O (Cirque Du Soleil)
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''O'' is a water-themed stage production by
Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...
, a Canadian circus and entertainment company. The show has been in permanent residence at the
Bellagio Bellagio may refer to: * Bellagio, Lombardy, an Italian town * Bellagio (resort), a luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas * Bellagio (Hong Kong), a private housing building * Bellagio declaration, an intellectual copyright resolution * 79271 Bellag ...
in
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,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, since October 1998. ''O'', whose name is pronounced the same way as ''eau'', the French word for "water", takes place around and above a pool of water. It features water acts such as synchronized swimming as well as aerial and ground acts. The ''O'' theatre, which is designed to resemble a 14th-century European opera house, has 1,800 seats, thus allowing the performance to be watched by 3,600 people a night since the performance usually plays twice in a given day, also designed to meet the special demands of the show. ''O'' was inspired by the "infinity and elegance of water's pure form," which pays tribute to the beauty of the theatre. A group of 150 stage technicians assist in the production of the show, the cast of which is 85 performers: international acrobats, synchronized swimmers, and divers. Some of them are former Olympic athletes.


History

Since late October 2010, Cirque du Soleil has offered backstage tours of the ''O'' theatre. The experience allows visitors to see the backstage wings, training rooms, costume workshop, break area, underwater lighting area, and go up to a catwalk into the sound and lighting booths. Not every experience will be the same as the tour is conducted around a "regular day", so performers may or may not be training, rehearsing, or even working out. As of early 2011, ''O'' has grossed over a billion dollars since the show opened in 1998. ''O'' has received many awards, including the following: * Entertainment Design Award, best production show, 1998 * Las Vegas Review-Journal, best production show, 1999–2006 * THEA, live show category, 1999 *
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...
, creativity in high definition, 2009, for the documentary ''Flow'' ''O'' had its 10,000th performance on 1 September 2019.


Set and technical information

The show has a cast of 85 acrobats, synchronized swimmers and divers performing in and above a 1.5 million-gallon pool. When maintenance needs to be performed, the pool is drained in about 12 hours to the Bellagio Lake, causing the lake's water level to rise . The pool is kept at and has an underwater speaker system and regulators that allow performers to breathe underwater. Every member of the cast is
scuba Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...
-certified. The underwater stage lift was produced by Handling Specialty. In order for the platform stage to rise and fall in the water without a wake, the rubber surface of the stage is perforated. Cold air vents under each seat help control the theatre temperature for the audience. The goal is to maintain two temperature zones in the theatre: the stage is kept at a higher temperature of , while the audience area is kept at a lower temperature of . A mesh false ceiling allows warm moist air to escape out of the top of the theatre. To minimize damage to the musical instruments, the musicians play from glass enclosures in the theatre. Some of the musical instruments used in the show are more than 100 years old. The unique string instrument heard in the soundtrack of ''O'' is an ''
erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...
'', a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument. To maintain a fresh look on the performers, some
performer The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...
s have multiple sets of
costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...
s so they may reappear dry despite having been in the water. Some of the costumes only have a lifespan of approximately 20 shows due to the bromide and chlorine in the water. Additional facts about the show: * Some of the props function as boats, like the
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally use ...
that Le Vieux rides on the water. * There are 15 technicians underwater during the show, performing various tasks such as artist handling and props manipulation. * The
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s that the Comets ride in the show weigh . * The clown house weighs over . * Hanging 49 feet above the stage, the carousel and téléphérique (a conveyor system) carry tons of equipment as well as performers during the show. * Most of the props that are used during the show are actually driven by the Performers who ride them. For instance, the carousel horses have a small propeller underneath their tails; they are controlled by a joystick located on the back of the horse.


Costumes

Costumes for ''O'' drew inspiration from many sources: ''
commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
'', the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
, India, the '' Arabian Nights'', as well as Venetian courtly fashions. The costumes' silhouettes are defined by the design and are accentuated by the transparency of the selected materials and fabrics. Many costumes' base design are leotards which are then expounded upon: this includes the Zebras and Flayed Ones, among others. The Flayed Ones' leotards, for example, originally had hand-painted muscles on them, as digital screen-printing was inaccessible at the time of creation. Another special attribute critical to costumes in ''O'' is their treatment to help withstand the water and chemicals in it. To achieve this feat, roughly 40% of the costumes have been applied with a specific type of silicon sizing. In addition, the materials chosen are more durable and had to be able to both mould to the performer's body and dry quickly. Over the years the best fabric found for the costumes has been nylon mesh, which performs well either wet or dry. Additional facts regarding the costumes: * A separate room was built with timed heaters and fans to air-dry many of the costumes which cannot be tumble-dried. * Sixty loads of laundry are done nightly to wash the costumes which can be machine washed. * The swimmers' costumes are replaced every 3 months. * The Comets' costumes last for a full year. *All wigs and headpieces had to have chinstraps added.


Music

The music of ''O'' was composed by Benoit Jutras and features a mix of classical Western and world instrumentation, including Chinese violin (''
erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...
''), bagpipes, African guitar and harp ('' kora''), Colombian guitar, cello, ancient woodwinds and a wide variety of percussion instruments. During the show, the score is performed by a live band situated behind glass walls above and to the side of the stage. The glass protects the musicians' equipment from moisture damage. ''O''s music was recorded at the Bellagio and released on November 24, 1998. () The album was re-released on September 6, 2005. () The songs are listed below with their corresponding act in parentheses. Album track list (and acts in the show accompanied by each song): # Jeux d'Eau ''(Solo and duo trapeze)'' # Mer Noire ''(Barge)'' # Tzelma ''(Interlude from bateau)'' # Africa ''(Interlude from clown act 1)'' # Remous ''(Bateau)'' # Svecounia ''(Interlude from contortion, cerceaux)'' # Nostalgie ''(Intro to russian swings)'' # Simcha ''(Character parade, Russian swings)'' # Gamelan ''(Contortion)'' # Ephra ''(Flying man and cadre)'' # Désert ''(Opening, nage, solo and duo trapeze)'' # Terre Aride ''(Fire)'' # O ''(Finale)'' Additional songs in the show not included on the album: * Danse ''(Clown act 2) (2001-present)'' * Debbie (''Journey of Man'') ''(Washington/solo trapeze)'' * Festival ''(Interlude from Fire)'' * Sur Terre ''(Clown act 2) (1998-2000)'' * Plouf ''(High dive)'' * La Glace ''(Clown act 1) (1998-2000)'' * Reda Ver.1 ''(Opening) (1998-2000)'' * Reda Ver.2 ''(Opening) (2001-present)'' * Confluence ''(Interlude from Cerceaux) * Merou ''(Washington trapeze) (1998 only)'' * Nenuphar ''(Intro to contortion)'' * Robinet ''(Clown act 1) (2001–present)'' * Humoresque No. 7 Opus 101 ''(Opening Interlude) (1998-2000)'' * Aurora ''(Opening Interlude) (2001–present)''


Filmography

In 2007, Cirque du Soleil released the film ''Flow (A Tribute to the Artists of "O")''. The documentary was filmed in the ''O'' theatre and by the
Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
. The film shows certain artists performing out around the river as well as on stage and provides information on the necessary technical equipment used to produce the performance. Bonus features of ''Flow'' include: performance clips, Russian swing act, technical information and film below the surface of the ''O'' pool, and information about the creation of ''O'' itself. In 2009, ''Flow'' won the Prix Italia award for the category of Creativity in High Definition.Prix Multimedia Winners
The following acts were used in '' Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away'': *
Synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...
* Bateau *
Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
* Duo trapeze *
Contortion Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other li ...
*
Aerial hoop The aerial hoop (also known as the lyra, aerial ring or cerceau/cerceaux) is a circular steel apparatus (resembling a hula hoop) suspended from the ceiling, on which circus artists may perform aerial acrobatics. It can be used static, spinning, ...
s


References


External links

*
Official Bellagio site for ''O''
{{Authority control Cirque du Soleil resident shows Production shows in the Las Vegas Valley Las Vegas shows