Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour isn’t just another Cirque du Soleil spectacle of impossibly twisted limbs and gasp-worthy gymnastic stunts. The tour — in Dubai between December 30 and January 14 — is unique in that it takes on a grittier, pop-rock concert format, involving more dancers than it does acrobats.
“There’s quite a bit of acrobatics, but a lot less than your average Cirque show,” said Cameron McKinlay, who’s been playing one of the ‘Fanatics’ in the tour since the beginning of its run in 2011.
The ‘Fanatics’ are a group of five dancers who dress like Michael Jackson — the gold, the belts, the military-styled outfits — and attempt to emulate him out of obsession. Other than the ‘Mime’ character, who represents the spirit of Jackson, the ‘Fanatics’ form the backbone of the narrative with their dance routines.
“I mean, Michael is all about dance, and that’s what this show is. Like, Smooth Criminal is dance, and Thriller is a lot of dance — it’s what you have to expect from Michael, because dance and music was his thing.”
The tour involves 49 artists altogether. Aside from the 18 acrobats and 20 dancers, there are nine musicians, four of whom have played with Jackson himself in the past, including Jonathon “Sugarfoot” Moffett who’d been with the Jackson brothers for 35 years. The musicians perform live on drums, guitar, saxophone, cello, trumpet and keyboard with two vocalists.
The show is split into two acts, set against Jackson’s reworked original tracks, remixed at the hands of Kevin Antunes. The first act includes fan favourites such as Dirty Diana, Rock With You, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, and a Jackson 5 medley, and the second includes chart-toppers such as Beat It, Scream, You Are Not Alone and Man in the Mirror.
‘Things go wrong’
The acrobats — two aerial gymnasts performing a duo act on harnesses, a solo contortionist, a Japanese group of ‘tumblers’ affecting stunning synchronised acrobatics, and a group of ‘general acrobats’ — add the expected Cirque flair to the show.
Vincent Deplanche, a parkour expert who’s been with the show as one of the general acrobats since its start, is one of a handful of performers who fly over — and reach out to — the crowd using special straps and motors during the show.
“I’m scared at times, but not too scared. I usually am comfortable with heights. I wouldn’t say I would climb up to the Burj Khalifa…” he quipped, adding, “things go wrong sometimes... people either react so quickly that even people on the stage don’t notice, but if we do notice it, people make up [for it] and we try not to interrupt the energy and flow. So far, we’ve been fairly consistent at delivering a solid show.”
In the 20 minute intermission between acts, the show becomes an interactive one as the performers come out to teach the audience — up to 6,000 people at the World Trade Centre Arena — how to pull off some of the King of Pop’s most popular dance moves, including the moonwalk.
Unsung heroes
When the curtains part every night, there’s more than just one set of song and dance happening. The obvious show is on stage for all to see, but the most important one, equally as intricate and spectacular in its scope, is the one that happens behind the scenes.
At any given time, you’ll find 75 unsung heroes in the form of crew members running around the racks of clothing, laundry hampers and makeshift offices backstage. They are responsible for stage set-up (which took a whopping 10 hours to accomplish in Dubai, a week before opening night), finances and accounting, carpeting and tech, and, of course, the maintenance of 250 costumes — with duplicates, just in case disaster strikes.
Eight of the crew members are the wardrobe assistants, there to help with efficient outfit changes during the show; specialist LED-technicians are available to look after the likes of the Billie Jean costumes that light up. Outfit changes happen in three different places: the Fox Rooms, the Rabbit Rooms, and much less often, the Turtle Rooms, all named after the amount of time it takes to rush to them. The quickest changes happen in the Rabbit Rooms right underneath the stage, the second-quickest happen in the Fox Rooms immediately behind stage, and the slowest changes happen in the Turtle Rooms: the dancer’s regular dressing rooms, which are furthest away.
On average in America, the tour travels in 40 trucks, and three of them are there solely to carry the 1,500 individual pieces of wardrobe including wigs, hats, shoes, gloves and accessories. Out of necessity, five washers and three tumble dryers accompany the show wherever it goes.
“It’s a testament to how both Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil liked to do things extravagantly and over-the-top,” spokesperson and tour expert Laura Silverman said of the grandiose costumes and props.
Extravagant as it is, the show premiered in Montreal on October 2 in 2011, and has since had 406 shows in 26 countries, drawing more than three million audience members worldwide. Since its beginning, it’s raked in more than Dh1 billion in earnings.
