One Night for One Drop is a truly unique live entertainment experience, a dynamic full-scale production created in just a few months by Cirque du Soleil and presented once a year in Las Vegas as part of an epic fundraising gala event to benefit the One Drop Foundation.
The coronavirus pandemic caused the temporary closure of all live entertainment in Las Vegas and the cancelation of this year’s show, scheduled for late March at Luxor, but Cirque du Soleil is stepping up with a special presentation for an even bigger audience on its new CirqueConnect platform. On May 1 at 12 p.m. PST, One Drop and Cirque will premiere a 60-minute special featuring some of the unforgettable moments from previous editions of One Night for One Drop.
“So much effort goes into this and the people who go to the show see the creative part, including what the people backstage have done, the props that have been made, the makeup that has been designed, the music composed, all of this for one night only,” says Pien Koopman, regional director for One Night for One Drop. “It’s such a special moment for our donors and sponsors and people that attend that night because they saw a show no one else can see. So this is really a win-win for all of us, to work hand-in-hand with Cirque du Soleil and to share this with so many other people is a fantastic initiative.”
One Night for One Drop began in 2013 and is traditionally held close to World Water Day. One Drop is an international foundation created by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté with the mission of providing sustainable access to safe water and sanitation to some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.
The foundation’s work is even more relevant during the current health crisis, Koopman says, another reason why it’s helpful to raise awareness about its mission. “Now more than ever we’re talking about washing your hands and (doing things) to combat the virus from spreading, so the work One Drop is doing is more important than ever. People everywhere are seeing how very connected we are.”
Cirque du Soleil will be spreading joy and fun through that connection with Friday’s special, which will feature clips from the 2015 edition of One Night for One Drop held at The Mirage as well as the 2017 show at the Zumanity Theater at New York-New York. The annual productions always feature an assorted collection of cast and crew members from various Cirque shows as well as a different director every year and frequent celebrity guest artists.
“A choreographer could become a director, a technician could become a designer, a musician could become a composer for this show,” Koopman says. “And once we started digging into our files and discussing all the beautiful footage we have from these shows and working on this special, we (found) there is still some stuff available, so who knows? This might be one of many.”
Click here for your free subscription to Las Vegas Magazine’s digital edition. Keep up with everything happening in Las Vegas, including reopening information. You’ll also receive the “Lost Issue” of Las Vegas Magazine, published right before the shutdown.
