Every detail counts when setting up Cirque
Workers, including employees of Cirque du Soleil and local union workers, put together the working parts of the this weeks presentation of Cirque du Soleil at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. January 25, 2011 Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
By Mike Danahey Elgin Courier News
Aurora, IL
Jan 26, 2011- Aurora, IL
Alain Gauthier and Erin Sweeney can tell you from firsthand experience: It takes a lot to bring a modern version of the circus to town. And it might even help to have sports backgrounds to do so.
Gauthier, a former hockey player and coach, is an arena production manager for Cirque du Soleil, one of the world’s most critically and commercially successful entertainment enterprises. He has that role with the tour of the Montreal-based company’s “Dralion,” which plays at Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates today through Sunday.
Sweeney, who earned a master’s degree in sports management from Central Michigan University, is event manager at the venue just east of Elgin, which is owned by the village of Hoffman Estates. The Sears Centre contracts out running the venue to Sweeney’s employer, Global Spectrum. Sweeney had served an internship at the Chaifetz Arena (on the campus of Saint Louis University), which also is run by Global Spectrum. That led to a job there, then a move to the Sears Centre last summer.
Coincidentally, the Cirque show comes to Hoffman Estates from St. Louis in a way that Gauthier said is typical of how the company sets up its stops. Usually, there are shows Wednesday through Sunday in a town. Crews take down the elaborate set Sunday evening, and equipment is moved by 18 semitrailers to the next arena or hall, with another truck carrying catering equipment as part of the entourage, too. Meanwhile, performers and other staff head for the airport for a late-evening flight.
The last trucks packed have to be the first ones unloaded at the next performance space. That’s because they contain the rigging and set, which in the case of “Dralion” is quite elaborate.
“The weight of the show is 95,000 pounds,” Gauthier said. read more:http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/3490849-418/cirque-sweeney-gauthier-centre-sears.html
By Mike Danahey Elgin Courier News
Aurora, IL
Jan 26, 2011- Aurora, IL
Alain Gauthier and Erin Sweeney can tell you from firsthand experience: It takes a lot to bring a modern version of the circus to town. And it might even help to have sports backgrounds to do so.
Gauthier, a former hockey player and coach, is an arena production manager for Cirque du Soleil, one of the world’s most critically and commercially successful entertainment enterprises. He has that role with the tour of the Montreal-based company’s “Dralion,” which plays at Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates today through Sunday.
Sweeney, who earned a master’s degree in sports management from Central Michigan University, is event manager at the venue just east of Elgin, which is owned by the village of Hoffman Estates. The Sears Centre contracts out running the venue to Sweeney’s employer, Global Spectrum. Sweeney had served an internship at the Chaifetz Arena (on the campus of Saint Louis University), which also is run by Global Spectrum. That led to a job there, then a move to the Sears Centre last summer.
Coincidentally, the Cirque show comes to Hoffman Estates from St. Louis in a way that Gauthier said is typical of how the company sets up its stops. Usually, there are shows Wednesday through Sunday in a town. Crews take down the elaborate set Sunday evening, and equipment is moved by 18 semitrailers to the next arena or hall, with another truck carrying catering equipment as part of the entourage, too. Meanwhile, performers and other staff head for the airport for a late-evening flight.
The last trucks packed have to be the first ones unloaded at the next performance space. That’s because they contain the rigging and set, which in the case of “Dralion” is quite elaborate.
“The weight of the show is 95,000 pounds,” Gauthier said. read more:http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/3490849-418/cirque-sweeney-gauthier-centre-sears.html
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