Cirque du Soleil returned to London’s Royal Albert Hall with its latest dazzling show, LUZIA. Raising the curtain, following an extended intermission, all this was made possible by Yorkshire-based Production Park, who recreated, in its entirety, the Canadian circus troupe’s Montreal training base.
Cirque du Soleil chose Production Park as their base, thanks to its variety of wraparound services. As one of the UK’s premier live events, film and TV campus, the bespoke solution, it’s able to achieve in such short turnaround timeframes, was key to Cirque du Soleil.
Such a large production requires a large space, which meant Production Park housed Cirque du Soleil in Studio 001, one of its arena-sized rehearsal facilities.
During its tenure, Cirque du Soleil was able to call upon technical support from the park’s research and innovation centre XPLOR, support from Backstage Academy students, and Rockpool Tour Catering to feed the masses, creating over 300 meals daily on-site in its purpose-built restaurant, including a traditional Christmas dinner for the entire troop.
What’s more hosting Cirque du Soleil at Production Park was a boon for the local economy as its members, from around the world, made Wakefield their home for several months.
“Production Park provided a complete end-to-end solution, which was fully aligned with our needs and requirements. Having everything under one roof was remarkable – I cannot think of another facility in the UK that could have offered solutions to all our challenges within such easy reach. In addition to enabling our troupe to rehearse in a safe, tailor made environment, it also saved us a lot of time and money,” TSD Cirque Du Soleil Director of Show Support, Gerard Edwards-Webb said.
“Without the space and incredible facilities offered at Production Park, our team would have had to travel across the country and frequently interrupt schedules. Production Park truly provided a one-stop shop for getting our show back on the road.”
Production Park CEO, Lee Brooks concluded: “It was great to welcome our friends from Cirque du Soleil to Production Park. The unique nature of this global brand requires a host with specialist infrastructure, technical know-how and support. Our campus is one of the only places able to offer such services for such iconic performers, it’s what we do – from one of our arena-sized Studios and ancillary spaces to 24/7 technical support and our award-winning catering services. We look forward to welcoming them back soon.”
