We were really excited to get a call last spring from Vivid Experience asking us to put a proposal together for some high-end, high-energy entertainment for a run of Christmas parties at Birmingham NEC Arena.
The Venue
We’ve worked in the venue before but not for a whole run of shows – so much of our work is created on a one-off basis. The client usually has great quality very circussy work for their parties, so we used this as an opportunity to develop something quite interactive and theatrical instead.
It’s a large space, and the show needs to work for audiences of up to 2500 per night so we looked at some big spectacle moments, including our flying piano, a big trampoline wall act and a disco finale with our birdcage and pyro wings.
The Creatives
We knew from early on that we wanted to work with Gary Lloyd as choreographer and Rob Jones as costume designer, both long term collaborators of Cirque Bijou who bring a West End edge to some of our more immersive work.
With support from Gary to cast the dance team, we brought a cast of 10 artists together and a crew of 3. We had lots of fun working out the narrative and storyboard, which in the end is larger-than-life, colourful and theatrical – with paparazzi, mobsters, jailbirds and starlets vying for attention.
With incredible live singing and piano, tap dancing, trapeze, some awesome acrobatics, voguing and LOADS of sequins, it was a really fun show that played to up to 50,000 people over an intense run of 23 shows in 25 days.
Hats off to our incredible cast and crew whose boundless energy and enthusiasm really made the show a success.
You can read more about this and our other shows on our Our Work page.
Photo Credit: Andre Pattenden