Cirque Dreams Debuting at SFoT in '07

[The Interpreter]

Cirque Dreams debuting at Six Flags Over Texas In 'o7

By ANDREA AHLES

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

With flying acrobats, fluorescent-costumed contortionists and human-sized polka-dotted slinkys, Six Flags Over Texas unveiled its new Cirque Dreams Coobrila show for its 2007 season.

Since the new show will be performed at night, the Arlington theme park also announced it will stay open one hour later, until 11 p.m., from June 16 to Aug. 19.

Six Flags general manager Steve Calloway said the new show will require extensive renovations of the park�€™s 10,000-seat Music Mill Amphitheatre. The amphitheater is typically used for one-time music concerts during the summer. Those concerts will now be scheduled in the spring and fall when Coobrila is not performing, he said.

Calloway would not disclose how much the renovations will cost Six Flags. The amphitheater will have three stages including 60-foot runways that extend into the audience.

�€œIt will be the modern day version of the three-ring circus but set in a theatrical way,�€� said Neil Goldberg, artistic director of Cirque Productions based in Pompano Beach, Fla.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/16002972.htm

[WooferBearATL]

WOW

This and the Holiday Card thing in being paired with Home Depot. SF seems to be thinking outside the box. Sounds like they may be on the right track.

[ragerunner]

I thought for a while that KI could use its Timberwolf for a show like this.

[Avatar]

That show really bings in the people. It will be an expenssive risk but if it works it will payoff in a huge way. You got to admit that Six Flags does not always make the best decissions but they do take the big risks.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes. But how many times have those big risks paid off for them? Buying Sea World Ohio? Make Six Flags Magic Mountain the Xtreme park? Hopefully, it is a success. At least they are willing to put a lot of money into entertainment at a park. I mean, back in the day there was a lot more emphasis on live entertainment in the parks. Heck, at Kings Island there was the Kings Island Clown band roaming the midways.

[The Interpreter]

More on this:

Posted on Tue, Nov. 14, 2006

SIX-RING CIRCUS

An acrobatics show comes to town as Six Flags continues its shift toward family-friendly entertainment

By ANDREA AHLES

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

With flying acrobats, fluorescent-costumed contortionists and human-sized polka-dotted Slinkys, Six Flags Over Texas unveiled its new Cirque Dreams Coobrila show for its 2007 season.

"It will be the modern-day version of the three-ring circus but set in a theatrical way," said Cirque Productions artistic director Neil Goldberg about Coobrila, which derives its name from the show's theme, "Cooler, Brighter, Later."

Because the show will be performed at night, the Arlington theme park also announced Monday that it will stay open one hour later, until 11 p.m., from June 16 to Aug. 19.

With the extended evening hours, Six Flags general manager Steve Calloway said, the park will add outdoor stage bands and nine performance groups, such as jugglers and stilt walkers, who will wander through the park. There will also be thousands of lights all over the park, including lasers and sky trackers, he said.

The new show will require extensive renovations of the park's 10,000-seat Music Mill Amphitheatre, Calloway said. The amphitheater is typically used for one-time concerts during the summer. Those concerts, about 12 a year, will now be scheduled in the spring and fall when Coobrila is not performing, he said.

Calloway would not disclose how much the renovations will cost Six Flags. The amphitheater will have three stages, including 60-foot runways that extend into the audience, he said.

If Coobrila does well in Arlington, Calloway said, other Six Flags parks may also develop Cirque shows. Goldberg said Six Flags executives have seen elements of the new show and are in discussions about bringing Cirque shows to the theme-park chain.

Cirque Productions, based in Pompano Beach, Fla., is not affiliated with the popular Las Vegas shows by Cirque du Soleil.

Six Flags, which changed management last December, has focused on bringing more family-friendly attractions and rides to its theme parks. This year, Six Flags Over Texas added 10 rides geared towards younger children and scattered them across the park.

Calloway first approached Cirque Productions about three years ago about a Six Flags show, but it wasn't until seven months ago that a deal was struck and production began, Goldberg said.

Coobrila will run nightly and have three performances on the weekends. The 40-minute show will feature acrobatic elements from other Cirque shows and a cast of 30, some who will be hired locally, Goldberg said.

The Six Flags show will be the largest permanent Cirque production in the U.S., Goldberg said. The company also has permanent shows in Branson, Mo., and Palm Springs, Calif., and will open at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., this year.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/16002972.htm

[KIBeast]

Sounds good. As long as it's a decent three ring circus, I don't see why the GP won't go for this kind of show.

[RailRider]

Well if anyone could screw this up it would be Six Flags. Heres hoping that they make something work for once, because Cirque would be a great addition to the parks. It will be interesting to see how this works out and to see if Six Flags stays comitted to it.

[Delirium13]

If they can make this work it would be another step in the right direction. I hope they can. This would be a cool addition to a park.

[jzarley]

It does sound interesting and a good draw for the families that SF is trying to attract. (And, those "fancy circuses" seem to be all the rage...personally, I've never been too tempted )

Keep in mind that this is not being produced by Cirque du Soleil of Vegas and Downtown Disney fame, this is being done by another company, which may or may not have the same production values for which the "real" Cirque is famous.

[RailRider]

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I thought the same thing about the production company. I wonder what type of quality this show will truly be. Should be interesting to see how the show works and also how the entire production comes together. Lets see if Shapiro can earn that bonus he received.

[Firefall Pkd]

Ah, reminds me of Imaginique at Busch Gardens, and they had to go and replace it with that Kinetix show I'd love to see this show, let alone go to Sfft in general.

Oh well, I'll get my Cirque du Soleil fix next week in Washington DC with Corteo.

[WooferBearATL]

Sounds good. As long as it's a decent three ring circus, I don't see why the GP won't go for this kind of show.

Cirque? A Decent Show?

You've obviously never seen a Cirque show of any kind.

Cirque puts on (hands down) the most incredible events that you've ever seen in your life.

And honestly, that's not over billing it.

Ah, reminds me of Imaginique at Busch Gardens, and they had to go and replace it with that Kinetix show I'd love to see this show, let alone go to Sfft in general.

Oh well, I'll get my Cirque du Soleil fix next week in Washington DC with Corteo.

I'll be seeing Corteo in Atlanta at the beginning of December.

I've already seen Alegria and Delirium.

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I thought the same thing about the production company. I wonder what type of quality this show will truly be. Should be interesting to see how the show works and also how the entire production comes together. Lets see if Shapiro can earn that bonus he received.

Well, if it's being put on by Cirque you can assure that it will be of the highest quality.

I can't think of one show that they've ever put on that has not been very successful.

[jzarley]

Well, if it's being put on by Cirque you can assure that it will be of the highest quality.

I can't think of one show that they've ever put on that has not been very successful.

But you're missing a really big distinction. This is not THE Cirque du Soleil that produces Corteo, Alegria and Delirium doing the show at SF. This is a completely different, unrelated company that also happens to have the French word for "circus" in their name. It may or may not come even close to the production values for which Cirque du Soleil is famous.

[WooferBearATL]

Well, if it's being put on by Cirque you can assure that it will be of the highest quality.

I can't think of one show that they've ever put on that has not been very successful.

But again, this is not THE Cirque du Soleil that produces Corteo, Alegria and Delirium doing the show at SF. This is a completely different, unrelated company that also happens to have the French word for "circus" in their name. It may or may not come even close to the production values for which Cirque du Soleil is famous.

Now that's tricky. I'm wondering why there has not been a copyright suit on that.

[jzarley]

^ Yes, which I think may cause a lot of disappointment of guests who are expecting the "real" Cirque.

Since "cirque" is just the French word for "circus", I imagine it has free use in the public domain.

But I agree, I think it will cause confusion among the GP.

[harvesterofyoursorrow]

I could see Six Flags cutting the "black light" budget for Cirque de Soleil if they did preform at a SF park.

[RailRider]

I just hope SF isnt bitting off more than they can chew with Crique. If guests are misled in to thinking this is the real Cirque and then they see a subpar product I could really see this hurting Six Flags

[Kenban]

Just wanted to point out that this company is putting on a show in Dayton in late February called Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Victoria Theatre. This group also used to put on the Imaginique show at Busch Gardens. Having never seen the show I can't say how good it was but I have heard Imaginique was very well done. Although it was removed this year since it was too expensive.

[RailRider]

I have seen Imaginique, while good for a theme park show it still is not on the level of Cirque de Solei in Vegas. I know I know, 2 different companies, but will the general public realize this when it is advertised as Cirque. I wonder if it was too expensive for Busch to continue with how will the cash challenged Six Flags manage?

[Firefall Pkd]

Well if it's the same people who did Imaginique then that would explain why they have "human-sized polka-dotted slinkys" I was starting to think it was a knock-off of what Busch put on. Yes, it was very good for a theme park but nowhere near the quality of any of the Cirque traveling shows and espically not for any of the Vegas shows or La Nouba at Disney World.

And for real Cirque news, seems they have a brand new traveling show coming out in April 2007. I don't know if this is the real name or just a place holder before the details are released; "Cirque 2007"