The artists will perform Varekai for the first time in front of an audience consisting of Guy and a select audience of 500. This event is called the "Lion's Den." Tensions are high as the artists feel the pressure to perform at optimum level. Will all the artists continue onwards to the premiere?

First Aired: November 10, 2002 (Global) March 3, 2003 (Bravo)

Crunch time has arrived. The world premiere of Varekai is only 15 days away. In a Cirque tradition appropriately dubbed "The Lion's Den" the cast will give a preview performance to an audience of 500 Cirque du Soleil insiders including head honcho Guy Laliberté, the Lion in Cirque's proverbial den. Head Coach Boris explains, "This is the first time we have a run-through for about 500 people, a very friendly but critical 500; the creative department. Definitely a friendly audience but boy, an opinionated one, we know that, so that's the little challenge of the day." The Lion's Den is effectively Cirque's qualifying competition, performers who make the grade will see opening night and those who falter, in the eyes of Cirque's big wigs, won't.

Sadly for Ashley and Gareth their verdict has already been decided. They will continue to train for Icarian Games but will not perform in the show. They have been judged as not performance-ready. Ashley is obviously very disappointed and disheartened that his months of excruciating training were ultimately fruitless. Understandably, he is in a bad mood before the performance, "I just got asked if I'm bringing the [Icarian] chairs out [on stage] . . . Yeah . . . that's ALL I'm doing . . . I so wanna do Icarian, I feel like I've done half a job."

Before leading his cast into the Lion's Den, Director Dominic Champagne hopes to inspire their performance by reminding them of the show's Icarus theme, "A man is dying and he's sure he's dead. All the family around will show him, 'No, it's not the end of something, it's the beginning of something else.' This show is just that, so the lesson that everyone has to share with [Icarus and the audience] is 'Something else is possible.'"

The audience arrives. Guy takes his seat. The show begins. The performance is still rough around the edges but resembles a finished show. Guy watches stoically and scribbles down pages of notes as the cast, dressed in half-completed costumes, run-through the show. Afterward, the camera watches from afar as Guy has an intense meeting with Dominic and Varekai's entire creative team. We sense that the show will see some major changes.

Oleg is the first to hear the outcome of the Lion's Den. He is told that his Acrobatic Pas de Deux with Tatiana will not be featured in the premiere. Oleg is disappointed and on edge, he was not told why his act is being left out. He contemplates his future with Cirque, "No, this sounds crazy. Of course I'm not staying if I'm not doing my act. Nobody can prove to me that my act isn't good." Oleg feels betrayed; he has sacrificed much of his personal life to be in Cirque du Soleil. He has not even phoned his daughter in almost seven months.

The axe falls hardest on the show's singer Adrian Berinde. The Lion's Den was his first performance in front of Guy Laliberté. Unfortunately, it was also his last. Adrian did not fit well into the show's staging or aesthetic and after 100 days at Cirque he has been fired. It is obvious that his working style clashed with the Cirque's. Adrian sums up his experience, "The Cirque is an exceptional place to be for some people but it can be a prison for others. I came here to be useful but in the end I think it didn't matter. In fact, I don't think anyone matters to them. What matters is the show." And the show must go on. A new singer, Cirque veteran Mathieu Lavoie, arrives to take Adrian's place in Varekai.

Cirque Talent Scout Michel Laprise goes to the airport to say goodbye to Adrian. Varekai's ex-singer shares his thoughts on Cirque with Michel, "Let's be frank. The fact that I only met with my composer for half an hour during my hundred days at Cirque, that's not normal. I don't think it's anybody's fault but I think that the Cirque must stay grounded if it wants to continue to thrive."

In the aftermath of the Lion's Den, Michel is a very busy man. He must fill some major holes in the show's lineup. "The show is evolving into a new artistic direction so that implies new players," explains Michel. Guy feels that the show is lacking in high-calibre acrobatic acts. Michel is charged with finding a "spectacular" act. He spends days trying to hunt down an available high-wire act. Unable to find one he instead decides to cast a world-class Mexican juggler named Octavio Alegria. Stage Manager Armand introduces Alegria to the Varekai cast just days before the premiere, "He's in the wrong show but he's got the right name," Armand jokes.

Varekai is being shaken apart and rebuilt with major changes occurring only days before the premiere. Rigging designer Jacque Paquin worries, "We start having shows in ten days, we're not going to re- paint the planet in ten days, there's just no physical time to do it." With a displeased company president, an exhausted cast and virtually no time left, the odds are stacked against Director Dominic Champagne as he reshapes and fine tunes his creation for the pending unveiling.