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What if everything were permissible? And if it was the king's fool who
made sense? And if the Big Top became a magical world where the elderly
became young and where the kings were clowns! And if you were king for a
night! And if that's what Alegría was, what would you make of it all? And
what if they made it into a movie?
On June 9, 1997, Cirque du Soleil announced that work would soon begin on
“Alegria”, a film inspired by Cirque du Soleil's internationally acclaimed
show of the same name. The initial announcement was made at the Cannes Film
Festival by Overseas Filmgroup, which would handle international distribution
of the film. Pre-production was already in progress in Montreal by the time
the announcement was made, and production would soon get under way in
Amsterdam (with Principal Photography to begin on July 14th in Amsterdam
and continue in Berlin later in the summer.)
In "Alegría" the film, the magical, spellbinding universe of Cirque becomes
the backdrop for a tender love story between a street performer (Frac) and
the lead singer of a travelling circus (Giulietta). Incorporating actual Alegría
acts, the film would be directed by Franco Dragone, Cirque du Soleil's resident
director since 1985. Written by Rudy Barichello and Franco Dragone (who won a
1992 Drama Logue Theatre award for directing Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco),
"Alegría" would be produced by Stéphane Reichel ("Crash", "Black Robe", "Quest
for Fire") and Rudy Barichello. Hélène Dufresne of Cirque du Soleil Images
would executive produce.
Though originally scheduled to open in the spring of 1998, the film ultimately
made its debut at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January
10, 1999, and with it, bring an end to an era of unprecedented success with D
ragone at the reigns of Cirque du Soleil’s creativity.
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| Premiere: | January 10, 1999 |
| Type: | Motion Picture |
| Director: | Franco Dragone |
| Composer: | Benoit Jutras |
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