Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Norm!
`Mystere' worker recalls uncertain times during show's birth
Cirque du Soleil's `Mystere' started nearly a decade ago in the troupe's first permanent theater in Las Vegas.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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It took a leap of faith to stick with Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere" when it launched on shaky legs almost 10 years ago.
"We had no confidence it would last," recalled lighting director Tommy Hanlon, hours before the 4,500th performance of "Mystere" on Monday at Treasure Island.
Hanlon had left Steve Wynn's Golden Nugget in 1993 as assistant lighting director because "the Mirage had just been built and downtown was flopping."
He took a job with Cirque's "Nouvelle Experience," which was being performed in a tent in the Mirage parking lot.
"Las Vegas was going to be the last city of the road show and never be seen again," he said.
Six months into the tent show, Wynn announced plans to build Treasure Island and the first permanent theater for Cirque. Hanlon was offered the assistant lighting director's job and took it.
One day Hanlon was at his spotlight position during rehearsal. Five different versions of the show were being rehearsed in front of creator Franco Dragone, who demanded silence and no distractions.
In walked Wynn, with bodyguards, to check out the "Nouvelle Experience."
"Franco didn't know who he was, and he got upset. In a combination of French and Italian, he let it be known he didn't want to be disturbed."
Discreetly, Hanlon sent word to Dragone, so Wynn wasn't ignominiously eighty-sixed from the show that ignited the Cirque phenomena on Las Vegas Boulevard.
For a while, it seemed like Dragone was a mad scientist.
"It was a big technical nightmare. After we started doing rehearsals, many of us were worried that maybe we should have kept our old jobs because it wasn't coming together very well," Hanlon said.
"Our very first show in front of the paying public was the first time we did the show from the very top to the finale," he said.
Wynn had a winner, and one month into "Mystere," Hanlon and others had job security in the form of 10-year contracts.
Hanlon, guitarist Bruce Rickerd and props director Annie Wilkins haven't missed any of the 4,500 performances.
New Deal
Without fanfare, Treasure Island has agreed to a new five-year contract with Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere."
On another front, the final audition for the cast of the hotel's new show "The Sirens of Treasure Island" will be held July 11, five days after the old Buccaneer Bay pirate show closes. The new show opens this fall for the 10-year anniversary of the hotel.
The Scene and Heard
A 10 p.m. Friday screening of "Stuey" has been added to the CineVegas International Film Festival. The first screening is today at 3:30 p.m. at Brenden 14 Theatres at the Palms. ...
The invite list for CineVegas' closing night gala Saturday at the Palms pool includes: Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Dennis Hopper, Benicio Del Toro, Jeff Goldblum, Josh Hartnett, Hunter S. Thompson, Daryl Hannah, Scott Caan, Mary Stuart Masterson, Rose McGowan, Taye Diggs, Jason Biggs, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Rosario Dawson, and David Boreanez.
Sightings
George Martin, who produced the Beatles' albums, getting a tour of the Mystere theater Monday from Gilles Ste-Croix, director of creation for Mystere. Martin was on his way to see "O." ... Prana's opening late-night nightclub bash included Val Kilmer, David Lee Roth, and Joe Jackson, the Jackson family patriarch.
The Punch Line
"I would like to buy two tickets for myself and my wife, but can you separate our seats?" -- Caller making a ticket inquiry for "Mystere."
Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.`Mystere' worker recalls uncertain times during show's birth
