2 sep 2012
ROYAL PALACE (F)
ROYAL PALACE (F) KIRRWILLER - New Revue "SÉDUCTION" 2012/2013
C ette année, nous mettons la barre encore plus haut », assure Pierre Meyer. « Nous sommes passés de 38 à 50 artistes sur scène ! », rappelle le patron du Royal Palace. Le célèbre cabaret alsacien de Kirrwiller, aux portes de la Moselle, inaugure ce soir sa toute nouvelle revue, Séduction.
« Elle est inédite et grandiose, promet Pierre Meyer. Nous avons fait venir le nec plus ultra des attractions que le monde entier s’arrache. » La recette du succès a été conservée pour cette nouvelle saison : un mélange subtil de comédie musicale et de tableaux spectaculaires.
« Mais nous devons évoluer, précise le patron de ce Las Vegas de la campagne alsacienne. Le public a changé : il a considérablement rajeuni et il est devenu encore plus exigeant. » Pour le satisfaire, l’équipe du Royal Palace a fait appel à Lisa-Marie Bertoni, chorégraphe anglaise de renommée internationale, qui a imaginé cette revue 2012-2013.
Sur la scène, les tableaux vont donc se succéder avec des artistes de treize nationalités, qui revêtiront plus de 500 costumes. Cascadeurs à moto brésiliens dans une sphère de métal, acrobates chinois, trapézistes russes, contorsionnistes mongols, danseurs acrobatiques géorgiens… la revue est cosmopolite et le spectacle continuel.
Sur le plan technique, le théâtre de mille places est équipé du plus grand écran LED d’Europe : et pas moins de 2 000 ampoules sont nécessaires pour éclairer les façades du music-hall.
Avec pour Pierre Meyer un seul objectif : « Toujours étonner le public, le rendre heureux. Les gens doivent se régaler ! » Pari tenu ? Réponse dès ce soir !
Renseignements tél. : au 03 88 70 71 81 ou sur le site internet www.royal-palace.com
ROYAL PALACE (F) KIRRWILLER
International Music Hall
19 jul 2012
HOT ICE 2012
The Arena, Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Blackpool GB
For a 75-year-old the annual ice extravaganza at Blackpool Pleasure Beach is still looking pretty sprightly.
All right, like the rest of us it doesn’t run as long as it used to, but it still scrubs up remarkably well and with a cast of more than 30, manages to put much of what’s left of Blackpool’s summer season shows in the shade.
Dancing On Ice has done wonders for the public perception of skating (not a Minnie Mouse in sight) but, although it has provided several partners for television’s celebrities to perform with, including Katie Stainsby back with this year’s cast, Hot Ice remains an ensemble production.
Soloists may well perform their back somersaults, duets may feature gravity-defying spins and turns and leaps but, as David Cameron would have us believe, they’re all in this together, so no named curtain calls, no details of just who is doing what, no special treatment no matter how many medals they may have collected (eg six times Australian ice champion Trent Nelson-Bond or UK international gold medallist David Walsingham).
Produced and directed as ever by Amanda Thompson, with choreography by Antony Johns and former cast regular Oula Jaaskelainen, this latest fusion of skating and athleticism is as skilful, splendid and fast moving as ever – even if there’s an increasing emphasis on Las Vegas glitter, rather than cutting edge excitement these days.
To that end the constantly changing costumes are truly magnificent – sometimes positively breathtaking – and the soundtrack is as ever an impressive mixture or of rock, pop, jazz, funked-up classics and even big band swing.
Flames and flying flags add to the atmosphere, as do beating drums and rock band lasers, and Pleasure Beach show veterans will notice several numbers dusted down and converted from the extensive Stageworks Worldwide back catalogue of productions such as Forbidden and Eclipse.
It means this is no longer simply an ‘ice show’.
Indeed, at one stage, a dozen of the cast are actually suspended above the rink’s surface on silks, while Russia’s Alexey Kofanov reveals the first of his many non-skating skills – which also include an eye-watering pole dance and another chance to see his remarkable bath routine, made famous in the cult cabaret show Soap.
Whilst some Hot Ice regulars may miss the fun element of old, few can deny that once again this is an internationally-themed show which could be exported anywhere, and is a boon to Blackpool’s summer line-up.
Blackpool Gazette
Robin Duke
The Arena, Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Blackpool GB
For a 75-year-old the annual ice extravaganza at Blackpool Pleasure Beach is still looking pretty sprightly.
All right, like the rest of us it doesn’t run as long as it used to, but it still scrubs up remarkably well and with a cast of more than 30, manages to put much of what’s left of Blackpool’s summer season shows in the shade.
Dancing On Ice has done wonders for the public perception of skating (not a Minnie Mouse in sight) but, although it has provided several partners for television’s celebrities to perform with, including Katie Stainsby back with this year’s cast, Hot Ice remains an ensemble production.
Soloists may well perform their back somersaults, duets may feature gravity-defying spins and turns and leaps but, as David Cameron would have us believe, they’re all in this together, so no named curtain calls, no details of just who is doing what, no special treatment no matter how many medals they may have collected (eg six times Australian ice champion Trent Nelson-Bond or UK international gold medallist David Walsingham).
Produced and directed as ever by Amanda Thompson, with choreography by Antony Johns and former cast regular Oula Jaaskelainen, this latest fusion of skating and athleticism is as skilful, splendid and fast moving as ever – even if there’s an increasing emphasis on Las Vegas glitter, rather than cutting edge excitement these days.
To that end the constantly changing costumes are truly magnificent – sometimes positively breathtaking – and the soundtrack is as ever an impressive mixture or of rock, pop, jazz, funked-up classics and even big band swing.
Flames and flying flags add to the atmosphere, as do beating drums and rock band lasers, and Pleasure Beach show veterans will notice several numbers dusted down and converted from the extensive Stageworks Worldwide back catalogue of productions such as Forbidden and Eclipse.
It means this is no longer simply an ‘ice show’.
Indeed, at one stage, a dozen of the cast are actually suspended above the rink’s surface on silks, while Russia’s Alexey Kofanov reveals the first of his many non-skating skills – which also include an eye-watering pole dance and another chance to see his remarkable bath routine, made famous in the cult cabaret show Soap.
Whilst some Hot Ice regulars may miss the fun element of old, few can deny that once again this is an internationally-themed show which could be exported anywhere, and is a boon to Blackpool’s summer line-up.
Blackpool Gazette
Robin Duke
12 jul 2012
MOULIN ROUGE (F) PARIS
"Some Cancon in their cancan"
Cara Lee(left) and Katelyn Adams in Moulin Rouge costumes
They don’t speak much French, but they know how to kick their heels – and did just that 100 times a night until they were chosen as the first Canadians to join the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Katelyn Adams (from Ancaster, Ont.) and Cara Lee Hrdlitschka (from North Vancouver) were accepted as Doriss Girls – the name for club’s the female dance corps – at auditions in Canada last summer. Both 5’9, with past experience as cruise ship performers, they decamped to Paris in April to begin a one-year contract with the famed cabaret, which dates back to 1889. They shared their first impressions before donning their elaborate (strategically revealing) costumes and moving their long legs on stage.How do you prepare for cancan?
KA: Even if you’re flexible, it doesn’t mean you can kick your legs at the pace of a 10-minute cancan number. Every night, I keep kicking to [the point of] fatigue so that I will be ready for rehearsals.
CLH: I didn’t realize to what extent we would be doing cancan every day – two hours! So my hamstrings went into a bit of a shock from all the kicks. But they taught us wonderfully: We didn’t start by kicking up all the way; we started lower and worked our way up.
We seem to be in a dance moment with so many reality shows, flash mobs and campy dance movies. How does that relate to the Moulin Rouge?
KA: A lot of the dance out there – the tricks and crazy things people do with their bodies on reality shows – is very different from what we do. The Moulin is so traditional. It’s not something that will be put on and then forgotten next year. You’re a part of history.
As new Doriss Girls, were there any hazing rituals?
KA: Everyone has been so helpful. But we really felt a part of the Moulin family when they started doing things like putting wet towels in our cancan boots and taking our knickers and hiding them before we go on stage. And even on stage, one girl tried to undo my bra.
To what degree is Parisian food your Kryptonite?
CLH: I thought about that when I first got here. It’s kind of cruel that we have all this great food around us. But it’s really not a problem.
KA: We are very healthy, but of course we love the ice cream and the macarons – you can’t not. And we have a really good workout every night with the two shows.
The Globe and Mail
12 jun 2012
Folies Bergere French cabaret auction beats forecast.
PARIS — From French can-can dresses to plumed headdresses, an auction of extravagant costumes by the long-time owner of the Folies Bergere cabaret beat expectations at the weekend.
Nicknamed the "empress of the night", Helene Martini ran the Folies Bergere -- Paris's biggest music hall, founded in 1869 -- from 1974 until last year, when it was acquired by the Lagardere group.
Over three decades the showgirl-turned-cabaret manager salvaged some 6,000 stage costumes, keeping them in an outbuilding of her 19th-century chateau southeast of Paris and in a storeroom in the Pigalle red-light district, where she still lives most of the time.
In all, a treasure trove of about 1,000 items was put on sale, raking in a total of 413,212 euros ($516,762) over the weekend, beating expectations.
Lots had been given deliberately low estimates for the two-day sale held by Bailly-Pommery & Voutier in the former stock exchange building in central Paris, so that anyone could take home a Folies Bergere souvenir.
But in the end barely 20 lots went for less than 100 euros, with many hopeful buyers leaving empty-handed.
A pheasant-feather headdress with tiara slated for 200-300 euros went for 1,887 euros, while a leopard-skin ensemble with bustier, suspender belt and a cockerel feather tiara with an estimate of 130 euros went for 1,063 euros.
A stage curtain decorated with red sequins sold for 23,125 euros to rival cabaret Moulin Rouge, which plans to conserve the item as part of French music hall heritage.
Silkscreen prints by Russian-born fashion designer Erte (1892-1990), who worked at the Folies Bergere in the 1930s, also proved popular, while a series of 26 lithographs of alphabets went for 25,000 euros to a personality in the fashion industry who wanted to remain anonymous.
The current manager of Folies Bergere, Jean-Marc Dumontet, also bought pieces linked to the history of the celebrated music hall such as models, drawings and documents.
Headdresses were among the most popular items, with several French and foreign cabarets snapping them up.
Some 75 lots which remain unsold will be presented at a second, larger sale that will take place on Wednesday in the east of Paris, this time aimed at theatre companies and trade buyers.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
26 apr 2012
MOULIN ROUGE PARIS (F)
Thrilling audiences from around the world since 1889,
the Moulin Rouge in Paris is the world’s most celebrated cabaret.
At its nightly shows one can enjoy an elegant two-hour cabaret
production of pure joie de vivre with dance, music and magic,
where the popping of champagne corks is just as ubiquitous as
the exquisite artists onstage.
The show’s latest edition is called "Féerie"(“magic”), and it
features a troupe of 80 artists (including 60 Doriss Girls
recruited worldwide) and 1,000 costumes of feathers, rhinestones
and sequins performed to original music recorded by 80 musicians
and 60 chorus singers. And yes, it features the signature
can-can dance, which the Moulin Rouge brought to the world
in its modern form.
In this backstage interview with seven-year veteran Sara
(all house dancers are mononymous) she talks about her
journey to the hallowed stage, the success and influence
of the show’s namesake 2001 film, and her most awkward
moment onstage.
Tell us about your background and what brought you to
the Moulin Rouge.
I’m from Scotland and I came to the Moulin Rouge when I was 19,
for the first time. It was my first job. I auditioned in Edinburgh
and got the job, and so I came here for the very first time.
But this is the third time I’ve been back—I’ve actually left
and worked at other places and decided I wanted to come here
and settle. So yeah, I love it (laughs).
What is it about the Moulin Rouge that’s most exciting for you?
How big the scale of the show is; it’s known worldwide.
The show’s fantastic to be in, the costumes are incredible,
and there’s a great atmosphere backstage—it’s one of the
best places to work, backstage-wise.
What kind of experience does one need to become a dancer here?
I did training from the age of six years old; I went to a local
dance school. And then when I was 16, I went to dance college
full-time for three years. I studied classical ballet tap,
modern jazz. So you have to basically have a good background
in dance to start with (laughs). And then get the audition
and see what happens.
How long did that process take?
I got the contract on the day of my audition. I was really lucky
that they were looking for someone at the time, so I got the
contract and took it home and read it and signed it.
How many years in total have you been with the Moulin Rouge?
This time I’m thinking it’s nearly seven.
Seven years?
Yep.
That’s incredible.
(Laughs.) Time flies by when you’re in Paris.
What’s the most difficult part of each show?
The most enjoyable?
Definitely the can-can is the most difficult. I no longer
do the can-can, but I used to, and it used to kill me
every night (laughs). It’s incredibly strenuous, and
you’re dancing two shows a night, six nights a week.
And it just takes a toll on your body. So the can-can’s
definitely the most difficult. The most enjoyable for me is,
I actually understudy the principal, so I get to be up
front and enjoy that. It’s amazing (laughs).
Is there a big number you’re a part of?
I’m actually in the line tonight.
How many dancers are there in the show?
There’s probably about 30 female dancers every night
onstage, and there’s about 15 guys.
The audience is pretty well split between men and women.
What parts of the show do they respond to the most?
That’s a hard question. We have so many different types of
audience. We have lots of tourists, we have families,
we have children. Definitely, I think the women appreciate
the costumes, and obviously they appreciate the men in the
show as well (laughs). I don’t know; I think it’s everyone’s
own taste and what they’re looking to enjoy.
The most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you
onstage is…
Falling flat on my face (laughs).
Was it easy to recover from something like that?
Yeah, you have to just grin and bear it and carry on—there’s
nothing else you can do. If you’re onstage on your own and
you fall, then you pick yourself up and carry on.
It happened to Beyoncé, too.
(Laughs.) Well, I’m not comparing myself to Beyoncé.
I had a drama teacher who once said the audience is always
a little slow. Are there moments sometimes in the show where
they don’t notice something’s a bit out of place?
Definitely, yeah. The stage, the production is so big that when
I watch the show, there’s things that I don’t see because there
are so many areas to watch, so many people, so many different
costumes. It’s very rarely that you will notice everything,
so there are definitely times when the audience will be
completely oblivious to what’s going on.
It sounds a lot like a Broadway show.
Yeah, cabaret is a lot more touristy. You’ve got the costumes
that can be a little bit cheesy sometimes, but it’s definitely fun.
Would you like to talk about some of your influences
as a dancer?
To be honest with you, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to
do when I went to college. I went to a teaching college,
actually, so my background in dance before I came to the
Moulin was in teaching children. And then I came here and
I absolutely loved it.
Regarding [another famed Parisian cabaret] the Crazy Horse,
have you seen any of the shows there?
I saw the old show.
What are the main differences between Moulin Rouge
and Crazy Horse?
To be honest with you, it’s a completely different show.
The scale of [Crazy Horse’s] show, all the dancers are
very similar there—you’ll see that they’re all the same
height, body, everything. Whereas here, we’re all different.
I’ve never seen a show like that before.
Well, they have such a small stage. The height of the
ceiling, for instance, is really small, so they can’t have
tall dancer. Whereas here, we have such a big stage that
it’s better if you can have someone with a bit of height
behind them as well.
What kind of improvisations or creative contributions
can the dancers make at Moulin Rouge?
As in choreography?
Choreography, or interpretation, for instance.
Hand gestures, role playing, things like that.
Oh yeah, there’s obviously a lot where you can do your
own little thing where they give you improvisation. It’s a
very choreographed show, but obviously there’s so much going
on you can have fun with the girl next to you, do you know
what I mean? There’s not strict, strict, strict where you can’t.
What kind of influence has the film Moulin Rouge! had on
you and the theater itself regarding its worldwide
popularity and notoriety?
I was actually here when the film came out at the time.
It was very funny in the differences in the audience.
They were expecting to see the movie and then they came
here and they were like, “Oh, but it’s completely different,
” and we said, “Yeah, that was a movie, and it’s a completely
different script. This isn’t a script, this is a show.”
I think some people actually asked me if I worked with
Nicole Kidman myself…
She wasn’t around that night?
(Laughs.) No. But it definitely gave the Moulin a big
boost in different ages. Younger children were learning
about the Moulin Rouge compared to what I knew when I was younger.
Do you have any other messages for your fans and
the fans of the Moulin Rouge around the world?
I hope you enjoy the show when you come!
MOULIN ROUGE
Paris - France
www.moulin-rouge.com
Thrilling audiences from around the world since 1889,
the Moulin Rouge in Paris is the world’s most celebrated cabaret.
At its nightly shows one can enjoy an elegant two-hour cabaret
production of pure joie de vivre with dance, music and magic,
where the popping of champagne corks is just as ubiquitous as
the exquisite artists onstage.
The show’s latest edition is called "Féerie"(“magic”), and it
features a troupe of 80 artists (including 60 Doriss Girls
recruited worldwide) and 1,000 costumes of feathers, rhinestones
and sequins performed to original music recorded by 80 musicians
and 60 chorus singers. And yes, it features the signature
can-can dance, which the Moulin Rouge brought to the world
in its modern form.
In this backstage interview with seven-year veteran Sara
(all house dancers are mononymous) she talks about her
journey to the hallowed stage, the success and influence
of the show’s namesake 2001 film, and her most awkward
moment onstage.
Tell us about your background and what brought you to
the Moulin Rouge.
I’m from Scotland and I came to the Moulin Rouge when I was 19,
for the first time. It was my first job. I auditioned in Edinburgh
and got the job, and so I came here for the very first time.
But this is the third time I’ve been back—I’ve actually left
and worked at other places and decided I wanted to come here
and settle. So yeah, I love it (laughs).
What is it about the Moulin Rouge that’s most exciting for you?
How big the scale of the show is; it’s known worldwide.
The show’s fantastic to be in, the costumes are incredible,
and there’s a great atmosphere backstage—it’s one of the
best places to work, backstage-wise.
What kind of experience does one need to become a dancer here?
I did training from the age of six years old; I went to a local
dance school. And then when I was 16, I went to dance college
full-time for three years. I studied classical ballet tap,
modern jazz. So you have to basically have a good background
in dance to start with (laughs). And then get the audition
and see what happens.
How long did that process take?
I got the contract on the day of my audition. I was really lucky
that they were looking for someone at the time, so I got the
contract and took it home and read it and signed it.
How many years in total have you been with the Moulin Rouge?
This time I’m thinking it’s nearly seven.
Seven years?
Yep.
That’s incredible.
(Laughs.) Time flies by when you’re in Paris.
What’s the most difficult part of each show?
The most enjoyable?
Definitely the can-can is the most difficult. I no longer
do the can-can, but I used to, and it used to kill me
every night (laughs). It’s incredibly strenuous, and
you’re dancing two shows a night, six nights a week.
And it just takes a toll on your body. So the can-can’s
definitely the most difficult. The most enjoyable for me is,
I actually understudy the principal, so I get to be up
front and enjoy that. It’s amazing (laughs).
Is there a big number you’re a part of?
I’m actually in the line tonight.
How many dancers are there in the show?
There’s probably about 30 female dancers every night
onstage, and there’s about 15 guys.
The audience is pretty well split between men and women.
What parts of the show do they respond to the most?
That’s a hard question. We have so many different types of
audience. We have lots of tourists, we have families,
we have children. Definitely, I think the women appreciate
the costumes, and obviously they appreciate the men in the
show as well (laughs). I don’t know; I think it’s everyone’s
own taste and what they’re looking to enjoy.
The most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you
onstage is…
Falling flat on my face (laughs).
Was it easy to recover from something like that?
Yeah, you have to just grin and bear it and carry on—there’s
nothing else you can do. If you’re onstage on your own and
you fall, then you pick yourself up and carry on.
It happened to Beyoncé, too.
(Laughs.) Well, I’m not comparing myself to Beyoncé.
I had a drama teacher who once said the audience is always
a little slow. Are there moments sometimes in the show where
they don’t notice something’s a bit out of place?
Definitely, yeah. The stage, the production is so big that when
I watch the show, there’s things that I don’t see because there
are so many areas to watch, so many people, so many different
costumes. It’s very rarely that you will notice everything,
so there are definitely times when the audience will be
completely oblivious to what’s going on.
It sounds a lot like a Broadway show.
Yeah, cabaret is a lot more touristy. You’ve got the costumes
that can be a little bit cheesy sometimes, but it’s definitely fun.
Would you like to talk about some of your influences
as a dancer?
To be honest with you, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to
do when I went to college. I went to a teaching college,
actually, so my background in dance before I came to the
Moulin was in teaching children. And then I came here and
I absolutely loved it.
Regarding [another famed Parisian cabaret] the Crazy Horse,
have you seen any of the shows there?
I saw the old show.
What are the main differences between Moulin Rouge
and Crazy Horse?
To be honest with you, it’s a completely different show.
The scale of [Crazy Horse’s] show, all the dancers are
very similar there—you’ll see that they’re all the same
height, body, everything. Whereas here, we’re all different.
I’ve never seen a show like that before.
Well, they have such a small stage. The height of the
ceiling, for instance, is really small, so they can’t have
tall dancer. Whereas here, we have such a big stage that
it’s better if you can have someone with a bit of height
behind them as well.
What kind of improvisations or creative contributions
can the dancers make at Moulin Rouge?
As in choreography?
Choreography, or interpretation, for instance.
Hand gestures, role playing, things like that.
Oh yeah, there’s obviously a lot where you can do your
own little thing where they give you improvisation. It’s a
very choreographed show, but obviously there’s so much going
on you can have fun with the girl next to you, do you know
what I mean? There’s not strict, strict, strict where you can’t.
What kind of influence has the film Moulin Rouge! had on
you and the theater itself regarding its worldwide
popularity and notoriety?
I was actually here when the film came out at the time.
It was very funny in the differences in the audience.
They were expecting to see the movie and then they came
here and they were like, “Oh, but it’s completely different,
” and we said, “Yeah, that was a movie, and it’s a completely
different script. This isn’t a script, this is a show.”
I think some people actually asked me if I worked with
Nicole Kidman myself…
She wasn’t around that night?
(Laughs.) No. But it definitely gave the Moulin a big
boost in different ages. Younger children were learning
about the Moulin Rouge compared to what I knew when I was younger.
Do you have any other messages for your fans and
the fans of the Moulin Rouge around the world?
I hope you enjoy the show when you come!
MOULIN ROUGE
Paris - France
www.moulin-rouge.com
19 apr 2012
12 apr 2012
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