(Nashville, Tennessee) Cirque du Soleil is trading in the dreamlike worlds that made it famous to tackle country music: the marriage may seem surprising, even risky. But that’s the bet the Cirque has taken on with a brand new show presented as a world premiere in Nashville.
In the Mecca of country music, many buses have recently sported new colors: those of the highly anticipated show Songblazers: A Journey Into Country Music. Between the neon signs of Honky Tonk Row where the chords of Willie Nelson, Blake Shelton and Dolly Parton resonate day and night, the Cirque battles to attract the already highly sought-after attention of residents and tourists.
Cirque du Soleil has teamed up with a renowned partner to help it win its challenge: Universal Music Group Nashville.
Marie-Josée Adam, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Cirque du Soleil, explains: “Our creative team had been interested in the country music phenomenon for a few years when Universal Music Group Nashville contacted us in the spring of 2023 to create a show in Nashville.”
The popularity of this musical style has been growing for a few years now. For us, the timing was perfect.
Marie-Josée Adam, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Cirque du Soleil
For Daniel Ross, the show’s creative director, there are many connections between the world of circus and country music. “You can’t be a country artist and lie. The music has to come from the heart, be authentic, so that the audience feels involved. That’s also what explains the great popularity of this music: those who listen to it feel like the song is talking about them! In the circus either, you can’t hide when you have the lives of your partners in your hands…”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
Songblazers: A Journey Into Country Music includes a cast of 29 artists.
[Le country et le cirque] are two arts that come from the street, very community arts that have long rubbed shoulders in rural fairs, in village festivals. The artists toured together. It is a natural marriage and we feel it on our set where a strong feeling of sharing quickly developed.
Daniel Ross, Creative Director at Cirque du Soleil
For Cirque du Soleil, the adventure Songblazers also allows us to reach new audiences in smaller markets, says Marie-Josée Adam. “In Nashville, the show is presented in a theater with about 2,400 seats. It will then visit other cities in North America that are not visited by our arena or big top shows.” Birmingham, Alabama, Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are among them.
In the history of Cirque du Soleil, this will be the first time that a show designed for a theater will go on tour for several months.
A large repertoire to draw from
From the beginning of the adventure, a delicate task presented itself to the creative team: that of choosing the soundtrack that would serve as the narrative thread of the show. To do this, it was necessary to draw on more than 100 years of a rich musical history that draws its source from fields, mines, and cities.
“Choosing the music was a delicate process,” admits Daniel Ross. “It’s the heart of the show and the country repertoire is very broad. We explored the roots of the genre, which go much further than you might think, all the way to Africa. The banjo is associated with black communities in America… We managed to cover several eras and several styles, from the classics of the genre to today.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
About thirty instruments – violins, banjos, guitars – are used in this show.
The selected pieces cover a wide range, from the 1867 classic Down to the River to Pray to Chris Stapleton and, yes, Shania Twain and her inevitable Man! I Feel Like a Woman. Billy Ray Cyrus, the Dixie Chicks and Kenny Rogers are also in the mix. An original piece written by Sam Williams, grandson of Hank Williams, has also been added.
These pieces put together form the common thread of the show which tells the story of the quest of two friends to write the perfect country song. The first is a poet with his head in the clouds, the second is a formidable banjo player (played by Steve Ray, one of the jewels of the show). Together, they will revisit the themes and key places that have punctuated country music since its creation: the train, the agricultural fair, the bar, the barn, the radio station… As a true muse, a musician named Mother Mae will watch over them.
For Amy Tinkham, who wrote and directed the show, it was obvious that Songblazers had to tell a very clear story and not bathe in a more abstract atmosphere.
To pay tribute to country music, it was necessary to focus on what it does best: telling stories.
Amy Tinkham, director
“I also wanted to create strong female characters, because country music is full of these strong women,” she adds.
It was also necessary to insert acrobatic numbers into this story that served the story being told. “That was the biggest challenge,” according to Amy Tinkham. The mission was met with Cyr wheel, acrobatic bar and human trapeze numbers that were sometimes moving, sometimes dizzying, sometimes downright titillating, each time fitting in with the atmosphere of the show.
PHOTO JEREMY POLAND, PROVIDED BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
The room Red Solo Cup serves as the soundtrack to this juggling act.
In fact, the creators have managed to adapt the circus numbers to the songs that carry them. Think of a juggling number with red plastic cups on the piece Red Solo Cup performed by the late Toby Keith. Or a totally wacky hand-to-hand number on Crazypopularized by Patsy Cline.
While the acrobatic performances command admiration, the music is what gives this show its nobility. A third of the cast is made up of musicians and singers, many of whom are from the Nashville area.
In total, 29 artists take the stage, making it a fairly modest show by Cirque du Soleil standards.
After the premiere on July 10, the audience left the theater singing the anthem. Will the Circle Be Unbrokenwhich closes the show. The next day, the daily The Tennessean praised the great diversity of the music chosen and the humor underlying the show. “It’s what you expect from a Cirque show.” Journalist Melonee Hurt concluded: “The Cirque team manages to entertain with this country offering.”
“This show comes at a time when there is a lot of cynicism and polarization,” says Amy Tinkham. “I wanted to create a show that brings hope and humanity. Like country music can do.”
Now we can only hope that this luminous spectacle, where the spectator is quickly carried away by the energy of the music, will pass through Canada and Montreal. According to Marie-Josée Adam, the project to go to Montreal is in the pipeline, even if nothing is finalized. “We know that in Quebec, there is an incredible love and a great interest for country music.”
Songblazers: A Journey Into Country Music runs at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville through July 28. A tour will follow.
Part of the cost of this report was paid by the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development, which had no say in its content.
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