less than what?
"The visual" Lamarre said, "just going to be more important."
Cirque de Lamarre, along with its new Chinese partner, is soon to open a permanent show at a time to Shanghai, in a town called Huangzhou, which is emerging as a cultural center in China and an arts center.
But next new Cirque show Chicago will probably see something very different from the past: It's called "Toruk - The First Flight" and be a part derived from the James Cameron movie "Avatar". Cameron is a creative consultant. The show begins a year before the next film in the franchise of "Avatar" is scheduled to hit theaters. In fact, 20th Century Fox, which is paying for the film, is a partner in the live show. Rarely the line between a movie and a live show been so blurred.
Besides celebrity projects in Las Vegas, most of the Cirque shows have historically shared a similar format: traditional circus acts presented with more sensuality than you'd find in the bell Bros. and Barnum & Bailey stage shows; a theme designed to attract self-conscious without being too literal or language dependent; a 'troupe house "acrobatic dancers extolling the issue and act as connective tissue narrative.
"The first thing to understand," he said, "is that creativity is the bread and butter of the company. I told our new owners that the finance department is all yours, but we have to protect our creators. They have to be in a bubble. They have to keep pushing the envelope. "
So you will be out?
"Here's the thing about millennials," Lamarre said. "They love our shows, but have always been too traditional in our advertising -... really not share images of the sample, for example, that's all going to change Millennials want to approach them have never ever done that. They have a strong enough presence in social media. If you want to stay in touch with their customers, either in Las Vegas or Chicago, social media is now crucial. "
Newspapers like this, of course, are going through the same wrenching transition, although one notable difference is that newspapers are based on trust and Cirque tends to change its creative with almost all the shows. As the director of "Kurios" Michel Laprise well known, the predictability of the business is not comforting and trustworthy, but death.
"Oh, people would say politely," he said in a recent interview, "but I felt that they thought they were doing things out of habit. So to 'Kurios,' we decided to get rid of all the things we were doing out of habit. It requires a lot of courage, but it is also our moral responsibility. "
But if the new world order means live performers and assembly technology, the general predictions can be made about a new Cirque?
"The shows will have to be more encompassing from now," Lamarre said. "Much, much, much, more immersive. You can see the beginning of that with" Kurios. "You have a better balance between acrobatics, dance, music and visual".
Ah, balance. Meaning more of what? Less than what?
"The visual" Lamarre said, "just going to be more important."
Cirque de Lamarre, along with its new Chinese partner, is soon to open a permanent show at a time to Shanghai, in a town called Huangzhou, which is emerging as a cultural center in China and an arts center.
But next new Cirque show Chicago will probably see something very different from the past: It's called "Toruk - The First Flight" and be a part derived from the James Cameron movie "Avatar". Cameron is a creative consultant. The show begins a year before the next film in the franchise of "Avatar" is scheduled to hit theaters. In fact, 20th Century Fox, which is paying for the film, is a partner in the live show. Rarely the line between a movie and a live show been so blurred.
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