After almost two years, it was time for Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana to go in for a nip and tuck.
“It was a little too dark. We wanted a lighter version, with more fun, a faster pace and a return to our backbone, acrobatics,” said Ann-Marie Corbeil, the show’s artistic director. Gone are magician Zark’s operatic melodies and about 75 percent of the original music. In their place, there is a new, rock-influenced score performed by the show’s talented live band and a chance to explore cast members we’d only caught glimpses of in the past. There is now an awe-inspiring act by identical twins Andrew and Kevin Atherton that soars over the theater, joining established segments like the ladder acts, juggling and the mind-boggling Wheel of Death.
These were tough decisions to make, Corbeil said, but ones that had to be made to keep the show fresh for Vegas audiences and even the performers themselves, who do upwards of 450 shows a year.
Take the two clowns that propel much of the show’s humor. In between acrobatics, the duo’s slapstick act is peppered with just enough English phrases—rather than Cirque du Soleil’s previous constructed language—to enhance the humor. Of course, given Cirque’s international casts and audiences, most of the humor still comes from the performers’ body language.
Along with the two clowns, there are 12 other characters that have their roles fleshed out, in between and during the acrobatic segments.
“With these characters, I feel it’s fortunate for them that we did the refresh. They work as a unit many times, but they also have their individuality, whether it’s our preacher, our Chinese cook, our Pierrot,” said Corbeil. “Taking Zark out of the show really brought them more forward.” So, in effect, Zarkana may have lost a protagonist, but it gained character.
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