When people ask me to describe Cirque Du Soleil, I like to say it is, simply put, the Circus for pretentious people. It has all the same tropes –clowns, jugglers, amazing high flying feats of daring, trapeze acts, and more. What they do so well is dress up what we know and love about old-school circuses in spectacular costumes, staging, music, and theater trappings for a unique experience. One thing they have always done so well is special theme shows. In Vegas they have shows dedicated to Elvis, The Beatles, and magic. In Los Angeles they have a show dedicated to movies.
Ten years ago they only did one or two shows every couple of years. They now have over 21 ongoing shows. With seven of these in Las Vegas, it has become their de facto American home. This year they are embarking on their grandest concept ever, a tribute to Michael Jackson. The Immortal World Tour is the first time Cirque Du Soleil will play in arenas like Madison Square Garden, the Verizon Center, the Izod Center and more. It will be interesting to see if the intimate nature of a Cirque show can translate to these grand-scale environments.
Last week, Eureka’s Co-Creator, Jamie Paglia and star, Colin Ferguson, took some time to chat with a group of bloggers/journalists about the series’ final season, which premieres this evening on Syfy [9/8C]. The two were their usual charming, witty, goofy selves, though there was a bit of an undercurrent of sadness with The End looming in just a few short weeks – in spite of the show growing its audience, year-to-year, every season so far in its run – along with their joy at being able to let fans see what they think is the best season of the series yet.
Maggie Grace is best known for the TV Show Lost and playing the kidnapped daughter in Taken. Her star is rapidly rising and later this year she’ll be the main villain in the concluding chapter of the mega hit Twilight franchise and she just wrapped the sequel to Taken. She talks about all of this in a recent roundtable interview. Lockout opens April 13.
This week, I had a chance to partake in a roundtable with Guy Pearce. We talked extensively about his upcoming sci-fi flick Lockout and got a bit of dirt about Prometheus – he gives a big spoiler about his character. Lockout opens April 13.
Magic City [Starz, Fridays, 10/9C] is about a specific time in the history of Miami, Florida. New Year’s Eve of 1958 found the city about to hit a period of ferocious growth – what with Castro’s Cuban revolution forcing thousands of Cubans to flee for lives, most winding up in Miami. Soon, and for largely the same reason, the city would be taking over from Havana as the party town of the region.
The series is based, in part, on Glazer’s memories of life in Miami at the time, and centered on the Miramar Plaza Hotel, owned and operated by Ike Evans [Morgan] – a fictional version of the famous Fontainbleau Hotel – and the deal he makes with mob boss Ben ‘The Butcher’ Diamond [Danny Huston] to achieve his dream.
Recently, Glazer and Morgan took some time to talk with a group of bloggers/journalists about the series – and maybe a little football…
Earlier this week, Stephen S. DeKnight spoke with a group of journalists/bloggers about the second season of Starz’ hit series, Spartacus, subtitled Vengeance, and its mind-bogglingly crazy bloodbath of a season finale. He talked a bit about how the season was developed; what the season achieved in terms of the overall story of Spartacus, and was persuaded to talk a bit about season three [which remains subtitle free for the moment].
One of the best things about the return of Bones [Fox, Mondays, 8/7C] is the opportunity to chat with series creator Hart Hanson and showrunner Stephen Nathan. As you might expect from the series itself, these are two funny, charming guys – and with the birth of the show’s lead couple’s baby, with all its attendant potential for the funny, they certainly didn’t let us down when they spoke with a group of journalists/bloggers last week [one day prior to learning of the series’ renewal for an eighth season].
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