GOSSIPS
Cirque
du Soleil Turns up the Heat
A poster
promoting Cirque du Soleil's new Las Vegas show, Zumanity.
It
used to be that a shapely lion-tamer's assistant was about as sexy as the
circus got. But Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal troupe that has wowed
international audiences with its family-friendly shows, is about to change
that with a new adults-only ''erotic'' show in Las Vegas.
Lyn
Heward, president of the Cirque's creative content division, said instead
of branching out into hotels, the company has decided to diversify the
nature of its live shows. She is not worried the Cirque's traditional
audience will be alienated by a little raunch. ''Any time you're taking a
new direction with your brand, in whatever business you're in, you're
taking a risk,'' she said. ''We're taking a calculated risk. We know what
our demographics are, we know what the clientele of the New York-New York
hotel casino is. It's generally speaking a younger group.'' Felix
Rappaport, president and chief operating officer of New York-New York,
said he was impressed by the early rehearsals during a recent trip to
Montreal. ''They want this show to make people laugh, smile, feel
romantic, cry perhaps,'' he said in an interview from Las Vegas. ''It
really is meant to be a very emotional show and certainly in no way, shape
or form will it be salacious or smutty.'' Nevada liquor laws dictate that
while breasts can be displayed during the show, genitalia must remain
covered. ''We're not trying to compete with the topless clubs off the
strip. We're not trying to compete with anything other than the top
echelon of shows in Las Vegas,'' Mr. Rappaport said. He said one act
involves two female contortionists in water, and another features ''one
woman and multiple men in kind of a cage apparatus, an acrobatic
apparatus.'' He acknowledged the show will hold something for people of
various sexual preferences. ''The MC refers to himself as a drag queen. I
would prefer to use the word host, or hostess,'' he said. ''When he
performed at this press conference he was in his full get-up. Even though
he is a man he was dressed as a woman. I think it is meant to be more
exotic.''
