I was lucky enough to work as a creative designer for one of the world’s biggest entertainment powerhouse, le Cirque du Soleil. These were amazing days filled with rich experiences whilst meeting amazing people. I had the chance to work directly under Jean-François Bouchard, the creative guide of Cirque and work on huge projects. One of them came to fruition and even though the show itself was kind of ill-fated because of the pandemic, I had the chance to see one of my concepts fully come to life. What a ride it was. The idea behind the project was to create a pre-show experience that would immerse the audience from the moment they walk in all the way up until they sat down for the show.
As the show was set in a near dystopian future with action-packed sequences, my idea was to immerse right away in the show’s world. They would enter through a dodgy, dark alley filled with interactive experiences. A projection-mapping tattoo parlor, an animated crashed car, directional speakers, shady characters approaching you in a dim-lit environment, everything was in place to set the mood from the moment you stepped in.
Show Entrance
The challenge here was to create an appealing entrance as the Luxor’s ceilings are pretty low, we didn’t have much space to create a huge “wow” effect. So I came up with the idea of installing an anamorphic LED canopy with the show title to catch the attention of the audience from a distance. Once you passed through the canopy, you entered the dark alleyway of underground Vegas. For the opening, I had graffiti artists tagging the walls of they alley live in front of the audience.
Underground Vegas
Entering the alleyway, you discovered some kind of shady underground Las Vegas where everything was interactive and moving. A crashed car, a shady bar, a sketchy tattoo parlour all neon-lit… everything was there to give you that feeling of excitement and curiosity.
The Nightclub
Once you had passed through the dark alleyway, you entered the nightclub (which was the show’s main lobby). I had the idea of hiding those ugly but necessary metal detectors in the decor and dress the security agents running them as nightclub bouncers. So it’s as you found the most exclusive nightclub hidden in a back-alley. No advertisement or sign, you just had to know it was there. And then , the grand reveal… you entered Vegas’ most secret nightclub. Grab a drink… it’s gonna be a wild ride.
