Production Value
by Damon Hodge
April 1, 2009
The Fountains of Bellagio is one of the most ambitious, choreographically complex water entertainment features ever conceived.
Innovation and technology combine to create new entertainment spectacles.
To say that the timing for
opening a new resort is not ideal is a vast understatement, as a recession
unlike anything experienced since the Great Depression holds the nation in its
grips. Marnell is realistic about the short-term prospects for the Las Vegas property but
optimistic that M Resort will get its fair share of the
market.
Plenty of ink has been
spilled chronicling the technological marvel that is Cirque du Soleil’s Ka
theater. The $165 million, 1,951-seat arena has speakers built into the
headrests, a 25 x 50-foot floating stage and a beach created from 350 cubic
feet of granular cork imported from Portugal.
The Marnell Carrao
Associates architectural firm built the theater specifically for Ka, with the
goal of creating a singular environment conducive to the show’s atypical
dramatics.
“The Ka showroom in
particular is not typical of a Broadway-style theater,” said Mitch Trageton,
executive vice president of architecture for Marnell Corrao Associates, which
also built specially designed theaters for four other Cirque productions:
“Mystere” at T.I., “O” at Bellagio, “Zumanity” at New York-New York and “The
Beatles LOVE” at the Mirage.
“Broadway-style shows like
the Lion King play in typical theaters, where you have a stage area, a seating
area and certain lighting positions,” Trageton said. “Those types of facilities
have limited flexibility, whereas the theaters we built for Cirque are
dedicated to specific shows playing in those spaces for long periods of
time.”
As big-budget,
Broadway-style shows have come to the Strip, the technological acumen and body
of knowledge required to pull ever-bigger spectacles has dramatically
increased.
Because Le Reve at Wynn
Las Vegas takes place in a 1.1- million-gallon tank of water, each cast member
must be SCUBA certified. Sixteen SCUBA divers are required for each
performance.
Eighty-six pieces of
pyrotechnics are fired during each Sirens of T.I., the popular pirates battle
fronting the casino.
A computer program runs
the famous Bellagio dancing fountains, choreographing the water blasts to music
and automatically canceling or scaling down the show depending on the
weather.
Technology is on display
up and the down Strip—from digital lighting systems to master control software
that integrates lighting, audio, video and HVAC into one master
system.
The glut of high-tech entertainment prompted the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas to
create an Entertainment Engineering and Design program that teaches students
about fine arts, engineering and emerging technologies.
Innovative cues
High-tech
production has even inspired innovation.
After seeing “O” at the
Bellagio, Celine Dion and Cirque du Soleil expatriate Franco Dragone teamed on
“A New Day…,” a large-scale production featuring music, dance and visual
effects.
Caesars Palace built Dion her own, specially designed theater—the
$95 million, 4,100-seat Colosseum. More than three million people saw “A New
Day…,” which ran from March 2003 to December 2007.
Shortly after Dion
departed, technicians hurriedly began renovating the stadium to accommodate its
next resident acts, Bette Midler and Cher.
They expanded the
performance area 7,000 square feet (by eliminating 1,500 square feet of stairs)
and added 148 seats, bringing total capacity to 4,296.
They also installed a
hydraulic 20x20 elevator to serve as the center-stage lift, removed the famous
raked stage, redesigned of the current rigging system by adding five miles of
sturdy wire rope, increased storage space for the set and improved the lighting
and audio systems
“We had to create a [sound] system to
accommodate all four artists,” Colosseum audio director and system engineer
Dave Torti told prosoundweb.com in December. He was referring to Cher, Midler, Elton John and Jerry Seinfeld.
Shine a light
Lighting
plays an equally important role in shows. Adam Camp, managing director of Las
Vegas-based Neu Visions Design, said it creates the requisite ambiance. Proper
lighting can make large rooms feel intimate and small spaces seem
spacious.
His firm has designed
lighting systems for Pure and LAX nightclubs, among other venues. “Lighting can
make everybody look beautiful and create a sense of
comfort.”
It can also serve as a
unifying theme for a show, as is the case with Crazy Horse at MGM Grand. Open
since 2001, the Crazy Horse has drawn raves for its eclectic use of light to
create textured effects: The light bathes the dancers in a rainbow array of
colors and a mix of shapes, nearly overwhelming the eyes with multiple focal
points.
The topless show is an
adaptation of the Parisian original created by Alain Bernardin, an amateur
artist who projected light and color on a woman and fell in love with the
imagery.
“He started
experimenting with shapes and images,” Sally Dewhurst, marketing manager for
the Crazy Horse Las Vegas. “He saw the body as a blank canvas that he could
paint by projecting light on the female form. We’ve incorporate light
throughout our show. It really enhances everything.”
The era of gaudy
production shows bodes well for companies nimble enough to embrace the latest
technology, Trageton said. Innovative shows that effectively use light, sound
and theater enhancements such as good sight lines will likely have a leg up on their
competitors.
“In the past, shows were based had cues based on a
musical score and someone controlled the board to determine when lights when on
and on,” Trageton said. “Now a computer program runs all the cues: fire
effects, soundtrack, things popping out of the floor, lights,
computer-controlled lighting and automated show systems. Technology is here to
stay.”
Damon Hodge
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