The surge of resident productions beginning with 1993’s Mystère, and
continuing forward to 1998’s "O" and La Nouba, 2003’s Zumanity, and 2004’s
KÀ, gave Cirque an appetite to explore its options beyond Las Vegas. Indeed,
Cirque du Soleil President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Daniel Lamarre
alluded in 2004 to having no less than three new permanent ventures within
the "next few years" on the books, with Tokyo at the top of that list. "I
wouldn't want to put a calendar to the construction," Lamarre said in an
with The Star (www.thestar.com) but I think it's safe to say we will begin
work on the Tokyo project very soon."
With an announcement on April 7, 2005 that Cirque du Soleil came to an
agreement with the Walt Disney Company and Oriental Land Co., Ltd (OLC for
short, the company that administers Tokyo Disneyland Resort – they own the
land and the buildings, but Disney owns the content) to open a permanent
theater in Tokyo, the journey from A to ZED was well on its way!
"This will be Cirque du Soleil’s first permanent theater and show in Japan
and its first permanent venture outside North America," mentions a Cirque du
Soleil press release. Currently all permanent ventures reside in the United
States (Mystère, "O", Zumanity and KÀ in Las Vegas, Nevada and La Nouba in
Orlando, Florida), but there have been rumors of possible installations in
London, England; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany and, of course, Tokyo, Japan
throughout the years. Cirque will develop the original exclusive show, which
is set to premiere August 2008. This as yet named project was mentioned to
cost approximately $140-million US ($115-million provided by Japan’s Oriental
Land Co.) and include a theater for up to 2,000 spectators.
The agreement didn’t come overnight, however.
Mickey-san & Cirque •
Theater Breaks Ground
Finding a Director •
Meet the Press
Disaster Strikes •
Shocking News
It all started about eighteen months prior, around the time of Quidam’s premiere
in Fukuoka (10/22/2003 – 12/7/2003). Already quite happy in its partnership with
Cirque du Soleil (with La Nouba still going strong at the Walt Disney World Resort
in Orlando, Florida), Disney showed an interest in initiating a new project to be
housed at one of their other resorts. And with Cirque du Soleil looking to break
into the Asian market, Guy Laliberté took an hour to meet with a team from Disney
and the Oriental Land Corporation, accompanied by Daniel Lamarre, Robert Blain
(Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer), and François Macerola
(Vice-President of Business and Legal Affairs).
"After that first meeting, Disney contacted us to negotiate a contract," Macerola
recounts. "With his powers of persuasion, Guy had succeeded in conveying his
enthusiasm to the OLC representatives. They were convinced; they decided to get
involved in the major project. We put together a solid team of negotiators," Macerola
continues. The team, directed by Daniel Lamarre, set the overall development and
business parameters for the project."
The team also included: Richard Dennison, Company Manager for La Nouba, who is
knowledgeable about Cirque’s relations with Disney; Robert Blain; René Khayat,
Senior Legal Counsel; Annie Derome, Development Strategy Director with Business
and Legal Affairs; and Gabriel Pinkstone, Assistant to the Vice-President of
Production.
"While the Disney people knew us well, we needed to help the OLC folks get to
know us. So before we came to a signed agreement, we brought them with us from
show to show, to Las Vegas and Orlando," continues Macerola. After came 18 months
of intense negotiations—and the whole process concluded with a contract for Cirque
du Soleil to present a resident show for 12 years in Tokyo. René, François and
the Cirque team could now say "mission accomplished!"
The groundbreaking ceremony on the $140 million USD, 2,000 seat theater project
took place on April 18, 2006 at 10:00am, at the site reserved for the theater (next
to Disney Ambassador Hotel). Representatives of Takenaka Corporation and Oriental
Land Co., Ltd. performed the groundbreaking in the presence of a Shinto priest from
nearby Seiryu Shrine, who blessed the project as part of the ceremonies. A total of
47 people related to this project attended the ceremony, which also included
traditional Japanese rituals praying for safe completion of the building, and
statements by Yoshiro Fukushima (President and COO of OLC), Francois Macerola
(Vice-President of Cirque du Soleil), and Nick Franklin (President of Walt Disney
Attractions, Japan).
# # #
Statement from Yoshiro Fukushima,
President and COO of Oriental Land Co., Ltd.
It is our honor to present in Tokyo Disney Resort, Cirque du Soleil’s first
permanent theatre outside North America.
Cirque du Soleil creates thrilling performances that challenge the limits of human
capability, transforming it into Art. Creation of an original show for this theater
has already begun and we are sure that it will deliver even more wondrous entertainment
to guests visiting Tokyo Disney Resort.
The opening of this theater in fiscal year 2008 will coincide with the 25th
anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland Park and the grand opening of Tokyo Disneyland
Hotel, thus further enhancing the appeal of Tokyo Disney Resort.
# # #
Statement from Francois Macerola,
Vice-President of Cirque du Soleil
It is with great pride and honor that Cirque du Soleil is present today for this
unique and unprecedented event in its 22-year history.
For the first time ever, Cirque du Soleil will have a permanent home outside North
America dedicated to its loyal and devoted fans in Japan.
We have designed a theatre that will pay tribute to the unwavering loyalty of our
audiences and reflect some of the attributes at the core of Cirque du Soleil’s creative
impulse: transparency, clearness, youthfulness, energy and strength.
The design of the theatre will harness the energy of the sun to warm audiences’
hearts. A timeless symbol of youth, the sun has been a constant source of inspiration
throughout our history and our shows. It will be the driving force for creators,
performers and employees involved in this new project.
Today’s ceremony marks an important step in the creative process of this new
project. It is the beginning of the journey leading to an unparalleled production
to open in 2008 - a shining testament to the loyalty and dedication of our
Japanese and international audiences.
# # #
Statement from Nick Franklin,
President of Walt Disney Attractions, Japan
"In 2008, the curtain will rise on a partnership that combines the artistry of
Cirque du Soleil, the creative energy of Disney and the vision of the Oriental Land
Company," said Nick Franklin, President of Walt Disney Attractions, Japan.
"Today with this groundbreaking, we commence building the next great and highly
anticipated Cirque De Soleil theater. This theatre will be the venue for a new
spectacular Cirque du Soleil show adding yet another exciting dimension to the
Tokyo Disney Resort that will amaze and enchant our guests of all ages."
With the negotiations complete and work started on the theater, now all that
was left was to find the perfect director. "Gilles St-Croix (Cirque's vice-president
of creation) called me," recalls François Girard, "and said 'Would you like to direct
one of our shows?' I was instantly excited because I love theatre and this would be a
great opportunity to play on a big scale with such a prestigious company. Then I
became doubly excited, because they told me the show was going to be in Tokyo."
It was a total coincidence, because the Cirque management didn't know at the time
that Girard was deeply immersed in the study of Japan preparing for his movie Silk,
which starred Keira Knightley and opened at the 2007 Toronto International Film
Festival."I was filled with Japan, its sights, its sounds, its culture, its
people, and when this offer came it seemed so right, so destined to be that I
did not hesitate a moment before accepting it."
By November 3, 2006, the rumor mill became abuzz when words such as "water,
masculinity, meridians, fire, Da Vinci, aerial creatures, compassion, air,
femininity, devil, land creatures, mystery, bestiality, shaman and more," were
released to help give fans a first-look glimpse into the show's creative process.
Other statements would
go on to talk about the stage itself, which were rumored to be "six meridians
(half-arches) positioned in a semicircle define the stage and are connected at
the top to the matrix (technical ring), thereby creating roads leading up to the
heavens and down to earth." It was all intriguing.
When it came time to put together what they call "the acrobatic skeleton" of
the show, Girard discovered that he had to make major changes to his own style of
creation. "I am a storyteller," he shrugs. "That's what I normally do in all my
work. I had to pull away from that here because Cirque is not a narrative medium.
I had to learn to be fluid, to turn more towards the world of characters."
And in searching for that world, Girard came upon the Tarot, using the figures
from its deck of cards to people his imaginary world. "Of course, we picked the
Fool as the lead character," he smiles. "He is either the first or the last card,
so we went with the last and called him Zed. We all liked that so much we made
it a working title and it just grew on us, so we never changed it." (The show
also went by the working title of "Production Z" for a time.)
Robert Massicotte, the official illustrator for many of Cirque’s creations,
helped put the director’s thoughts down on paper, "How can we do bungee jumping
differently? How can we get a singer to fly — one who, trailing 15 feet of fabric
behind him, lands on top of the control booth on the opposite side of the theatre?
How do we manage to throw off balance a tightrope walker with a burning pendulum
moving perpendicularly to the wire?" Sylvain Auclair, Production Stage Manager
for ZED, alluded in an update. "For us, the bottom-line question hasn’t changed:
How do we electrify our Japanese audience? All our energy goes into accomplishing
just this by harmonizing the beauty of the physical and acrobatic work with a
certain theatricality."
On June 3, 2008, despite steady rains and high winds, over 1,000 people attended
the press conference for the show's name and image reveal, held at the Cirque du
Soleil Theater in Tokyo. On hand were OLC President and COO Yoshiro Fukushima, and
Daniel Lamarre, Gilles Ste-Croix, Line Tremblay, and François for Cirque du Soleil.
With everone gathered in the theater, Nouit, the show's singer, descended from the
matrix above and became the catalyst for the "Kabuki Drop" reveal - a Kabuki Drop
describes a swift and sudden reveal, using drapes or curtains that drop to the floor,
exposing hidden elements for the audience to see on stage. Behind this curtain was
the show's official name and visual (though both had been leaked to the fandom some
time before this official announcement)... ZED! Followed by a few talking poinst:
"The show will be more acrobatical than technological, and there will be a lot
of human bodies involved," offered Gilles Ste-Croix. "In
other words, for anyone who has seen other Cirque shows, the production is more like
Saltimbanco than the much more technical KÀ by Robert Lepage."
François Girard said that technique will
stand in for technology with ZED. "There will be plenty of people flying through
the air," he concludes. "There is technology involved, of course, but we’ve done
our utmost to camouflage it."
Three years of work and millions of dollars have gone into the creation of this
piece, but besides the normal risks that go along with any production, this one has
to be special. "It's the first show Cirque has ever created in Japan, for Japan,"
explains Girard, "and as a mutual point of honour, both the management of Cirque
and the people of Tokyo want it to be extraordinary."
"It would take a lifetime to understand Japan," says François Girard, "but I
certainly have a love and fascination for Japanese culture and great respect
for the Japanese people."
Following the "Lion’s Den" performance in front of Guy Laliberté and the upper
echelons at Cirque du Soleil, the show was tweaked for the last few times: the
combination trampoline/Chinese Poles number went from a four-person to six-person
act during this period, and an aerial silk act, which was only supposed to be an
act-in-reserve, was officially added to the program. ZED would go on to premiere
on time to rave reviews and spectacular attendance. Since its premiere (and over
1,000 performances), ZED has proven to be very popular and reached the one-millionth
guest milestone faster than any other show in Japan. Yes, ZED was well on its way
to capturing the hearts and mind of the Japanese...
Friday, March 11, 2:45pm Japan Standard Time (5:45am UTC), a magnitude 9.0
undersea mega-thrust earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, the most powerful
known earthquake to hit Japan, and one of the top five most powerful in the world
since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful
tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 feet), traveling up
to 10 kilometers (6 miles) inland, moved Honshu 2.4 meters (8 feet) east, and
shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 centimeters (4 inches)
and 25 centimeters (10 inches).
The tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, primarily the level 7 meltdowns
at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex near the
epicenter. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant
were evacuated. A Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,854 deaths,
26,992 injured, and 3,155 people went missing across twenty prefectures, as well as
129,225 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 254,204 buildings 'half
collapsed', and another 691,766 buildings partially damaged.
The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage
in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as
fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said,
"In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most
difficult crisis for Japan." Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan
were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water following the disaster.
Japan was in crisis and although it would take many months and years to recover,
the spirit of the Japanese people was not broken. Many attempted to go about their
business and reclaim their lives before chaos ensued, and the hope was that the
country could get back to business as usual, but that was not meant to be.
Shocking news hit the Cirque du Soleil fandom around Noon on Sunday, July
24th - ZED, Cirque du Soleil's resident show in Tokyo, Japan would cease
operations and close as of December 31, 2011. It was the proverbial shot heard
around the world for Cirque fans. It came as no surprise to learn that ticket
sales and attendance had plummeted since the 2011 Tokoku earthquake and tsunami,
and based on a review of the expected results and the long-term viability of
the show, it was mutually agreed on July 25, 2011 to indefinitely close the
Cirque du Soleil Theater Tokyo and cease performances of ZED as of December 31, 2011.
"Because ZED is staged in a custom designed and built theater just for it,
the future of this fantastic show is still very much in doubt," Fascination
Newsletter said at the time. "It can't tour in either big tops or arenas, and
a theater suitable for its size and scope would need to be built (it took about
two years and a lot of money to build the theater for ZED), so clearly
options are limited. The most we fans can currently hope for is a complete show
recording, but details are not forthcoming at this time."
* * *
Thankfully it would not be the last time we heard from the world of ZED, as
pieces of the show were salvaged and used to upgrade VIVA ELVIS
and MYSTERE on the Las Vegas Strip.
And an HD recording of the show's final performance was made, although it
is only available for employees.
Will ZED surface again?
"ZED will surface again elsewhere," Francois Girard, the show’s Director,
has promised. But when and where and in what form are unknown.
