Ten days before the equine and acrobatic extravaganza "Cavalia" opened at Atlantic Station in 2009, creator Normand Latourelle eyed advance box office figures and feared he was on the eve of "catastrophe."
Then came the media attention and the good word of mouth, and ticket sales rocketed. A three-week run grew to 10, more than 125,000 tickets were sold, and the troupe broke a sales record for its first tour stop in a city.
"You see the numbers and say, ‘OK, this is a great market,' " said Latourelle, a Cirque du Soleil co-founder who went out on his own and launched the still-touring original "Cavalia" in 2003. "But more likely, I think the people from Atlanta are more open to new types of arts than anywhere else in North America, because the reaction we had was so big, so instant."
In short, that explains why "Cavalia's" sequel, "Odysseo," has set up its gigantic white big top in Midtown after its October world premiere in the troupe's hometown of Montreal, hauling past any number of closer major markets where it could have launched its U.S. tour.
"For me, there was no doubt the first city after Montreal was going to be Atlanta," said Latourelle, a 56-year-old Montreal native who speaks English with a robust accent. "I just wanted to go where the reaction of the public had been so strong."
"Odysseo," which received positive reviews in Montreal and opens here Dec. 7, is a horse of a different color than "Cavalia," bigger in almost every way. Here's a tipsheet of what to expect:
Tip 1: It's a really big show
Though "Cavalia" was billed as the biggest touring production in the world when it arrived in Atlanta, Latourelle felt the size of the stage, which was dictated by the scale of the big top, limited him creatively.
"All the limits I had on the first one, I just threw it in the garbage and said, ‘OK, there will be no limits on this show,' " he said. "I want a real theater. I want more special effects. I want more horses on stage. I want more artists on stage. ... The first one, at one point you could see 10 horses onstage; for this one, I wanted 40 horses" at one time.
To open up the creative possibilities, he had to rethink the performing space. A key modification among many was moving the four supporting masts further apart, from 85 feet for "Cavalia" to more than 200 feet for "Odysseo" (made possible by the addition of four enormous steel arches that help bear the structural load).
The expansion allows for a stage of almost 27,000 square feet, bigger than a National Hockey League rink. The ample stage, viewed without obstructions by the audience, gave Latourelle a blank canvas on which he could erect a hill (that at points, via the magic of stagecraft, appears more like a mountain) for the horses to climb or to appear from behind. The bigger performance space also made it possible to expand the small onstage water element from "Cavalia" into a bigger pond, so that multiple horses could gallop through it at once.
Up above, the technical grid was upgraded to 70 tons, affording Latourelle the additional lighting and technical enhancements he desired. But the founder and artistic director said that while the production is state-of-the-art, he doesn't allow those aspects to overwhelm the show.
"The technical is not there to overtake what's going on onstage," he said. "It's to support what's going on."
Tip 2: There is a story (sort of)
Like Cirque du Soleil and even "Cavalia," "Odysseo" is not narrative-driven, but more of a visual experience. Yet there is a basic storyline. Having met 5,000 years ago in "Cavalia," horse and man undertake an epic expedition.
"We go through the most amazing landscapes that nature can offer us," Latourelle said. "It's a fabulous journey, man and horses side by side going to conquer the world."
The projected landscapes vary from the American West to the Mongolian Steppes. But the locations aren't meant to be specific, rather serving as the backdrop for what's intended as a transportive encounter with the beauty of nature. A journey "into a world of dreams" is how "Odysseo's" publicity materials describe the show.
Tip 3: It's a really big tent
The big top is more than twice as big as the original show's, too large to return to Atlantic Station, which is why the production is holding forth instead at a site at Spring and Eighth streets. The four masts rising 125 feet and four arches are covered by 220,000 square feet of canvas. Created in collaboration with the Italian design firm Canobbio, the tent measures 380 feet long by 175 feet wide.
While the bigger stage inside it does accommodate more horses (69, up from 60) and performers (55, up from 40), the tent was expanded also because Latourelle wanted to pull the lobby/concessions and VIP areas, separated for "Cavalia," under the same roof as the performance space.
"I gave myself the luxury of the best touring theater in the world," he said. "It also offers the public the comfort of a real theater. You feel like you're in one of the best Las Vegas permanent shows."
The capacity is 2,290, not a huge jump from the original tour's 2,004, and Latourelle claimed the auditorium feels more intimate because the rows of seats gently curve at the ends rather than being set on a straight line.
Tip 4: It's 3D-ish without the dorky glasses
It's truth in advertising to assert that "Odysseo" is a 2D show, but the high-def projections do appear to introduce a third dimension in combination with production razzle-dazzle. At times, mountains appear to move one way, clouds the other way and a tree on the stage stays in place, lending a 3D-style effect. Curtains and other hanging layers of material serve as surfaces for projections at different points, adding to the feeling of vast depth.
Tip 5: There's lots for the horse lover
Latourelle began buying horses for "Odysseo" six years ago, training them at a Quebec farm he purchased just over the Vermont border. The 69 horses are of a dozen breeds (Appaloosa, Arabian, Ardennais, Belgian, Canadian, Lusitano, Oldenburg, paint horse, Percheron, quarter horse, Spanish purebred, Warmblood).
The 55 two-legged performers include acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and riders. They are as diverse as the horses, hailing from Brazil, Canada, France, Guinea, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States.
Performance preview
"Odysseo"
Runs Dec. 7 through Jan. 8 (with an extension possible). Showtimes vary. Tent site: Spring and Eighth streets, Atlanta. Parking nearby at Centergy Building, 75 Fifth St.; parking deck can be accessed via Williams or Spring streets (at Abercrombie Place). MARTA patrons can walk from the 10th Street station. Tickets, $69.50-$134.50 (with discounts for ages 2-17 and 65 and over), available via 1-866-999-8111, www.cavalia.net.
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