As Cirque du Soleil moves its “Dralion” tour to Gwinnett Arena for performances tonight through Sunday, audience members can expect to see ads pumping the troupe’s Michael Jackson extravaganza, “The Immortal World Tour,” set to play Atlanta next year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned some details about that closely guarded show, which makes its world premiere in Montreal on Oct. 2 and hits Philips Arena on June 29, as well as about a new big-top production that also will visit Atlanta in 2012.
-- Unlike “Dralion,” which was presented at Philips last week in a half-house configuration, the Jackson show will be “a full-arena [presentation] with a setup similar to a rock concert,” Cirque publicist Maxime Charbonneau said in an email to the AJC.
“Immortal” reportedly will feature Jackson’s vocals placed over a live band that includes some of his former sidemen. It has been described by one Cirque official as a hybrid of a concert and a theatrical Cirque show replete with movement and acrobatics. When Jackson moonwalks, expect him to fly off the stage.
A second night at Philips “might be added in the near future,” Charbonneau said. Tickets are selling well in “Immortal’s” 80 tour markets (reportedly eclipsing $50 million in advance sales by June).
-- Meanwhile, Cirque also will raise its big top here for a new evolution-themed show, “Totem,” which commands a stage evoking a giant turtle. It “explores the ties that bind man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential,” according to its official website. Dates and a location are to be announced.
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