Paramour (Cirque du Soleil)

Paramour
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Paramour
Company	Cirque du Soleil
Genre	Contemporary circus
Show type	Resident show
Date of premiere	May 25, 2016
Location	New York City, New York
Creative team
Director	Philippe Decouflé
Creative guide	Jean-François Bouchard
Assistant directors	Pascale Henrot and West Hyler
Set designer	Jean Rabasse
Costume designer	Philippe Guillotel
Composers	Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard
Choreographer	Daphné Mauger
Lighting designer	Patrice Besombes
Props designer	Anne‐Séguin Poirier
Projection designers	Olivier Simola and Christophe Waksmann
Sound designer	John Shivers
Acrobatic performance designers	Shana Carroll and Boris Verkhovsky
Rigging and acrobatic equipment designer	Pierre Masse
Makeup designer	Nathalie Gagné
Other information
Preceded by	Toruk (2015)
Succeeded by	Luzia (2016)
Official website

Paramour is Cirque du Soleil's first resident musical theatre show at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway, New York City. Paramour is themed to the "Golden age of Hollywood" and follows the life of "a poet who is forced to choose between love and art". It has similar elements to Cirque du Soleil's retired Los Angeles resident show in Iris (which was also themed on cinema) written and created by Philippe Decouflé, and has a 38-person onstage cast with actress Ruby Lewis in the lead as Indigo.^[1] Paramour began preview shows on April 16, 2016, with an official premiere on May 25, 2016.^[2]

During previews, Paramour got off to a strong start and grossed over $1 million in its first six shows.^[3]

The show is directed by French director-choreographer Philippe Decouflé, who was also the director of the cinema themed Cirque du Soleil show Iris.^[2] The rest of the creative team is also the same as for Iris apart from the assistant directors, composer and sound designer. Scenes from Iris, such as aerial straps performed by the Atherton twins (who also performed in Iris), were incorporated into Paramour.^[2]

Paramour is also a musical featuring ten original songs.^[2]

Critical reception

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote "The athletic circus acts that are laced throughout the show provide the real entertainment, and make the surrounding book scenes and songs feel even more bogus and synthetic," and "There’s no denying the breathtaking magic of seeing bodies swim through the air with such apparent weightlessness. Too bad the musical surrounding them feels just as weightless, and far more forgettable."^[1]

Maren Wade of Las Vegas Weekly wrote "I think what made Paramour truly special was the unique element of the acrobatics in a more real-life setting. It felt like one minute I was watching a big Broadway show, but all of a sudden these crazy acrobatics would happen in scenes and scenarios where they were least expected," adding "I loved the show and would highly recommend it to anyone who is a Broadway and Cirque fan."^[4]

Rex Reed of New York Observer said "If your demands are not high and you don’t try to make too much sense of the wobbly so-called “plot,” there’s a lot of skill on view here that is fun to watch. Paramour is a dream conceived by P. T. Barnum and revised by Bob Fosse, and some of it works even better on a Broadway stage than in a tent."^[5]

References

1. Isherwood, Charles (May 25, 2016). "Review: 'Paramour' Brings Cirque du Soleil to Broadway". The New York Times.
2. Paulson, Michael (April 13, 2016). "After Two New York Flops, Cirque du Soleil Bets Big on Broadway". The New York Times.
3. Paulson, Michael (April 25, 2016). "Cirque du Soleil's 'Paramour' Has Strong Start in Broadway Grosses". The New York Times.
4. Wade, Maren (May 28, 2016). "Confessions of a Showgirl: A showgirl's review of Cirque's 'Paramour' on Broadway". Las Vegas Weekly.
5. Reed, Rex (June 2, 2016). "Cirque du Soleil Brings Its Acrobatic Extravaganza to Broadway". New York Observer.