Cirque du Soleil dances to MJ music

This was to be expected but still quite a surprise. Love featuring the music of the Beatles and Viva Elvis with the songs popularized by Elvis Presley became huge successes. Therefore, it was inevitable that Cirque du Soleil would next move on to another pop music giant, the sounds of Michael Jackson. And so here it is, Immortal the production that reimagines Michael’s greatest recordings for the Cirque du Soleil. That is what is happening now in the U.S. of A. where Immortal is on tour playing to packed houses.

Cirque du Soleil is a flying circus that started in the streets of Canada but is now a multi-million dollar corporation that performs in the major entertainment spots of the world. It mixes aerial acrobatics, dance, mime and comedy. While there is really nothing new about these, the Cirque brings everything up to date with the use of modern technology in its sets and machinery. As a result, the eye-popping numbers are performed in fantasy sets to the accompaniment of continuous orchestrated music.

One of the most successful among the Cirque’s recent creations was the themed show that pays tribute to a particular artist. These play not only on the public’s admiration for the difficult stunts that Cirque is known for but also on their memories. And nothing evokes memories better than music, more so when these are by departed pop idols. Their first from four years ago was Love with the music of the Beatles and which was followed two years later by Viva Elvis and last October by Immortal.

Lucky you if you have already seen Immortal. Most of us are only in a dreaming stage about it. I had a glimpse in the local episode of Dancing With The Stars last week. Members of the Cirque did short portions of some of the numbers in the show and these were truly impressive. Love was lyrical in its beauty. Viva Elvis had a sexy, down home country charm. Immortal is urban, frenetic and derives inspiration from the dance moves of MJ. That is what makes this show different from the others. The Beatles and Elvis were not known for their dancing prowess but Michael was and he and his videos sort of provided the basic plot, choreography, costumes and essential look of every number.

Just as both Love and Viva Elvis made use of the artists’ original vocal tracks set against new arrangements, Immortal also has Michael performing in the soundtrack. There are 40 songs contained in 27 numbers including several medleys. Unlike the show, the soundtrack album in a two-CD De Luxe Edition is now locally available. And it is truly amazing. I find it mind-boggling when I think of how many hours went into creating the soundtrack, of how many tracks were edited joined to others, mashed-up, dubbed with more music or background vocals or noises and then remixed for the clearest, grandest sound. WOW! This is recording technology at its best in our time.

As for those of you who will listen to the album, it would be nice to get your imagination working and thinking of how the Cirque “reimagined” the songs. If you do not really care for that, I am sure you will still love the music. The songs have been tweaked here and there, broadened and amplified to be suitable for a circus like Cirque. Basically though, all are still the hits of Michael from the days of the I’ll Be There with the Jackson 5 to his reemergence as a solo artist on to the phenomenon of Thriller and later successes. But these are now heard and seen from a new perspective. And so while we dream of one day watching Immortal live, here are…

Workin’ Day And Night, Childhood, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground), Dancing Machine/ Blame It On The Boogie, Ben, Smooth Criminal, Dangerous, I Like The Way You Love Me/ Speed Demon/ Another Part of Me, The Jackson 5 Medley, Speechless/ Human Nature, Is It Scary/ Threatened, Thriller, You Are Not Alone/ Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Beat It/ State Of Shock, Jam, Planet Earth/ Earth Song, Scream/ Little Susie, Gone Too Soon, They Don’t Care About Us, Will You Be There, I’ll Be There, Can You Feel It/ Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough/ Billie Jean/ Black Or White, Man In The Mirror, Remember The Time/ Bad.