Zarkana (Cirque du Soleil)
Zarkana was a Cirque du Soleil stage production written and directed by François Girard. It began as a touring show in 2011 and was converted to a resident show in Las Vegas in late 2012. It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 29, 2011, and later toured to the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow and the Madrid Arena in Madrid.
| Zarkana | |
|---|---|
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana | |
| Company | Cirque du Soleil |
| Genre | Contemporary circus |
| Date of premiere | June 29, 2011 |
| Final show | April 30, 2016 |
| Location | Touring Aria Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada (residential starting October 25, 2012) |
| Creative team | |
| Writer and director | François Girard |
| Creation director | Line Tremblay |
| Set and props designer | Stéphane Roy |
| Costume designer | Alan Hranitelj |
| Composer and musical director | Nick Littlemore |
| Choreographers | Debra Brown, Jean-Jacques Pillet |
| Lighting designer | Alain Lortie |
| Image content designer | Raymond St-Jean |
| Sound designer | Steven Dubuc |
| Acrobatic performance designer | Florence Pot |
| Rigging and acrobatic equipment designer | Danny Zen |
| Makeup designer | Eleni Uranis |
| Guest creator and dramatist | Serge Lamothe |
| Music guide | Elton John |
| Other information | |
| Preceded by | Totem (2010) |
| Succeeded by | Iris (2011) |
| Official website | |
The show was marketed as a reinvention of the variety show, with a story about a magician in an abandoned theatre who had lost his love and his magic. As he cried and begged the gods for her return, he was plunged into a world inhabited by surreal creatures. The title Zarkana is a fusion of the words "bizarre" and "arcana", referring to the strange aura and atmosphere of this place and its inhabitants.
Following Zarkana's successful run in Moscow, the show started residency at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on November 9, 2012. The show replaced the Cirque du Soleil resident production Viva Elvis, which had closed in August 2012 at the Aria Resort. On April 30, 2016, Zarkana closed to provide space for a new convention hall at the Aria.