Drawn to Life | The end of the intermission

Drawn to Life, Cirque du Soleil’s brand new permanent show in Orlando, finally took off on Thursday. Story of a first day full of meaning and report of an electric evening and a successful show.

Josée Lapointe
Press

Alain Roberge
Press

The show

” Intermission is over »- the intermission is over: this sentence could be read on the t-shirts of many Cirque du Soleil employees and artists on Thursday. And it is the one that the CEO, Daniel Lamarre, delivered with relief to the audience gathered for the premiere of the show. Drawn to Life, which should have taken place 20 months ago, on March 20, 2020. The excitement was palpable Thursday evening in the room packed to the brim – and where the wearing of the mask was perfectly respected. After a fun appetizer from the clowns and the official presentations, Drawn to Life, the result of a collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and Disney, has finally come to life, and fulfilled the expectations that were high, both on the side of circus fans and Disney.

A young girl, Julie, must create an animation work from drawings left by her father. Haunted by an evil genius, she will have to find her own path to finally take off. A path that we will see her cross from one painting to another, through breathtaking but also poetic numbers, which each time highlight the origin of Disney’s work, its characters, its music – brilliantly. integrated into the original score of Benoit Jutras, interpreted by seven musicians -, its sets, its classics.

Everyone goes there, but never too strongly, from the genius of Aladdin to Snow White, from Pinocchio to Donald the duck, in silhouette or in drawing, the Disney universe is everywhere, sometimes slightly intrusive, but above all magnified in what is most universal: his creative genius, his pioneers who influence Julie’s career.

Numbers

One of the strengths of this show is really the link between the act of creation and the circus – a living pencil, a suspended Chinese pole which, manipulated by an acrobat, draws lines on the floor, its “cartoonish” details. and its abundant references (the Bambi forest in three dimensions, projected on the giant curtain, Julie who plunges into her drawing table like Alice in Wonderland) – but also of course her breathtaking numbers which illustrate the state of ‘spirit of the young girl as the show progresses.

Many acts actually leave us speechless and heart pounding. Particularly the double wheel, which turns like the propellers of a mill and where the four acrobats who embody the “villains” take all the risks, inside and outside of their hoop, which also turns on itself. . Or the hand-to-hand number in the new magic style, in which bodies float in slow motion, like astronauts in space.

Once again, Cirque du Soleil defies the laws of physics, with precision and technique beyond comprehension. And adds for a rare time, or at least in a really palpable way, a dose of emotion, which is certainly not foreign to the universe of Disney and to the nostalgia which is associated with it.

Rehearsals

At the end of Thursday morning, it was a bit calm before the storm. On the new circular stage of the permanent Circus theater, five Japanese artists rehearse one of their two unicycle numbers. We will see them later during the show flying above the stage with their big dresses that hide their device. Or in their light dresses, spinning as quickly as skaters. One of them also jumps skipping rope with astonishing ease – it is moreover one of the numbers which will receive the most applause from the enthusiastic hall.

During the rehearsal, above them, two Russian acrobats are training on a huge wheel hung very high, in front of a white background. During the show, colorful strokes will be created following their movements, and these curved lines will become Cinderella’s carriage – a number that is at the same time poetic, spectacular and intelligent, like the rest of the show.

Find Julie

The common thread of history, Julie is embodied by Miho Inaba. Born in Toronto to a French mother and a Japanese father, the 27-year-old acrobat studied at the National Circus School in Montreal, and that’s where director Michel Laprise spotted her. “The cast was looking across the planet,” he says. One day, I attend the synthesis exams at the School, and this little bit of a woman arrives. I saw her number, she already had an artistic temperament, a way of moving… I said to my assistant: “Let’s stop looking everywhere, it’s her.” ”

At the National Circus School, Miho Inaba made aerial fabric, hand to hand, Cyr wheel. All these disciplines serve her for this role, she explains. A little pressure, a few hours before the premiere? “I admit that my sleep was lighter than usual yesterday [mercredi], but this morning, I woke up, I did a little yoga, dance in my training room… After this year, it is especially so a pleasure and a great joy to share and to feel the audience energy. “Julie, she represents the” child who is in each of us “, says her interpreter. “It’s a great story, and I’ll try to honor it, to bring it to life as best I can. ”

Five years

Creative Director Fabrice Becker is working on Drawn to Life since April 2016. “I have been there the longest. Michel arrived a month later, and the first pitch to the Disney team was in Orlando in July 2016. It’s quite an epic. »Sitting in the redesigned lobby of the theater that hosted the show La Nouba for 19 years, a few hours before the premiere, Fabrice Becker savored the moment and seemed rather calm. “We are in a good area and we are confident. It’s a huge accomplishment, and we think of all the people who took part in the adventure and who are not here tonight, but who are in our hearts. Now is the time to celebrate. ”

Behind the scenes

In the dressing rooms, Eleni Uranis, who designed all the make-up for the show, draws the face of David-Alexandre Després, one of four clowns who make the link between the numbers, and who somewhat represent the ghosts of the pioneers of Disney . Everywhere behind the scenes, everyone who crosses paths wishes each other a good first, especially in English, but we really hear French everywhere. “It’s important for me to give priority to Quebec designers,” explains director Michel Laprise. Behind the stage and the immense curtain “as big as a football field”, designed with moving panels allowing a three-dimensional effect, the objects that are part of the show are spread all over the place: drawing tables that will become elements essential and recurring – one even turns into a horse – white canvases that look like nothing, but on which will be projected animated sketches, a giant trash can where Julie’s failed and crumpled drawings will be found, the huge dresses of the unicyclists hanging from the ceiling. Everything is in its place and will have its uses, every detail is taken care of.

Bye

Around noon, the director Michel Laprise comes to join us loaded with bags: these are gifts he has just bought for his collaborators. He has prepared a little note for the team, which he will meet at the beginning of the afternoon. “This is a step that has been taken. But I don’t like the expression cut the cord. In the afternoon, he will work out details with the clowns, take pictures and do interviews. “I like the premiere days, I savor it. Especially since it’s going really well. »Towards the end of the afternoon – the show is at 5:30 pm – the guests begin to arrive for this expected first… for 20 months. The show can begin.

Final

For the first time in the history of Cirque du Soleil, the final issue of Drawn to Life only includes women. In the Russian double swings, a dangerous and spectacular apparatus mostly reserved for men, the warrior-princesses who are not afraid of anything and throw themselves into the air represent a little now, a lot tomorrow. Meanwhile, Julie, freed from her fears, armed with the heritage of her designer father and confident in the future, takes off, like them. A feminist touch of strength and grace, which leaves the audience with an explosion of joy. The artists greet them, the technicians, designers and directors of Circus and Disney join them on stage. Even from afar, you can feel the warmth and relief in the hugs.

Due to the light rain, the party The post show will take place inside the House of Blues, opposite the theater, but it’s not enough to bring down the good mood. After 19 years of La Nouba in Orlando, don’t worry: Drawn of Life has everything you need to last that long … and more.

Transportation and accommodation costs were assumed by Cirque du Soleil.