Cirque du Soleil, one of the most recognizable names in theatre entertainment, is combining its unique form of stage craft with the musical library of Michael Jackson to create an innovative new show that will tour across North America beginning next week.
Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour will combine traditional Cirque visuals and acrobatics with the music and dance of Michael Jackson. Billed as a journey into “the secrets of Michael’s inner world” and focused on honoring Jackson’s musical and creative legacy, the show is currently booked for 47 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Following the completion of its tour, “Michael Jackson: The Immortal” is scheduled to open permanently at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It is currently set to open in early 2013, and is expected to be adapted from the tour into a more theatrically based experience rather than the more music-focused tour. When the production sets up shop in Vegas, it will join several other Cirque shows in Sin City, including the long-running “O,” “Mystere,” and “Ka.”
Even though the bulk of the tour’s large market stops are still some time away, Mike Janes, the co-founder and CEO of ticket search engine FanSnap.com, has already seen strong ticket sales for the show.
“We are seeing great early interest in the new tour on FanSnap, and we expect it to draw very well as it is attracting both the legion of loyal Cirque fans as well as the passionate fans of the King of Pop,” James told TicketNews.
Considering the individual popularity of both Cirque and Michael Jackson, hopes are high for “The Immortal.” Janes sees the combination of the two as a potential home run, likening the production to current Broadway megahit “The Book of Mormon.”
“With ‘The Book of Mormon’ show, we’ve seen how sometimes merging two seemingly disparate creative ideas, in this case South Park-type humor and Broadway, can attract tremendous attention. It will be interesting to see if ‘Michael Jackson: The Immortal’ achieves similar success,” said Janes.
Current tour dates are now on sale up through the productions July 2012 stop in Chicago. Additional dates are expected to be announced in the future.
