| Quidam | |
|---|---|
| Company | Cirque du Soleil |
| Genre | Contemporary circus |
| Show type | Touring production |
| Date of premiere | April 23, 1996 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer and director | Franco Dragone |
| Director of creation | Gilles Ste-Croix |
| Senior artistic director | Richard Dagenais |
| Artistic director | Fabrice Lemire |
| Composer | Benoît Jutras |
| Costume designer | Dominique Lemieux |
| Set designer | Michel Crête |
| Lighting designer | Luc Lafortune |
| Choreographer | Debra Brown |
| Sound designer | François Bergeron |
| Make-up designer | Nathalie Gagné |
| Artistic guide | Guy Laliberté |
| Other information | |
| Preceded by | Alegría (1994) |
| Succeeded by | O (1998) |
| Official website | |
Quidam ( /kiːˈdɑːm/ kee-dahm) is the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has now been watched by millions of spectators around the world.[1] Quidam originated as a big top show since its premiere in Montreal, but has since been converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America.[2]
The entire show is imagined by a bored young girl named Zoé who is alienated and ignored by her parents. She dreams up the whimsical world of Quidam as a means of escaping the monotony of her life.[1]
The show's title refers to the feature character, a man without a head, carrying an umbrella and a bowler hat. Quidam is said to be the embodiment of both everyone and no one at the same time. According to Cirque du Soleil literature "Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past. ... One who cries out, sings and dreams within us all."[1]
Quidam has won awards for some of its acts throughout its production history.
The minimalistic stage was designed by Michel Crête to represent a monolithic structure such as an airport or train station where people are always coming to and fro. The major set element includes the five, all-aluminum, 120-foot (36.57-meter) arches above the stage, known as the téléphérique. These allow performers to be transported onto and off the stage from above. Each rail of the téléphérique has two trolleys: one to raise and lower the performer or equipment, and the second to transport it onto or off the stage. As for the stage floor itself, it is made of aluminum decks with a perforated, rubber-type mat. The perforations, of which there are over 200,000, allow light to pass through from below the stage, creating various visual effects.[1]
The cast of Quidam has over 50 acrobats, musicians, singers, and characters, some of which are detailed below.[1][4][5]
Quidam combines a mix of acrobatic skills and traditional circus acts. These acts are listed below.[1][3][6]
Quidam's costume designer, Dominique Lemieux, drew inspiration from Surrealist art, particularly the works of René Magritte and Paul Delvaux. The costumes convey the alienation of the characters and represent an urban landscape through the use of painted textures and fabrics. The dominant color throughout Quidam is grey, but is supplemented by deep, rich, warm colors and embellished with metals. Quidam was the first Cirque du Soleil show to utilize everyday clothing for the outfits, although those in the acrobatic acts are modified. The fabric chosen for Quidam is primarily stretch linen, but also includes leather, jute, linen crepe, wool, velvet and 42 types of cotton.[7]
Quidam has approximately 250 costumes, 500 costume accessories, and 200-300 shoes. The reason for the large amount of costumes for the cast is that each artist has anywhere from 2 to 7 costumes, of which there are at least 2 spares. The costumes, although washed every day, can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.[1]
Quidam’s music was composed by Benoît Jutras, and has been released in three album editions featuring additional songs, alternative new cover designs, and higher quality sounds. The first CD was released on January 14, 1997. (ASIN B000003G5M) The album features the voices of Audrey Brisson-Jutras and Mathieu Lavoie, with the exception of two bonus tracks sung by Brisson-Jutras and Richard Price on the extended CD released in 2001 (recorded live in Amsterdam, 1999).[8]
Below is a list of tracks as featured on the original 1997 release, alongside which the acts to which they accompany are listed. The two tracks on the 2001 extended album are also included at the end: Mìsere and Enfant d'Acier.[8]
Quidam started as a Grand Chapiteau touring show before being fully converted to an arena touring show in 2010.[2] For a short period of time in 2009, Quidam toured the UK and IE in arena format before switching back to Grand Chapiteau when it went to South America.
Cirque du Soleil started using a customized tour bus as a method of helping to advertise Quidam during its tour in the Northeastern part of North America during the fall of 2011. During the shows stops in various cities, the tour bus makes appearances at local merchants allowing people to meet part of the crew.[9]
The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
EU Europe NA North America SA South and Central Americas AP Asia/Pacific OC Oceania
Arena tour2009 schedule EU Liverpool, UK – From 26 Feb 2009 to 1 Mar 2009 2010 schedule NA Kingston, ON – From 11 Dec 2010 to 14 Dec 2010 2011 schedule NA Québec, QC – From 4 Jan 2011 to 9 Jan 2011 2012 schedule NA Oshawa, ON - From 4 Jan 2012 to 8 Jan 2012 |
Grand Chapiteau tour1996 schedule NA Montréal, QC – From 23 Apr 1996 (show première) 1997 schedule NA Costa Mesa, CA – From 29 Jan 1997 1998 schedule NA Dallas, TX – From 11 Feb 1998 to 22 Mar 1998 1999 schedule EU Amsterdam, NL – From 1 May 1999 2000 schedule EU Barcelona, ES – From 20 Jan 2000 to 19 Mar 2000 2001 schedule EU Manchester, UK – From 16 Feb 2001 to 4 Mar 2001 2002 schedule NA Miami, FL – From 7 Feb 2002 to 17 Mar 2002 2003 schedule AP Tokyo, JP – From 7 Feb 2003 to 5 May 2003 2004 schedule NA Vancouver, BC – From 6 May 2004 to 13 Jun 2004 2005 schedule OC Melbourne, AU – From 4 Mar 2005 to 1 May 2005 2006 schedule NA San Diego, CA – From 19 Jan 2006 to 26 Feb 2006 2007 schedule AP Dubai, AE – From 4 Jan 2007 to 18 Feb 2007 2008 schedule NA Monterrey, MX – From 24 Jan 2008 to 10 Feb 2008 2009 scheduleEU London, UK – From 4 Jan 2009 to 15 Feb 2009
SA Fortaleza, BR – From 4 Jun 2009 to 21 Jun 2009 2010 schedule SA Rio de Janeiro, BR – From 7 Jan 2010 to 7 Feb 2010 |
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