WHEN: Tonight through Sunday
WHERE: Durham Performing Arts Center 123 Vivian St., Durham
TICKETS: $25-$60
www.dpacnc.com or 680-2787
BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN
dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563
DURHAM -- The audience at the Durham Performing Arts Center tonight will be the first to see the new production of "Cirque Dreams Illumination," which the producer says will be "like nothing anyone has seen before."
Neil Goldberg is the director, producer and founder of Cirque Dreams, which has also presented shows like "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy," which has been performed at DPAC and Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, and "Cirque Dreams Holidaze," which will be performed in Raleigh in December. But today Goldberg and his cast and crew are at the DPAC getting ready for a world premiere.
Smaller-scale versions of "Cirque Dreams Illumination" have been performed as a workshop in Atlantic City, N.J., and recently on a at the MGM Theatre in Connecticut. Goldberg said those performances gave audiences a preview of this show, which includes the choreography of world-class gymnasts and acrobats to urban music.
"We have re-created this space I imagined as a youngster," Goldberg said. His parents drove him to school in New York and the commute took them under an overhead bridge, which is recreated in the main set on stage.
On Friday morning, cast and crew were rehearsing on the DPAC stage. The scene was under that city bridge, with pedestrians and a firetruck moving about, and a man about to get his shoes shined, sitting on a chair. But more chairs are added, stacking high in the air as the acrobat balanced atop them.
Goldberg described the show as happy and Vaudevillian-like and the recreation of a silent movie. "It's comical and fun," he said. The audience is taken on an imaginary train ride to city life under a bridge, witnessing feats and the spectacle of gymnastics, Goldberg said.
There are 26 performers and 30 designers, department heads and facilitators. As of two weeks ago, the music was still being written and the set being built. The set arrived on two big trucks to DPAC last week. They've been rehearing all day every day.
Goldberg founded Cirque Dreams in 1993. It is based in Florida and not affiliated with Cirque de Soleil. His degrees are in special scenic design and special lighting effects, which is evident in Cirque Dreams shows and especially "Cirque Dreams Illumination."
Goldberg doesn't want to give too much away so the audience tonight will be surprised. But there is ultraviolet lighting and paint used. And costumes will change in seconds right before their eyes. Scenery will change from full color to a complete blackout without a curtain moving.
"It is the most non-cirque-like cirque show," he said. "It blends so many genres it's like a reinvention of Vaudeville."
He chose DPAC to launch "Illumination" because of the relationship he has with the managing partners and the reception "Jungle Fantasy" received earlier this year at DPAC. DPAC is managed by Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management. Goldberg said that Lynn Singleton, PFM president, was the driving force behind bringing it to Durham.
"Cirque Dreams Illumination" is the opening show of DPAC's SunTrust Broadway Series. It is followed by "GREASE" in October, then "Phantom of the Opera" in November and December. The spring schedule features "Mamma Mia!," "Spring Awakening," "Wicked" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Goldberg is already planning the next Cirque Dreams production, featuring Gershwin music. "My life is my career is my passion," he said. Projects are on the table through 2012.
