Cirque Du Soleil's First Live Arena Event Comes To UK

Critically acclaimed entertainment group Cirque Du Soleil have teamed up with the world's leading live entertainment company Live Nation, to stage 'Delirium', a groundbreaking arena production using holograms, virtual reality , multi-media sound and imaging to create a magical world with a surreal, multi-sensory mix of theatre, dance, international music, stunning acrobatics and video projections.

Cirque Du Soleil will bring this awe inspiring arena production to the UK with a series of exclusive shows in Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield from the 8th -14th October 2007. Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday 20th April 2007 at 9am.

Delirium ventures into the territory usually occupied by rock superstars, playing in large scale arenas for only a few nights per city, it has already received rave reviews across the entire US. The New York Times quotes "Delirium is a full-scale spectacle, with nearly four dozen performers in Cirque’s usual array of acrobatic feats and technical razzle-dazzle, eerie tableaus and phantasmagoric costumes." Whilst the Los Angeles Times is also equal in its praise; "Technological pageantry ...celebrates astounding physical accomplishments."

With one million “Delirious” fans, it has already achieved a Top 5 Box Office award for the highest grossing US concert, its US tour has spanned 30 US cities already and at the same time has been honoured with the highly prestigious Billboard Creative Content Award. The show will finally hit the UK for a series of limited performances. Contrary to the traditional Cirque shows that play over multiple weeks in Big Tops, Delirium is a one-off mind-blowing multimedia/theatrical production with two to three arena dates in each key city.

Phil Bowdery, Vice President Of Touring at Live Nation commented; “Delirium is unlike any show you have ever seen in your life. It’s awe inspiring, innovative, and breathtaking. This unique form of visual, musical, and artistic entertainment pushes the boundaries of what people expect to see in an arena. The show has an enormous wow factor and spectacular style.”

Delirium delivers a multi sensory experience using holograms, virtual reality, multi-media sound, theatre, dance, international music and video projectory imaging to create a magical world. The show guarantees to be spectacle on an epic scale, featuring a cast of thirty six talented and multidisciplinary artists comprising eight musicians, six singers, eleven dancers, eight acrobats and three main characters.

This unique, large-scale event is also set to be the largest, most technical production ever created and staged for an arena. The show features a 130 foot stage honeycombed with traps and flying rigs so that actors can materialise from the depths, or float across an illuminated sky. There are 540 feet of projection surfaces -the equivalent of four IMAX screens - setting the stage for a colossal multimedia presentation and experience.

Projected images range from pre-recorded visuals to manipulated live feeds that create interactions between the show and the audience.

Music also takes a more central role than ever before, twenty of the most memorable melodies from various Cirque shows over the years have been rearranged for Delirium into a sonic symphony.

The Delirium UK Tour will be presented in very limited engagements in large arenas as follows:

Mon 8th October 2007 – Manchester MEN Arena
Tues 9th October 2007 – Manchester MEN Arena
Thurs11th October 2007 – Birmingham NIA Arena
Friday 12th October 2007 – Birmingham NIA Arena
Saturday 13th October 2007 – Sheffield Hallam FM Arena
Sunday 14th October 2007 - Sheffield Hallam FM Arena

Cirque Du Soleil began 20 years ago as a group of penniless street performers in Quebec. They then lighted upon the idea of tackling worldly themes – life itself (Saltimbanco), hope and connection (Quidam), the nomadic spirit (Varekai) with other-worldly music, phenomenal production and memorising acrobatics. Since its inception, over 50 million spectators in over a hundred cities on four continents have been thrilled by Cirque du Soleil. In 2007, Cirque du Soleil will present 13 shows simultaneously across the globe.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are priced at £45 and £55 (subject to booking fee) and go on sale on the 20th April 2007.

Tickets are available online from Livenation.co.uk.